Mistakes

School has started again and I'm teaching all levels of English II (sophomores) this year (Regular, Honors, and Concepts). I really love it so far. I've got a great group of kids this year.

On Friday of this week my honors class had their first paper due. One boy had made a mistake and had marks on his final draft. He came over to discuss it with me and I could tell he was quite upset about it.

"You don't understand," he explained again, "I have marks on my final draft."

I said, "No, I really do understand. It's okay. I'm going to add some of my own. They'll fit right in."

"But . . ."

I cut in. "It really is okay. It's okay to make mistakes."

"When?"

"Well, now for one, this is your first paper. Don't worry about it. Mistakes are one way that we learn."

And even if that didn't sink in for him, it totally sunk in for me. Sometimes I am so hard on myself and it's absolutely ridiculous. Mistakes really are one way that we learn. If we keep ourselves from doing something out of the fear that we might possibly do it wrong, how are we ever going to get better at anything? Especially when it comes to grad school I need to keep this in mind. Great lesson for a great Friday. At least a great start to the year.



PS. So, I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I'm hoping to get back to a more regular schedule so that I'll post at least once a week--probably on Sundays.