Strictly pedagogical

As we work on school improvement, we must look at the skills that lay the foundation for learning and academic achievement.  For too many of our poverty students, school becomes the place where these skills must be taught, nurtured and reinforced.  This must be a school wide, intentional effort.  Every adult in the building must be committed to developing these  skills in our children.  We must backwards design these skills into our curriculum before high school, looking at how these skills can be embedded into the school routine.

Many students are afraid to fail. Therefore they may be afraid to try new things or to ask questions. Too often we may hear the words "I don't know" because the student may feel embarrassed if the give an incorrect answer. This post discusses this topic in some detail before it provides 20 suggestions on ways to work with students to help them overcome the fear of being wrong. Five of the suggestions are below. Additional information on each is in the post as well as fifteen additional suggestions.

* Learning has two definitions and one is failure.

* Always respond to an answer with more than No."

* Turn wrong answers into a learning experience for all.

* The "wrong" answer is often more educational than the "right" answer.

* Remember that everyone is wrong sometimes.

We will never grow if we don't make mistakes and then learn from them. I am sure Bill Gates and James Dyson would agree. Look up any interview with them as they talk about their products.