This week in the Michiana area there have been (and will continue to be) a number of fantastic, free learning opportunities all under that coordinated efforts of IDEA week . The South Bend Mini Maker Faire was one of the first events and along the way Adam Savage, Daymond John, and others will have shared their thoughts on entrepreneurship and creativity.
I headed down Monday evening to listen to the ultimate Maker - Adam Savage. He shared his passion for inventory, love of all things Stanley Kubrick, and how his obsessiveness has lead him to painstakingly make all manner of items. During the question and answer period he fielded a question about infusing creativity in the classroom and his response was enlightening.
Savage first made it clear that he is not an educator. He then went on to say that in his opinion some schools and teachers have been overusing and stressing the word failure. He quipped 'Failure is getting drunk and missing your kids birthday party. What failure really means for kids is, it didn't turn out the way you thought it would, and that's great, that's why we do these things. We make things because it's interesting and didn't turn out the way we thought it would. That's life!'
I instantly started replaying conversations in my mind where I had used the word failure with teachers. I have seen the acronyms for FAIL - first attmept in learning - and many other takes, but what he said really resonated. These student attempts are not 'fails.' Failure is just too harsh a word to use with kids, it doesn't belong in schools.
I encourage you to think about how you have approached this with your students and think about updating your messaging. In the future I'm going to replace the word with the phrase 'it didn't turn out the way you thought it would.' It might be tough to make an acrostic poem out of - but I think the change is important.