Failure

So, I want to talk about something in this post that many of us teachers, at least me, does not want to think about.  My biggest fear when I go out and do field experiences is that I will fail the students, that I will destroy the students' lives somehow.  But I had a conversation with someone today who was worried that I might not able to keep up with students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at a camp that I would like a job at this summer.  After the conversation ended, I began to think about how if I fail at something like archery at the camp, that is going to encourage the campers to keep trying.

The thought behind it is possibly "oh, wow, he just failed miserably.  And he is an awesome guy who is really cool, so if he failed, then I guess I can try and fail too."  It gives students and campers courage to see their role models fail.

A few weeks ago, I went to a conference that was put on by ARC Midstate.  The second key-note speaker talked about how we need to tell the students right off the bat when we meet them that we will fail them.  It took me about a month-and-a-half to finally realize what he means.  He means this, by failing at something, we give students the courage to try and possibly fail.