You might remember a time when mistakes were bad. We were told not to make mistakes. Red crosses appeared on pages next to our mistakes. And that was reasonable enough. Mistakes can have serious consequences. 

Now we are encouraging mistakes as a part of learning. In some classrooms, we have “festivals of failures”! And recognizing mistakes as part of learning seems reasonable enough too. Trying to go beyond our best will naturally and unavoidably produce mistakes.

So what are mistakes? Are they helpful or harmful? To be welcomed or avoided? To be praised or chastised?

For too long we’ve been treating mistakes with a “one-size-fits-all” approach. And it turns out that approach just doesn’t work! Mistakes aren’t good or bad. In fact, it’s not the mistakes that matter. It’s our actions and the information we can get out of mistakes that matter!

In this webinar, we’ll explore six types of mistakes and the role, or toll, each has on learning. You’ll find:

• how to meaningfully value mistakes (and when not to).
• how to recognise the three “above the line” and three “below the line” mistakes.
• how to shift your praise from making mistakes to taking action.
• the most effective actions for students to take in the face of different types of mistakes.
• how to design mistakes for the greatest learning potential.

You’ll also receive the below free “Mistakes Poster” PDF to display in your classroom, describing the six different types of mistakes.