Middle School News Detail

Reflection with LS Principal Elena Jaime

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Yesterday’s third grade music share, the last music share of the year, represented a year’s worth of investigation, exploration, and creation. It has been a pleasure to reconnect with the students and adults in the community over the past few days.
Over the past six weeks, I have experienced the sheer joy that comes from welcoming new people into the world and into one’s family. From the moment I met them, Luna and Juno have continued to remind me of the daily miracles that mark these first few weeks and months of life. As Elizabeth Stone’s quote reminds me, the decision to have a child is to truly decide to have one’s heart walk outside one’s body. As anyone who has made space for a child in their life can attest to, the impulse to protect your child, your heart, from harm and pain, whether physical or emotional, is powerful. This impulse is essential to the role of a caretaker. It can, however, have the potential to undermine an important tool in the development of healthy, successful people- failure.
 
In a recent article published in the Atlantic, Isabel Fattal writes about the “value of failing.” In it, she examines the work of Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, recently named to head the Education for Persistence and Innovation Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Her research has focused on the value of failure in learning. Lin-Siegler argues that when educators and parents make space for failure and then encourage students to reflect on what went wrong in order to improve upon it, then true learning can take place. In fact, Lin-Siegler says, “Failure needs to give people a chance to regroup and rewind the clock.” In the past, there has been a great deal of focus on the “grit” and the struggle that take place regardless of the outcome, and I believe that there is importance in honoring that resilience. This work, however, compels me to think about the ways in which we are charged with supporting children when that struggle leads to challenge and failure, and inviting children (and ourselves) to see failure as a gift that creates space for reflection and a chance to “rewind the clock” and try once more in order to create something even more wonderful.
 
In these final weeks of school, I would like to offer this time as an opportunity to think about ways in which you can reframe the idea of failure in order to invite your children into that reflective space. Sharing your own personal anecdotes focused on moments during which you failed and reflected on that failure model that this process is inherent to learning. In time, children will feel invited to share their own failures and reflections. Additionally, remaining cognizant of your own reaction in the face of hearing your child’s failures is essential. Rather than trying to quickly move your child through the disappointment regarding the failure and anticipating success the next time, spend some reflecting with your child on what they learned from this moment and what they would do differently the next time. This will set them up to try again. The Most Magnificent Thing, a picture book written by Ashley Spires, highlights this lesson in the experience that her character has when attempting to invent a “most magnificent thing.” It’s a beautiful story, perfect for all ages, and one I highly recommend. Spires also authored the book, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, which is worth investigating.
 
Finally, please make note of the scheduled “What to Expect in...” conversations taking place during the month of May. Last Friday, Judy, Debra and I hosted the first conversation for rising first grade families. This coming Friday, May 11, we will be hosting the rising second grade families, with the third and fourth grade conversations taking place on Friday, May 18 and Thursday, May 24, respectively. We will be speaking to the ways in which our understanding of the developmental needs of children across a variety of domains (social, emotional, cognitive, physical) inform the structure of our program at each grade level. We will also speak to how parents and caregivers can support the needs of their children at each stage.
 
Warmly,

Elena Jaime
Lower School Principal
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