As the Principal of Our Lady of the Assumption School I have the pleasure of teaching. This year my primary teaching responsibility is teaching grade 6 students math.  During the first week of school our class room did a variety of activities to build community and establish a positive learning space.  I shared a variety of ‘thoughts’ with the class.  One thought was that I believe in failing, in fact I told the class that I want them to fail.  I wanted to stress to the students that I wanted them to take risks and do not worry about making mistakes.

I shared with them two pictures.  Firstly, F.A.I.L. (First Attempt in Learning):

I wanted students to realize that we all make mistakes and that in making a mistake we create an opportunity to learn.  Simply put, we learn from our mistakes.  The second picture I shared was a collage of a mistake I made this summer.  Here is the picture story of my mistake:

I wanted to show students that I make mistakes, big and small, on a regular basis.  The students tried to figure out my mistake.  Can you?  I will share the story of my mistake in a couple days.

I hope the students will not be afraid or worry about their mistakes.  I hope they will learn from their mistakes.  Please F.A.I.L.

Greg Kostiuk