Lesson learned: Open up and share what you learn

A couple of days ago, one of my students walked into my classroom with one of those looks that told me it had been a rough morning and he was bringing his Mr. Grumpy Pants with him to school. I tried to be all positive and bubbly and first grade teacher on him, but it did nothing to change his mood. He just sat at his desk and wouldn't do his morning work. I told him encouragingly that he needed to get it done, at which point he threw his notebook on the ground. I picked it up with a smile and suggested he just work on the first one. And then he ripped out the page and told me I was annoying. At which point happy first grade teacher went away and we started having some consequences.

Three and a half hours, one tantrum, 10 minutes in think time, the silent treatment from both parties involved, one missed recess, and several exasperated sighs later... he finally got his morning work done. And then it was time for lunch. (In hindsight, yes, I probably should have handled this differently and not let it turn into a power struggle. So... I'm not a perfect teacher.)

But the point of the story is actually what happened the next day. Mr. Grumpy Pants came to school all smiles, thank goodness, but there was another kid who decided she didn't want to do her morning work that day. Just as I was thinking to myself, "Oh, no. Not again..." Mr. Grumpy Pants went up to Miss I Don't Want To Do Anything and told her, "Hey. Just do it. Then it won't take forever and you won't be sad and you'll get recess." And then something incredible happened... she sat down and did it. I was amazed. And, oh, so grateful that Mr. Grumpy Pants had stepped up and helped out.

More and more, I am realizing that God wants us to learn from our trials and mistakes not only so that we can become better and grow closer to Him, but also so that we can help others become better and grow closer to Him.

But, in order for this to work, we need to start telling people what we have been through and share the things that we've learned. Yes, that means we will have to be vulnerable and share some of our weaknesses, which tends to make us feel super uncomfortable. But if we all just keep pretending that we have life figured out and that we never make mistakes, then we are never going to be able to help others who, you know, don't have life figured out and make mistakes. Why not be open and possibly save someone from going through a hard lesson to be learned?

In the education world, did you know that students actually wouldn't do any better if they were taught one-on-one all of the time? Research has shown that students learn better when they are in a class. Why? Because there is a social aspect to learning. Students can teach and learn so much from each other. There's a reason that we have all been put into families and friendships and relationships and communities and groups and wards. We are supposed to help each other. And learn from each other. That's the whole point.