The Opportunity in the Failure

There is a moment in Dungeons and Dragons where one character tells another: "The minute we stop failing is the minute we fail."

In education, we are so afraid of failing—really failing, trying something and having it not work—that we do not try anything. We keep doing what we know. We add data meetings and observation protocols and PD days, but we do not actually change what happens in classrooms.

Because changing what happens in classrooms means trying something new. It means the first attempt might not work. It means we have to be visible in our learning.

Education is not comfortable with that. So we stay safe. We keep lecturing. We keep having quiet classrooms. We keep telling students who cannot keep up that they are just not math people or science people or readers.

And we tell ourselves we are trying.

But here is what I also observed: In the 5% of classrooms that were not primarily lecture-based, something different was happening.

Students were talking. Not to each other about homework or weekend plans, but about the concept. About their thinking. About why they believed something was true or false or incomplete.

Teachers were not giving answers. They were asking questions. And then waiting. Actually waiting. Giving students time to think.

Students were writing not just answers but explanations. Why do you believe this? What is this missing? How would you explain this to a first grader? What questions do you have about this?

And students were thinking. You could see it. The furrow in their brow. The conversation at their table. The argument about whether an approach was right or wrong.

In those classrooms, students knew they were thinkers. Not everyone felt like a math person or a reader yet, but they knew their job was to think, not just comply.

And in those classrooms, proficiency was higher.

So the failure is an opportunity. The failure means we know what to change. We just have to decide to change it.

The Question Worth Asking

Before you read further, ask yourself: In my school, what percentage of classrooms are primarily lecture-based?

I am guessing it is higher than you think. Because most leaders have not spent 1,200 classroom observations asking that specific question.

Most leaders are looking for other things. Is the classroom managed? Are students on task? Is the lesson aligned to standards? Are students engaged?

Those are good questions. But they do not ask: Are students thinking?

And if you do not ask that question, you will not see it. You will walk out of a lecture-based classroom thinking the teacher did a fine job because the management was good and the students were working.

But students were not thinking.

That is what needs to change.

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