Rethinking Failure in LX like Mrs. Krabapple!

Who doesn't want a teacher like Mrs Krabapple? The type of teacher who can look past your failures, genuinely try to make a difference, and have high hopes for you.

Theoretically failure in education is indicated by scoring less than the passing threshold on a test, producing a low quality project, or not being able to perform the skill that was promised at the beginning of the learning experience.

But for children, progress and failures can be seen in subtle ways qualitatively far before they can be measured quantitatively. Just like Mrs. K notices in Bart.

Failing to infinity

When I was in the 7th grade, we had a science lesson on 'Mirrors and reflection of light'. The teacher got creative and had a few students act out the parts of an incident ray, reflected ray, and infinity - bouncing off of a cardboard symbolic of a mirror. I'm still not sure if this was a fun way to learn or just a sign of ill-funded schooling.

I was randomly chosen for the part of infinity (parallel rays). I got really into it. I drew an infinity tattoo on my forearm with a ballpoint pen and gave the 'infinity' character an angsty teen personality (which no one noticed or cared for, obviously). Then in an amateur method-acting streak, as part of my demo of being infinity, I literally walked outside the classroom and off to the playground and didn't return until the class was over.

While outside, I imagined all the ways in which the acting gig might end. The teacher would probably remind me of my low grades, send a note to my parents questioning my upbringing, or pick up a ruler (old-school convent). To my surprise - the teacher laughed hard when I returned and thanked me for my commitment to the demo. He even walked me to the staff-room to tell other teachers about how I used the infinite/parallel ray as an excuse to just take off from the class.

That well-humored response from my teacher actually got me interested in science that year, and I still remember the diagrams from that particular chapter from the book.

20+ years later I've been invited to science classrooms to help design learning experiences for children in creative ways.

LX-ing like Mrs. Krabappel

As an LX Designer working with kids, if you ever see a Bart Simpson type low-performing student - be a Mrs. Krabappel and look for the intelligence hiding within pranks, acts, shenanigans, and ballpoint pen tattoos.

Besides outcome assessments, feedback and surveys, performance metrics, engagement analytics and retention rates - consider adding some open-ended questions and projects that allow students to be creative!

Share your thoughts!

?? Have you ever had a difficult experience as a student that an educator turned around?

?? How do you define failure in LX?

?? How do you offer opportunities for growth in an LX?

#learningexperiencedesign #k12education