If we don not teach children how to fail AND recover from failure, are we doing the world any good? Success is not guaranteed. If I do not perform my job to my boss’s specifications, should I expect a promotion? Life is not a ‘do your time and get ahead’ game. It is a ‘work hard, learn all you can, perform as best you can, and hope to break even’ reality.

Case 1: A mother came to me furious because her secon grade son got a “C” on his special education math test. (He could not count ten objects.) Her complaint, “How is this supposed to encourage him to do better?” Grades are encouragement?!?

Case 2: A teenager who was developmentally seven years old graduated ‘with honors’ from special education. She couldn’t tell you what state she lived in, but she told me she was going to be a doctor.
She went into deep depression for months when she found out she could not get into community college.

Let’s give education a reality check. Not everyone CAN be president when they grow up. Some NEED to work at Walmart as greeters. Even ‘normal’ children will not excel in all subjects. They should not be taught that they are failures if they are not good at one thing. They should be taught to look at their strengths and find goals that make them happy. It should be our job as educators to help them find their niche, and learn to live as best they can.

Case 3: A young couple worked at the resource center folding inserts for packages. They had a daily contest to see who could fold the most, and the winner got to pick the television program that night. They knew their limits, but reached for their goals with a joyful mentality. That, to me, is success.

If we don not teach children how to fail AND recover from failure, are we doing the world any good? Success is not guaranteed. If I do not perform my job to my boss’s specifications, should I expect a promotion? Life is not a ‘do your time and get ahead’ game. It is a ‘work hard, learn all you can, perform as best you can, and hope to break even’ reality.

Case 1: A mother came to me furious because her secon grade son got a “C” on his special education math test. (He could not count ten objects.) Her complaint, “How is this supposed to encourage him to do better?” Grades are encouragement?!?

Case 2: A teenager who was developmentally seven years old graduated ‘with honors’ from special education. She couldn’t tell you what state she lived in, but she told me she was going to be a doctor.
She went into deep depression for months when she found out she could not get into community college.

Let’s give education a reality check. Not everyone CAN be president when they grow up. Some NEED to work at Walmart as greeters. Even ‘normal’ children will not excel in all subjects. They should not be taught that they are failures if they are not good at one thing. They should be taught to look at their strengths and find goals that make them happy. It should be our job as educators to help them find their niche, and learn to live as best they can.

Case 3: A young couple worked at the resource center folding inserts for packages. They had a daily contest to see who could fold the most, and the winner got to pick the television program that night. They knew their limits, but reached for their goals with a joyful mentality. That, to me, is success.