Me Thinks

I read something the other day that I thought was brilliant and I want to share.  This excerpt is taken from a book titled, "Raising Resilient Children" by Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein.

     "One elementary school teacher told her class on the first day of school that throughout the year they would celebrate mistakes.  She placed a glass jar on her desk and next to it a box of stones and told them, 'Whenever you or I make a mistake, someone will come up and drop a stone into the jar.  As soon as the jar is filled, I will bring in the popcorn for our celebration.'  Apparently the jar was small enough and the stones large enough that the party always took place within the first week.  Students who typically would not raise their hands for fear of making a mistake now volunteered to answer; after all, if their answer was incorrect, they would be helping the class move one step closer to the celebration."
     "The upshot of this teacher's approach was to transform the fear of mistakes into a fun, positive force.  Through the ritual of celebration she accentuated the belief that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process and not something to be feared.  As the school year progressed, the achievement scores in her class were very good, and she had few, if any, discipline problems.  This is not surprising, since many discipline problems are rooted in the fear of looking foolish--that is, some students would rather act up, be aggressive, or play the class clown than look dumb.  This particular teacher was gifted in recognizing that one of the main tasks in developing a resilient mindset in students is to banish the fear of failure and humiliation."

I bet that this will get you thinking too!  We have become used to awarding the good, the right, the best, and the polished.  We award the winner, the second place finisher, and the third place finisher.  But what about awarding and/or recognizing those that are trying or those that make mistakes?  I love the way that this method worked--that children felt more comfortable answering a question, that the teacher would admit to mistakes too, and that the point was made that learning is about trying and failing and trying again.  How can I adapt this method to my own life and my family life?  I've got to learn to clap for myself not only when a goal is achieved but when something is tried, or asked, or explored, even if not successful.