Why failing to fail is the worst failure of all

One of my favorite songs as a kid had a line in the middle that said, "You gotta win a little, lose a little..." I have to lose, huh? Yes, it is part of the process.

If you don't want to take it from me or from this song, just look at a handful of many bits of wisdom about failure a quick Google search provided:

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

"Failure is not the opposite of success; it is part of success." - Anonymous

"Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure avoid success." - Robert Kiyosaki

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill


The reason I was thinking about this idea of failure recently is not because of grad school. Please, we haven't even started the semester yet! Instead, it is because I binge-watched the first season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on Amazon this weekend. (I'm not saying I'm proud of that - it was way too much television in too short a period of time.) While some of the language and topics are crude/distasteful, I think the show has value overall. One of the big ideas I think audiences can take away is that everybody bombs. Tanking is part of the process. And you have to be okay with that - not just okay, though; you have to be willing to learn from it.

If you've seen the show, you know that Midge carries around that notebook of hers that she uses to take copious notes once she decides comedy is her thing. That's an example of how Midge is willing (after a few periods of serious self-doubt about her talent) to learn from the success of others and a combination of her own successes and failures. Her manager and a few others help her figure this out. (Don't worry, I wouldn't consider this information a spoiler.)

Growing up, I was way too serious about everything and often nervous to try something new if I thought I wouldn't measure up to the expectations. This went for school, sports, extracurriculars, classes I decided to take in college - you name it. I probably missed out on a lot. I'm surprised I didn't give myself ulcers. And it was my own fault - I brought that fear of failure on myself; it wasn't exercised on me by anyone else. I just couldn't get comfortable with failing.

But let me tell you something, teaching has made me less afraid of failure because it's impossible not to fall flat on your face from time to time (or, daily) in front of your students. Without the failure, I wouldn't know how to get better as a teacher. Nothing is more honest and raw than the feedback of a teenager - they let you know if something wasn't good or right. Working with kids is humbling and, sometimes, slightly humiliating on a regular basis.

I'm never going to be one of those picture-perfect Pinterest teachers who make everything and every lesson seem like magic and unicorns. It's messy business. It's hard work. And when I got into it, I had no idea how much I was going to fail - no one prepares you for that; nothing can prepare you for the students in your care. But you know something else? Kids are resilient. They'll learn something, even if the day felt like a flop. And they'll still love you, even when you wanted to (metaphorically) wring their necks the day before. Failure is a natural part of the learning cycle - you just gotta keep it going with persistence, creativity, hard work, and a little (or a lot of) luck.

So fail big, my friends. Or, in the words of Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture), "Better to fail spectacularly than to do something mediocre." And, make sure you take time to learn from it. (Don't worry, I'm taking my own advice too.)

Can you tell school is on the brain? We're back at it... How many weeks until Easter break?

And they rose to the (creative) challenge...

These Saint Week packets to go along with the 7th grade Ablaze text have been a really neat experience this year. At least, I'd like to think so. With each chapter/Saint, I try to create tasks that challenge their thinking but also allow for creativity.

And I'm never sure what kind of responses I'll get.

This time around, the students read about Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, a young girl who lived during the 1970s and 1980s in Italy. She has been the most relatable Saint to date, as the book highlighted her love of socializing, playing tennis, hiking, and doing other things normal kids do - by no means did she sound like she lived an "untouchable" lifestyle. Still, it was clear how much Chiara loved God and how much she wanted to help others. Even as a young student in grade school, she would often give her snack away to other children at lunch. And, she would attend daily Mass as often as she could.

While Chiara died (from bone cancer) before the invention of cell phones (and definitely before Smartphones), I couldn't help but wonder what she would have had on her phone if she lived in our day and age. And that sparked an idea - I challenged my students to detail three apps that Chiara would have had on her phone and provide reasoning for each one using their understanding of her life. When I graded their packets this week, I realized how creative each student had been in determining the apps (though some definitely explained their reasoning better than others), and I was blown away.

Here are two examples - You may have to click on each image to read its content:

There were other tasks too, including the more typical paragraph with evidence and reasoning as well as the invitation to design a symbol to represent Chiara and the effect of her life on others.

Here are a couple of those - again, you may have to click on each to view:

All in all, I am glad the 7th graders have been open to being the "guinea pigs" for this book and the respective packets. Hopefully each year I'll be able to tweak the packet to be better and clearer.

I'm feeling pretty good going into Christmas break. My bags are (mostly) packed, my presents (though unwrapped) are all in the bag, and I'm ready to visit my sister's school on Friday.

Tomorrow is an 11 a.m. dismissal - we've totally got this! Happy Christmas break everyone!

Itching to get back at it

It's a slow process, getting back out on the path for a run.

Today, I walked for a half mile, ran for a mile, walked for a half mile, ran for a mile. And I was huffing and puffing. And for the rest of the day, I felt extra pain in my foot.

Guess I'm still not ready.

But with the Chicago marathon tomorrow, I was itching just to get out there and try.

Baby steps. REALLY SMALL baby steps.

More physical therapy. More stretches. More massage. More pain.

End goal - think end goal.

All will be well. I will heal.

I just have to wait and work for it.

Just checking in

Week one is in the books, for teaching and for student-ing. (Yeah, I just used student as a verb. It's fine.)

To say it flew by is an understatement. Makes me think the rest of this year is going to be a blur. The rollercoaster has started, my friends. Zoom. Zoom.

I apologize ahead of time if I fall off the planet with my lack of posting on this blog. Trust me when I say the posts I am putting elsewhere are making up for my brevity and absence here.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead. Just like that, September is here. Hellooooooooo football season!

Work hard, play hard(er)

Yesterday (after our marathon training run), I spent roughly four hours under a mountain of Hobbit book-end tests: There were 25 of them, and I had insisted they apply their understanding of how to best answer extended response questions, which we had been practicing this past week in class. So, they did just that - they used quotations, drew conclusions, and gave lots of examples. (So, as much as I regretted the quantity of reading I had to do, I was actually glad they followed directions.)

By the end of it all, my head was definitely in a spin, and my speech/conversation was probably incoherent. But it was worth it because I was able to spend last night spending time with friends from Church at a house party, and today I was able to visit with friends who recently had a baby and celebrate Mass at school.

Work hard, play hard(er) - that's a good motto.

I'm so glad I was able to kick back a little today. Yes, there's a full week of Catholic Schools' Week activities ahead, but I still have some relaxing to do, including some Downton Abbey to watch...