Classroom Ideas
No one likes to make a mistake. However, this might be especially true for teachers. After all, in a room full of kids, we are the experts, the professionals, the ones tasked with setting a good example. Unfortunately, I am living proof that a love for teaching doesn’t always mean a head for details–which means I have a lot of experience with teacher goofs. The good news is that because of all the times I’ve misspelled a word, copied the wrong page, or misplaced an important take-home paper, I’ve developed a few strategies for turning my mistakes into teachable moments.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about making the best of my teaching mistakes.
1. My mistakes can extend my teaching.
The day’s lesson might be about metaphors, but if I forget a comma or misspell a word, I can turn it into an additional lesson on the importance of both mechanics and style. After all, what good is the perfect metaphor if a grammatical error makes a sentence confusing? Whether the subject is literacy, math, science, or art, very few of the skills and concepts we teach are used in isolation. Showing my students how one error can affect a whole problem or project is a great way to show them how the things they are learning work together.
2. My mistakes provide a lesson on proofreading and peer editing.
I tell my students all the time, “I am a grownup lady teacher and a professional writer, and my mother still proofreads nearly everything I write before I submit it to an editor.” I do not, however, ask my mother to proofread every handout, test, or practice page I create. So, despite my best efforts to proofread my own work, mistakes sometimes happen. That’s when I remind my students that proofreading is critical, but there’s no substitute for a second set of eyes.
3. My mess-ups can be their gains.
I can’t always get a second set of grownup eyes to proofread my work, but I can always count on my students to point out my errors. The same kid who blithely ignores every comma rule and practices “selective capitalization” is usually the first one to notice I used a period where there should have been a question mark or that I forgot to put a blank for question #7. Lucky for him, the first one to find any of my “happy mistakes,” (to quote Bob Ross) on a test or handout gets a punch on their punch card–which also reinforces my lessons on proofreading.
4. When I bungle a lesson on the board, I get to teach a lot of other lessons too.
It has happened to almost every teacher. Your lesson is interesting. The kids are engaged. You are on fire! And to drive your point home, you passionately scrawl a key phrase or important takeaway on the board, only to hear someone pipe up, “You didn’t cross your T!” This is the perfect time for a lesson on raising one’s hand, staying focused on the topic, appropriate commenting, or not being a smarty pants.
5. My lessons are a good reminder that everyone makes mistakes.
As much as I would like to be the perfect teacher, that’s not what my kids need. Instead, they need to know that learning and growing and being creative mean also messing up. That is key to developing a growth mindset. Sure, sometimes I turn my mistakes (or the kids’ responses to them) into lessons on what not to do. But other times they are a good reminder that everyone messes up now and then. It’s how we learn. And hopefully, seeing me make mistakes allows the perfectionists in my class to let go of some of their own fears of messing up.
6. My best mistakes are the ones that make us laugh!
I look everywhere for the glasses that are on top of my head. I misspell the name of the main character in the novel we are reading. Or I accidentally print the answer key on the back of the test. When things like this happen, there is nothing for it but to laugh. And I want my kids to laugh along with me. I also hope that they will learn to laugh at their own flaws and flub-ups sometimes too. After all, the ability to laugh at themselves is a gift they will fall back on for the rest of their lives. Besides, a little levity in the classroom is a bonding experience and makes for a more fun, welcoming learning environment.
Just as I encourage my kids to learn from their mistakes, I try to learn from mine and not repeat the more costly ones (like accidentally deleting a whole column of grades I just entered.) But clearly, I’ll never be perfect. The best I can do is find ways to make the most of my mistakes and teach my students to do the same.
