Skip to main content

Is not knowing OK?

Jon Kabat-Zinn claims in his book that not knowing is OK. He said we never want to admit we don't know because we don't want to look foolish and that we have been conditioned to think this way. This reminded me of Sir Ken Robinson's argument on how children are taught that being wrong or making mistakes is wrong even though it's part of human nature. He also claimed that even scientists have claimed that they don't know, which is what pushes them to move forward and find answers.

As a teacher, I know I can't know everything. Which right now terrifies me, because I don't want to be wrong or make a mistake. If I were making the mistake with myself that would be fine, but if I make a mistake in class then I would be failing my students! I really hope that doesn't happen in class, but deep down I know eventually will. No one can avoide mistakes forever, and I guess I have to make my peace with that.

Hopefully, I will have established an enviornment in class that's supportive and encouraging so that no matter who makes a mistake, may it be me or one of the students, we encourage each other to get back onto our feet and try again. Because after all, not knowing or making mistakes is part of human nature.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 1, 2018 at 8:15 AM

    I love how you refer back to Ken Robinson's talk because it is totally relatable! I also enjoy the part where you talk about the fear of being wrong in the classroom as a teacher. This is a huge fear that I possess as well because there is nothing worse than losing the trust of your teachers word in a classroom. It breaks your vulnerability completely!
    Thanks for sharing! (-:

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My (really awful) Poem About Advocating For Students

I'm really bad at writing poems, especially if they are supposed to convey a deeper meaning. What I want to bring across is how I want to be a positive role model in kid's lives and get them excited to come to class. I want to make my class fun, and have really fun discussions about texts as well as learn how to write your own texts! (Essays, poems, short stories, etc.) I remember sitting in class, dreading every minute of it. Why am I supposed to be interested in a subject that bores me to tears? "You'll use this in real life" my math teachers always said. I think they forgot that calculators exist. But with literature class, I always looked forward to it. I liked discussing opinions and having fun, Our teacher knew how to make the class enjoyable. Our class environment was really friendly and supportive, Which is something I hope to bring in my future classroom. Like I said, my poetry skills are not the best. This is the best I could come up with in ...
2 comments
Read more

I held the door shut...

I know a lot of cheesy inspirational quotes say "hold the door open for opportunities" as a metaphor for having new experiences and opportunities to work with, but what about metaphoric flies? No one ever thinks about that. What about a really bad opportunity? I'm in a good mood today, as you can tell, so I wanna talk about the bad results I have seen by trying things I knew I wouldn't be good at but was pushed to do them by my parents, peers, or friends. #1: Riding a rollercoaster after eating. Can you guess how that story ended? (You probably can.) So, my friends and I drove up to Denver to go to Elidge Gardens. I was a bit hungry so I had some food, and immediately my friends wanted to go on the rollercoaster. I tried to say no, that I'll just watch and wait for them to get back, but they pushed me to ride with them and I threw up as soon as I got off the ride. #2: AP. American Literature. I wasn't always interested in Literature, and my A.P. American...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watching the March For Our Lives

I woke up today, turned on the T.V., flipped the channel to MSNBC, and didn't turn it off until 2:30 which is when I went down to Olde Town Square to participate in Fort Collin's march. The speeches I saw were so amazing and moving; my mother sister and I watched and cried together as the march went on. I loved the fact that only the kids spoke today--no adults! What an amazing sight! This truly is the future generation's revolution. This also meant that people couldn't say that because a Democrat spoke at the march, it was a political thing. This is a life vs. death thing. I am mainly writing today because I wanted to talk about what my mom said while we were watching the march. She said that when she was younger, she used to have the fire that these kids have. She used to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves, she used to shout when she saw injustice, and that's the reason she became a teacher. She wanted to bring that fire to the future gener...
2 comments
Read more