Feeling the Failure

It's 1:19 AM, and I'm sitting here feeling like a failure because I just don't understand why some of my students aren't completing their elearning assignments. I doubt I'm alone. Why am I stuck in this feeling of failure when there are SO MANY things going well? Funnily enough, I wrote about failure in my book, Boredom Busters. So tonight I reread those pages, and I have some thoughts about how my words hold up in light of our COVID-19 closures.

Just so you know, as I scrolled through the footage to pick a cover image, I laughed out something like a goose honk, into my quiet, sleeping house, when I saw this frame. So, here you go. You're welcome.

We didn't get the choice to start small. We had to make massive, sweeping changes very quickly. And, y'all, we did the best we could.

The beautiful thing? The world saw it.

If we fail in the name of sincerely trying to do what's best for our kids, perhaps we'll find grace. Patience. And the chance to try again.

Tonight, as I look through my notes from this week, I'm reminding myself to slow down, to give myself grace, to take a breath, and pick ONE thing. My one thing is going to be how I communicate directions. After a long email exchange with a student who couldn't attend live class, this just about killed me.

So I'll survey students, check in with parents, pick the brains of my colleagues, and unpack why my seemingly clear directions are not working for a handful of students.

And I won't forget to celebrate the wins, like this:

I'm right here with you.