Giving mistakes their credit
Rather than using worksheets, in a Montessori classroom students use hands-on card materials for practicing concepts. It works like a matching game that starts off with a very simple set of cards, then students move to more advanced card sets as they master the information. As part of my Montessori training I had to create the card materials for use in the classroom… LOTS of card materials! My first set was to help students learn the external parts of a fish, which included over 100 pieces. Making the cards involved creating the digital format for the cards, typing up all of the information, printing, cutting, mounting it onto cardstock, laminating, and cutting again. Mistakes were made through each step of the process. I had to battle with auto-formatting when typing, experimenting with mounting the cards in the most paper-efficient way on the cardstock, learning which types of glue and paper would work (and which ones definitely DIDN’T work!), best measurements for cutting, etc. I may have also had a generous 3-year-old who tried to “help” me cut out some cards when he was supposed to be in bed. All in all, after 10-15 hours (time that is so hard to come by as a mom!) I used the blue cardstock from FIVE reams of assorted cardstock before finally completing a high-quality set of fish cards!
But I wasn’t done! I still had to complete card sets for the other 4 classes of vertebrates! I was pleasantly surprised when each subsequent card set took significantly less time than the last (and it turned out to only use 2.5 reams of cardstock when done efficiently). It took lots of trial and error, but I had streamlined a production process and by the time I got to the last set, I was able to knock it out in 3 hours. And they looked darn good!
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never do anything original.”
What does this have to do with Beacon Academy? We are different because we are a school that embraces making mistakes--failure is one of the best teachers! In the education world of high stakes testing, and using grades to put children on academic tracks that have lasting effects on their progression, the system is creating a culture where mistakes are shunned. Students fear failure to the point that they don’t want to take creative risks.
I could have easily cut corners while making my fish cards and ended up with a mediocre but passable set. However, learning from my mistakes at the beginning saved me time in the long run, and ensured that all of my card sets were uniform and could be reproduced easily. Schools should embrace this natural process of learning! It not only has a more lasting result (creating a greater imprint on our memories), but it also encourages creativity and innovation!
I love so many of Sir Ken Robinson’s words, but one quote from his first TED Talk that stood out to me was, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never do anything original.” Our school’s mission is to “Inspire every person who walks through our doors to find a calling and change the world.” Change cannot happen if you don’t ever try anything new, and you won’t try anything new if you’re too afraid to fail.