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a sense of confidence that could have projects” as part of the classroom to prove that it was worth the invest-
been shattered with a John McLaugh- experience has transformed learning ment. We forget that we must also in-
lin-esque “Wrong!” for his students. Instead of following vest the time and effort into experiment-
In our classrooms we must encourage teacher-driven directives and assess- ing with that technology in our classes,
students and teachers to accept chal- ments, students are encouraged to often without so much as a road map.
lenges, take risks and to use failure explore their “passions” while incorpo- Many times a technology is brand new
as a means for growth rather than a rating 21st century skills of collabora- to our academic landscape. With each
deterrent to their learning. Carol Dweck, tion, creativity, critical thinking, and new technology, we need time and a
philosophy professor at Stanford Uni- problem solving. Similar to the concept mindset that instills tolerance for trial
versity, encourages us to embrace “the of Genius Hour, students create an and error. FlipGrid has become an
growth mindset [in which] challenges essential question they would like to effective tool, but not without some
are exciting rather than threatening. solve and then determine the steps initial confusion. Gathering feedback
Rather than thinking ‘oh, I’m going to they will take to research, analyze and through Google Forms has improved
reveal my weaknesses,’ you say, ‘wow, develop strategies to solve their prob- tremendously once we figured out
here is a chance to grow.’” While this lem. Student projects have ranged how to respond without editing a
type of culture may take time to develop, from working with students struggling document. After some fits and starts,
it can begin by building positive relation- with cancer, to assisting senior citizens one of our 5th grade teachers referred
ships with your students and/or staff that learning to use iPads and Nooks, to to Hapara as the “greatest thing ever.”
are built on transparency, trust, kindness raising awareness for the struggles of Had we accepted failure as a terminal
and heaping doses of empathy. battered women. As students analyze point, none of these or many other
the challenges of addressing these technologies would have impacted our
A Practical Approach issues, they tend to struggle with their students' learning successfully.
newfound independence and the ab-
As principal of Pequannock Valley sence of step-by-step direction, yet the One of our approaches to reinforcing
School, I am a proponent of fail- failures that occur along the way have our support for embracing failure is to
ure. (Yes, I said it.) I encourage my led to solutions that ultimately lead to ask people to remember that favorite
teachers to develop new lessons, learning. To that end, students have toy or video game from childhood.
implement new technologies, and created “failure boards” in the class- Purposeful failure was required to
challenge the status quo. We had the room that ask their peers for feedback learn its nuances, to figure out how it
opportunity to have Jimmy Casas, to issues they run into in addressing fit into your world. Initially, you failed;
author of Culturize, provide a keynote their questions. Failure becomes a eventually, however, that toy became
address to our staff on the first day support system that assists students part of your tried and true toys. Moving
of school. His mantra was, “Every in fulfilling goals and ultimately, driving back to adulthood and our impact on
Student, Every Day, Whatever it their learning. learners: ultimately, failure and play
Takes.” Over the past several years are both forms of learning. Both are
the school has transformed learning Technology at Play critical pieces of the process and lead
through the use of a 1:1 Chromebook to purposeful integration of something
initiative. Our staff has embraced It is an exciting time to be an educator wondrous into already successful
book studies and teacher-driven who embraces failure. The rapid infu- instruction.
professional development in an effort sion of technology into our educational
to do “whatever it takes for students.” landscape has created opportunities to So…
Some of our extensions, apps, file teach lessons that would have previ- When Jimmy Casas posted a slide
sharing methods, or innovative ously been considered unimaginable; that read “Don’t fear failure. Fear
instructional techniques have failed. as an extension, the perceived fluency being in the exact same place next
Or bombed, to be more precise. Our of our students with technology further year that you are today,” there was
mentality, and we are fortunate for impresses on us an urgency to use a palpable response from our staff.
our level of staff buy-in, has been to this technology in our schools; how- Those words need to ring true not just
analyze why and then look for ways ever, this technology and urgency is as motivation in early September, but
to make our lessons and activities not without a cost, both monetarily and as mindset for every day thereafter.
better for students. emotional/intellectually. As schools and Reinforce that mentality in your daily
districts spend resources to provide
One of our biggest success stories technology for our classrooms, we are messages and actions with students,
has occurred in Allen Kaye’s seventh increasingly pressured by boards of staff, colleagues, and parents and you
grade Social Studies classroom. His education, administration, teachers, will change their thinking. If someone
desire to challenge himself and his students, and parents to make that says “That won’t work in my school,”
students by implementing “passion technology useful in our classrooms, our response is “yet.”

Educational Viewpoints -12- Spring 2018