Mistakes Make the World Go Round

On a sheet of paper I had students write down how they felt when they goofed up...made a mistake, failed at something.
The students wrote.
It wasn't hard.
We have all been there.
We have all messed up and we know how it feels.

I then had them crumple up the paper to illustrate that we could throw those old thoughts of mistakes away.

Mistakes have always gotten a bad rap.
We strive NOT to make a mistake.
To be as perfect as we can.
We don't want to expose our flaws.

However, when we look at brain research,
We can see just how beneficial mistakes can really be.
When we make a mistake, a synapse is created to strengthen our learning, ultimately making us smarter.

After this microscopic brain lesson, I had students reflect on how they would view mistakes from this point forward.
Their responses amazed me.

"I will look at mistakes as things that will make me better over time."
"I will look at mistakes as a spark in learning."
"I will look at mistakes as an improvement."
"I will look at mistakes as learning points."
"I will look at mistakes as opportunity to learn new things."
"I will look at mistakes as helpful things."
"I will look at mistakes as a learning tool."
"I will look at mistakes as learning blocks to build the tower of knowledge."
"I will look at mistakes as a form of a frustrating learning experience."
"I will look at mistakes as opportunities to get smarter."
"I will look at mistakes as something you can fix."