Mindsets ~ It's okay to Fail

I know I say this every time I write about Mindsets, but I LOVED this chapter!  We are living in a society where children believe they should receive a trophy for everything.  Everyone gets a ribbon or trophy for participating in athletic competitions, games, or challenging situations.

I love this chapter because it speaks to me!  We often try to give students the opportunity to always receive the best score they can.  Students and parents are continuously asking for extra credit opportunities so they can raise their grades.  The extra credit they want is not to fix mistakes they've made, but other ways to raise their grade.

I fully agree that we need to give our students challenging activities so that way they can fail.  When we do something and don't get it right the first time then we are forced to figure out a different way to do it.  We need to encourage our students to keep trying!  Even when they don't get it right the first time, it doesn't mean that they aren't smart.  It just means that the first way they tried didn't work, but they need to think of another way to do it.

This quote from Michael Jordan is one that I plan on putting in my room this next year.  I love how it shares not everything he won, but all of the ways that he failed!

We need to make sure that we are not setting our students up to just earn a reward either.  Yes, we like to get things when we do a great job, but it needs to be more than just a sticker on a chart, or a prize from the box.  We need to teach our students that completing difficult tasks, or facing challenges is worth the self pride they will get when they accomplish that feat!

Don't forget to head over to Hello Sunshine Teachers to check out what everyone else had to say about chapter 5, and link up to leave your thoughts!