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It is important to acknowledge that making mistakes is an essential part of the learning process. This tool is a short reflection to use after an activity to get students thinking about the learning process.
This TLA is adapted from 7 Ways to Teach Kids Failure Is a Great Thing by biglifejournal.com
1. Set the group an activity that will have challenges and where mistakes will be made (this probably means it is an activity at the correct level – if students could do it perfectly it wouldn’t be learning).
2. After the activity ask students to answer these questions: What did I learn from this? What could I do differently next time? Why do I think I made the mistakes? This makes them acknowledge any mistakes they made and see the learning value in it.
3. You may want to structure their reflections to be part of their learning journal and use a reflective model such as the Reflective Model TLAs.
In a performance class students have just practised a piece for an upcoming performance. In small groups they discuss their answers to their questions, acknowledging the mistakes. They identify learning goals for the week to be focused on in their practice routine.
With large groups, you can either run this as a solo activity and then put students into groups to discuss/adjust their decisions or you could have small-group discussions which contribute to a whole-group activity of generating one list.
Students are conformable making mistakes as they can see the learning that emerges from them.
You could also relate this to other learning journey activities they may have done – such as the Road Map TLA and the Unconscious Competence TLA.
This TLA is adapted from 7 Ways to Teach Kids Failure Is a Great Thing by biglifejournal.com
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