Written by Could I be anymore overwhelmed? Probably not! I’m often surprised at how pursuing things we want most, often result in feelings of trepidation and anxiety — today is no different. I want to challenge myself and push myself out of the comfort zone I have built for myself in my first five years of teaching; I want to shatter my comfort zone. I want to do something that scares me, that frightens me, something that I might, ultimately, fail at. Why? Because I want to grow. Because I want my students to take the same approach to learning and all that they do. I don’t want my students to fear failure; if they fear failure, they won’t ever question and they won’t ever try. Consequently, I fear my students will then never know the best they can be.
It’s interesting how, as educators, 
we aim to challenge and push our students out of their own comfort zones, but how often do we tackle this same obstacle? Modelling is a key component of effective education and how am I to truly appreciate what I ask of my students if I don’t, at some point, put myself in those same shoes? I find myself in the shoes of my students right now: uncertain, afraid, excited, questioning, nervous, doubtful. However, I know that at the end of this Cohort 21 process, I will be a different person and educator; I will have grown in some capacity because I will have tried and I will have learned. Whether I am successful at this Cohort 21 endeavour or not is a mere stepping stone in my professional journey—I will have learned something — regardless.
I have only begun to see the value of failure as an adult and, honestly, I wish it was something I was exposed to when I was younger. I never learned how to fail, I was never given a safe place in which to do this, but my students will have this. Failure always had a negative connotation to me, it meant I did something wrong and that was never a good thing. But when we try something new for the first time, should it not be 
obvious that we probably won’t be successful? A first attempt in learning is never the final, good copy: we don’t hand in the first draft of an essay, we don’t take a math test before we do the homework questions, we need safe opportunities in which to fail before we can be successful. We learn from those failures and there is nothing inherently bad about those initial failures we encounter in the first draft of an essay or in our math homework. In failure we learn. In failure we grow. I’m here to learn and grow, to fail.
Hey Amy. Really great thoughts in here!
I detected a change in your tone by the end of the post – an emerging comfort with the direction you’re headed. Am I right? “Overwhelmed” can be a scary feeling, but it can also the name we sometimes give to our own recognition that something is becoming important to us. You seem driven to make a difference, and that’s a powerful and beautiful thing.
Looking forward to catching up more tomorrow at the Face-2-Face.
Hi Adam!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog; I was incredibly nervous to write my first blog and put it “out there” (eek!!) I’m glad my sentiments were conveyed in my post. This is something I’ve come to notice more and more in my students over the past couple of years: they are so afraid to try anything new at the risk of “sounding stupid” (their words, not mine). I’m excited to find ways to “fail” with my students so we can both grow from them and we can all see how failing leads to further learning and to growth. However, I’m still searching for ways to effectively do this in my teaching….
Thanks again!
Amy 🙂
Amy – I love the conviction in your post — that your students ‘will’ have a safe place to fail, ‘will’ enjoy the benefits that come from first attempts in learning. And, that you are not afraid to share in that learning with them. They are very fortunate to have you as a partner in learning. Your post reminds me of a sign I have in my classroom: its a diptych of sorts. One side has an arrow shooting upwards with a caption that reads “Success: What people think it looks like”. The other side depicts a tangled line, a squiggly mess. The caption reads “Success: what it really looks like”.
You post is a sound reminder.
Hi Shelley!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I try to reiterate these sentiments to my students on a weekly basis, but they don’t quite seem to fully resonate with them…yet. I am excited to explore this topic further and hopefully find ways I can “effectively fail” in my teaching so that my students can see it’s okay. We can then, hopefully, all use these as examples to learn from and, most importantly, grow from. I need to get on trying to find ways to do this in my classroom…hmmm…..
Happy Monday!
Amy 🙂
Amy, I agree. We all need to fail. I do worry that my students don’t have, want or see the necessity of, those opportunities. I like to remind them that they are all taking a big risk by learning French because pretty much every time they open their mouth to speak there is potential to make a mistake (but I don’t point these mistakes out unless necessary!). The other day, I told my class how I was mortified when I started teaching high school that the students would ask me how to say a word in French and I wouldn’t know it. But then I realized that it would be better for me to model curiosity/uncertainty/dictionary skills than worry too much about putting up fronts. After all, I still need to look up words in English – my first language!
Good luck in failing, Amy! And in learning. And in growing.
Hi Vivienne,
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my first every blog (eek!) I cannot tell you how much your response resonates with me and really hits home! During my first year teaching, I was a nervous wreck all the time; I would try and anticipate questions my students would ask and make sure I researched the best answers (it was exhausting!) Not that I have completely stopped doing this, but I was so afraid to say to them “I don’t know…” Well, let’s just say I have become much more comfortable with this phrase in the past two years of teaching 🙂 It’s amazing how liberating it can be to confess this to your students and spend the time further learning together!!!–I love it!
I am curious about finding other strategies in regards to “failing” in my classes. I really want my students to stop fearing this whole ‘I don’t know’ mentality. Not knowing (as we know as adults) is an all to familiar component of life, I want them to know this and be prepared for this.
Thanks again for sharing & it was lovely getting the chance to talk to you Saturday at the Face-2-Face!!
Amy 🙂
Well said, Amy! This is an all too familiar a worry among students today. As a result, many students have embraced the outlook that it is easier not to try versus try and fail. I applaud your willingness to engage in “failure” alongside your students so that they can learn by example… this is a excellent example of a growth mindset at work and your students are lucky to have you as their guide on this journey. You’ll have to update us on how the conversation around the different facets of failure is progressing as the school year continues!
Thanks for a thought provoking post,
Christina
Amy,
Great blog post! I love that you are modelling taking on a new challenge! The girls look up to you so very much, and you will all benefit so much from everything you learn at cohort 21!! Looking forward to reading more of your blogs!
Hey Amy,
Reading your post actually made me think of an opportunity that I think you would really love: there is a summer program run through Columbia University that sounds like it is right up your alley: http://www.klingenstein.org/content/summer-institute
Garth went, Leslie went, I went and a few other Cohort alumni have also participated now and since you are just in year 5 of your teaching career, you can still qualify to apply.
Other than Cohort, it has been one of the most transformative experiences in learning about teaching I’ve ever had. I’m happy to talk more about it, but read through the application (I think they are due Jan 15th) and send me an email if you have any questions.