Prepare to FAIL!

We all fail.
We have to.
In today's, "Everyone gets a ribbon" society, it is important to teach our children how to fail.
That's right.  I said we need to teach our children HOW TO FAIL.
I use failure in my classroom almost every day.  The catch is learning how to fail.
I can't find who said it, but a classic quote about failure says,

"Show me a person who has never failed and I'll show you someone who has never tried anything."

It's pretty interesting to watch children fail. Most of the time there is a collective, "OHHHHHHHH!!!" and then re-building begins immediately.   I have also had students who can't handle failure. The act of failing brings them to tears.  It seems silly to some, but to have a block tower fall, or a tin foil boat sink, is a massive failure that is completely unacceptable. Then we see the waterworks.

I fail all the time. Literally every day. But I also try a lot of things!

I have several thoughts on failure. I'll share a few here.

"If things aren't working and you try something that doesn't work...then you haven't lost anything."
I use this ALL the time on the football field.  When the defense I'm calling isn't working, I try something else. If that's not working, then I haven't lost anything.  I fail more than I succeed. But when I succeed...WA-BAM!  For example, I had a team scouted very thoroughly. They then had their quarterback who had been out for 4 weeks come back and ran a completely different offense. My middle blitz was not working at all.  So I tried a stunt with my defensive end and tackle. Fail.  So I tried an edge blitz to the short side of the field. Fail. After the second fail, I saw what was happening and started blitzing the wide-side outside linebacker. Success.  That combined with a stunt on the back side and we completely shut down their offense. WA-BAM!

"If I try and fail, at least I'll know what to do next."
I use this one a lot in the Army. Sometimes there is a feeling of, "What do I do now?" It's at this point that some people choose to not make a decision. I challenge leaders who work for me to make a decision faster.  Once you make a decision and start moving, you will quickly see what needs to be done. I think of it as a GPS. While your standing still, it may not be clear which way you need to go, but as soon as you start moving, it becomes clear where you need to go next.

"You failed? Good! What did you learn?"
I use this with children who can't handle failing very well. Though their tears I attempt to have them tell me something they learned.  Sometimes it's as simple as, "I learned that I can't stack blocks that high." Sometimes they learn from another success.  It's awesome when I see students fail a few times and then succeed. Don't look now...but your learning!
My favorite phrases, in this order:
"It's impossible."
"I can't do it."
"I think I got it."
"I DID IT!"
"This is easy!"

Failing is a part of learning and a HUGE part of life.  We need to teach our kids that they need to try, and that if they try and fail, it's okay as long as they learn, then try again.