"Our doubts are traitors, and makes us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."
---William Shakespeare Measure for Measure. Act I, scene iv.
Teenagers have so much self-doubt and fear, it pretty much fuels every decision they make. This can make it challenging to try to get them to be bold, try new things, and not be afraid to fail. They are so afraid of "looking stupid" and they are reminded through social media on a 24-hour basis of what others think of them, that often they don't see their own potential no matter how hard you try to help them see it.
I think one of the best lessons I ever taught my students was that a failure is only a failure if we don't learn from it. I'm as competitive as they come and I certainly wanted to be chosen as the best play for conference and I wanted my students to all get superior ratings, but it doesn't often go that way. I've had productions where everything comes together and it's a beautiful thing and I've had productions that were real stinkers. Regardless of the outcome, I always felt that post-production meetings were crucial. It's a chance to sit down as an ensemble and discuss what went right and what went wrong and how we can do things better next time. I did this for every production, class performance and competition and I think it was the most valuable tool I ever gave my students. It gave my students an opportunity to really reflect, and it helped them see that nothing was ever really a failure. Just putting on your pants and showing up is a success sometimes and if it didn't turn out the way you had hoped, then what can you take away from it? It was helpful to keep myself in check too, especially my competitive side. So my Wednesday Wisdom for today is keep failing to succeed!
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Jeana Whitaker
Retired Theatre Teacher
EdTA Alumni
www.jeanawhitaker.com------------------------------