Let’s Change Our Mindset: Respect and Celebrate Mistakes
                                                                    By:  Amy VanAllsburg

Project at a Glance :

This project is designed for a 4th grade classroom. Our goal is to change the negative culture associated with making mistakes into a positive culture that respects and celebrates them. The pandemic changed the confidence level of many students, and it is important to build it backup so students feel comfortable taking risks. Through this project we will create a school environment that promotes seeing mistakes as part of the growth process and help build a better mental mindset about making mistakes. Then, we can all celebrate the journey to success.
       
Driving Question:

How can we create a School Environment that celebrates mistakes?            

Standards:

• Softskills: Teamwork and Achievement
• ELA Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing Standards

Team / Culture Building:

• Creative DNA
• Values Cards ​​

• Emoji Postcards - How do you feel when you make mistakes?

Entry Event:

• Playground Survey / Staff / Parent Survey - Students work in partner teams to gather up information about how people feel when they make a mistake?

Stakeholders:

• Students 
• Staff Members
• Parents

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholder Map 
• Empathy Maps
• Analyze School Survey Results
• Share Video:Small Talk: Mistakes
• Introduce the following books: The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein, I Can’t Do That Yet by Esther Pia Cordova, The Dot by Peter Reynolds

 Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Anti-Problem (How can we create a learning environment where students/staff feel ashamed of their mistakes?)​​

• Jigsaw Articles: I would have the students work in small groups to research articles about learning from mistakes.
• Compare/Contrast Essay - A Mistake I Made/ A Mistake My Parent Made
• Presenting Essays to 5th Graders for Public Speaking Practice
• Story Share and Capture 

Incubation:

•  Idea Quota
• Sort Ideas using the Rule of Thirds protocol -  Obvious, Crazy, and Breakthrough Sections
• Mind-Mapping - Driving Question in the middle and have students branch off ideas related to the question.
• I Like, I Wish, I Wonder Charts - Students meet whole class to share feedback of things they like, wish, and wonder about concerning our ideas generated.

Checking in:

•  Harkness Circle with Talking Chips - This is a great activity to help students reflect on what activities have been so far, and discuss the direction they're heading in.​​

• Fireside Chat 
• SWOT Anaylsis - Using charts, students will work in small groups to share the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of their ideas.. Then, each team will report out with the whole class.

---

Solution Building:

• Storyboard solution ideas with team.
• Conduct a Gallery Walk showcasing Storyboards.  Teams will give feedback and ask clarifying questions.
• Poster Session - Student teams will draw their top two ideas on the poster board and then share out with the large group.

Critique and Revision: 

• DOT Voting 
  
• NUF Test
  
• Where Is the Love? - If students are still undecided use the “Where Is the Love?” protocol as another variation to bring out the idea they are most passionate about in the end.

Authentic Audience:

• Students 
• Staff Members

Final Presentation:

• Students will create an Elevator Pitch- using the Elevator Pitch organization paper, students will begin to look at what strengths they have to contribute to the final ideas.
  
• Prototyping - Students will build a prototype of their solution(s).
  
• Students will create their own rubrics for evaluating work and sharing reflections of their PBL experience.
  

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

•  Survey: Audience Feedback Survey
• Student Created Surveys and Reflection
• Analyzing Analogies - use this protocol at the end to summarize how they felt about the whole PBL process.  Example:  Learning how to celebrate mistakes is like  . . .

Check out the teachers Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:
Amy teaches 4th grade at Lakewood Elementary, West Ottawa Public Schools. 

     "Integrating curriculum through PBL experiences has sparked a passion for authentic, real world problem solving in my students. My 4th graders are more actively engaged and enthusiastic about the learning process since I began using the Creative Sequence and Design Thinking protocols. They are gaining empathy for those around them and building employability skills along the way. It is thrilling to witness their excitement!"