Up, Up and Away

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way."
       Learning by mistake....or should I say mistakes is a valuable method to absorb information.  While not always efficient, it is a way to make sure the lesson sticks.  That's an indirect message I've gotten from some of my readings on learning environments.  Create an environment where students are encouraged to develop hypothesis and then discover if they are correct.  The important thing is not the conclusion, its the process.  How did you come to that answer, how did you succeed or fail?  When there is no fear that there will be consequences if the hypothesis fails, students are free to consider broadly and deeply and to coin a cliche, think outside the box .

     They will fail, but they will learn why and that is the most important facet of the equation.  Being able to consider, evaluate, recalculate and find the right path taps all the higher order and 21st Century Thinking skills that are so important in today's world.  Don't let mistakes hold back your instruction, my father once told me the a person who doesn't make mistakes, isn't doing anything.  Apparently they're not learning anything either.