Practice Makes Progress

Calesse Smith
Oct 7, 2019
3 min read

Do you ever feel like your finish line is constantly just beyond your grasp? That as hard as you try, you’re never quite there (wherever “there” is)?

Today I was giving a lesson to some first graders about how to write their very first book report. I gave them a sheet that had questions such as, What is the title of your book? Who is the author of your book? and Describe the main character. On the back of the sheet there was a large space for them to draw a scene or character from their book. Many of the student protested loudly, “I can’t do this! I’m not good at drawing! Please, can you do it for me?”

I responded, “I don’t care what your drawing looks like. I just want you to try your best.” Many continued their objections. “I don’t expect your drawings to look like the illustrations in these books. These illustrators are professionals. They have been practicing and honing their skills for many, many years. When they started off, they were just like you!”

“Right!” one of my students added. “Practice doesn’t make perfect. We don’t have to be perfect. Practice makes progress!” The rest of the kids looked over at him, busily drawing away, and got right down to business.

Right at that moment, I wanted to hug that student’s parents. Clearly he’s getting some very positive (and reinforced) messages at home about trying, putting forth effort, and valuing the process over the product.

I work with many students nowadays who are hesitant to try a task if they aren’t certain they’ll be successful right away. Their fear of failure, or what they perceive as failure, is so great, it keeps them from even making an attempt in the first place.

Do you remember that cheesy quote from a poster hung behind your math teacher’s desk in middle school that read, “Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”? As cheesy as it may sound, that’s the message kids, and even some of us adults, need to remember. As we grow older, our failures have greater and greater consequences. But our opportunities for taking risks don’t diminish. We’ve got to embrace the fear of failure, or risk missing out on some amazing possibilities.

We’ve also got to instill in children while they’re young that giving your best effort is worth something. Sometimes your best will be enough to help you achieve your goal…and sometimes it won’t. Now I’m not jumping on the bandwagon of, “Everyone gets a trophy for participating” (or breathing or merely existing), but neither do I want kids to feel like their efforts aren’t recognized. They need to have repeated, low-stakes opportunities to get better with trial and error, and to gain experience over time. Then when they face high-stakes possibilities of failure as adults, they have built up some resilience for managing their emotions and the real life repercussions when they do inevitably fail.

It’s easy for kids to feel like adults have everything figured out, that nothing is difficult for us, that we are invincible, strong, and we never doubt ourselves or have to face our fears. I like to have real, open, and honest conversations with my students during appropriate moments when I share that I am far from perfect. I still make mistakes, but I’m learning and growing every day – and that’s part of what makes like exciting and worth living!

I’m sure there are adults in your life, too, who seem like they’ve got it all together; the successful, high-powered job, picture-perfect family with high-achieving beautiful kids, perfectly manicured home, and Instagram-worthy family vacations where nothing ever goes awry. But if you ask them, and they’re perfectly honest with you, they’re holding on to this thin façade of perfection just as tightly as you are. The truth is, we all are.

So let’s agree to give one another a little grace, admit our faults and mistakes to others, and