Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Mistakes lead to Learning

I needed to put this out there. I needed to see what everyone else thinks about this subject.

So here's the story. I have a team teacher right now. Yesterday we were working on a project that will be displayed at parents night in a few weeks. Each student was asked to write two thinks they like about afterschool on  a paper light bulb. My team teacher was teaching while I was cleaning the cafeteria. She would not let them write in marker. She MADE them write in pencil. When I suggested she let them use marker she said, "no. Then they will mess up and we will look bad." Keep in mind our students are in the second, third, and fourth grades. They WILL mess up!!! It going to happen. I politely told her that mistakes show they are learning. She still didn't budge. The students then colored the light bulbs with markers and now you can not even see what they wrote.

 This is a pretty common occurence with us. I let them use markers anytime we write she always makes them use pencils. I only make them use pencils on homework.

Who do you agree with? Me or my team teacher? Should the students be allowed to make mistakes or should we control them so much that there is never a mistake on work we show their parents? How do you feel? Do mistakes lead to learning? Or should we never show the mistakes?

Please leave your comments and ideas!!

Any Questions? Don't forget to raise your hand!

Miss Hadleigh 

2 comments:

  1. Oh you're right. Even if you only watch Mythbusters you know what they say about mistakes. They are how you learn. If you did everything right, what would be left to learn from?

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  2. I think it doesn't matter if it is pencil or marker. What really matters are the kids. You have a few precious minutes to guide them. They are internalizing values by watching the people in their lives, including you. You are an authority figure, but you do not need to be authoritarian to the kids or to the other teacher.
    Your co-teachers attitude about your students work reflecting poorly on her highlights that teacher's immaturity. However, you will always have to work with people who have failings. We all have them. Keep doing your best. Continue to share your opinion but give her room to make her decision. She might have this one weakness, but she may be the perfect role model for one or more of your students. It sounds like your co-teacher can learn a lot from you. Keep up the good work, Hadleigh. You are awesome!

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