Mistakes should be greeted as welcomed guests, not intruders.

Okay, by now, I am sure some of you are tired of seeing this, as I shared it and gushed about it on social media yesterday. Sorry. But it was such an important revelation for me. It’s some assuring affirmation that what I am attempting to do with Project 180 might be making a difference in my kids’ learning experiences. I needed this.

As most of you know, I have been conducting end-of-term learning conferences with my kiddos. In our conferences, the kids select a grade and support it with evidence. The primary evidence for their selections comes from their Performances (my name for assessments) that we keep in an evidence portfolio. The goal is for us to come to an agreement by the end of the conference, arriving at something that we are both comfortable with as a mark that best represents their learning from the semester.

Jamie, the young lady whose wisdom I have been keen to share the last two days, didn’t have to do much convincing. She had secured 3’s (meeting standard) on all her Performances, either the first time or from feedback-driven retakes. I didn’t expect her to select anything other than an A. The evidence was clear. Yet, as she offered up her evidence, she didn’t really focus on what we both already knew–her Performance scores; she homed in on mistakes and retakes as her evidence of learning. When she offered the words above, I made her pause, rewind , and play them again, as I quickly scribbled them onto the back of a grade sheet in my grade book.

Inspired by the smile on her face and the wisdom in her words, I thanked her–my arms raised in triumph–for uttering such an important truth. We then went on to talk about the value in mistakes and how we learn with them and about her and her peers’ comfort level with them in my room. Of course, the conversation led beyond my room where mistakes hold no such place in word or deed, and some only in word. Many teachers say they value and encourage mistakes in their rooms, but only kids really know the weight of those words in the end. In my opinion for teachers to give weight and value, mistakes must be…

…met without alarm. They should be greeted as welcomed guests, not intruders. Our reactions to them matter.

…answered with actionable, I-can-improve feedback. Mistakes come with an appetite. The last thing we should do is starve them. We need to back them feed.

…graced with the opportunity of a redo(s). This is a must. Actionable feedback requires an opportunity to create action, to encourage movement. Mistakes should be dynamic developments, not static sorters.

…part of the learning story. Kids need to reflect on such moments in their journeys. Mistakes need to look in the mirror; they have a remarkable appearance, a beauty if we behold. I use my Journey Journals for this. Jamie’s wisdom was born there.

Please know I am not trying to preach this morning. I just think mistakes present us with invaluable opportunities. But I think those opportunities live and die with us. Our walk has to match our talk. We have to give mistakes a place at the table. I believe the head of the table.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…finishing up the last few learning conferences.

…wrapping up our semester with a final Community Circle.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all. We are on two-hour delay with a block finals’ schedule. Gonna be a strange day.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.