Some days of teaching are amazing. You see the “light bulb” moments happening in front of you, your heart is full of pride, and your chest puffs out just a bit at the amazing feats of your students (with your assistance behind the scenes of course). On days like this we are walking in sunshine.
Other days, not so much.
We all have those rough days. It feels miserable in the moment, but is most likely not ultimately fatal to your career or irrevocably detrimental to your students. Don’t beat yourself up. What you need to do after a bad day is get some perspective.
We have all seen the “Best Fails” videos that appear on Facebook and You Tube. You know the ones. Grandma reaches to put the star on the top of the Christmas tree, loses her balance, the whole tree comes down on top of her. Grandma’s dentures are knocked out and they end up as the tree-topper. If you need a good laugh, check out some of these videos. There are thousands… generally involving a skateboard, a swimming pool, or other objects that lend themselves to little control and much potential for disaster.
If You Tube videos aren’t your thing, check out Pinterest fail photos. You can find cute little birdie cupcakes that end up looking like two-headed monsters. There is a baby shower candle that looks scary enough to keep locked away in a cupboard, not on the table as the decoration it was intended to be. Pinterest is full of cakes with little lambs or other animals that end up looking more demented than darling.
Why is it that we watch the videos or look at these pictures and laugh, yet beat ourselves up if we have a “fail” in the classroom? Chalk up a tough day up for what it was…your version of a “best fail.” Think of failure as an opportunity to learn.
You can bet that the big man who jumped in the little pool on the video made sure the sides of the pool were reinforced before he tried that stunt again. Or perhaps he wisely decided to avoid trying that jump again…ever. The person who tried making those cute Pinterest bunny rolls and ended up with charred ears on some scary-looking rabbits probably learned not to cut the ears so thin the next time. Or maybe she decided to just stick with the round rolls as they were intended to be cooked, without ears.
In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck explain that having the ability to fail and then adjust is one of the characteristics of a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset see themselves as a work in progress rather than someone whose talents and abilities are fixed. Having a growth mindset allows you to continually get better at whatever it is you do, and is one marker for those who are highly successful.
Take what you learned from your fail and either make adjustments or avoid doing what you did that made it a “best fail” day. Remember that you are working with young people. Students are often unpredictable. Spending time with them every day is bound to bring about some unpredictable results. Even the best lesson plans sometimes miss the mark. The best baseball players don’t hit a home run with every swing of the bat and you won’t be perfect every day either.
You are doing the best you can with the students you have. Some days will just be better than others. Start each day with a clean slate and your best plan. You will have far more good days than bad ones, and the good days will keep you going.
Here’s to learning from our failures,
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