Musings from Mrs. Galvan

Today I started each of my classes with a discussion on failure. My students were immediately uncomfortable at the mention of the word. They prefer sugar coated versions like mess-ups or stumbles. We shared our typical reactions to failures. I shared that I typically get mad at myself and say something like, "Why I am so stupid?" Others shared that they cry or ignore the failure or laugh it off. Resilience is key for success in learning anything, math included . #Caedchat on Sunday reminded me of this great acronym. :) I am reading Creative Confidence at the moment so the importance of resilience in the face of failure has been on my mind. I shared with them a passage on pages 9 and 10 about "self-efficacy." If we are afraid to fail, we are afraid to take risks, afraid to try. The fear of failure can block our opportunity to Learn and Grow.