I have already said Barbra Streisand is my favorite singer. I have used many of her songs throughout all these years in the classroom. I usually choose those songs that lead to some reflection, discussion - some food for thought. This song here has always been succeful. I remember sending it to a group of students I prepared for the ECCE Examination from the University of Michigan. I knew some of them would not be successful but even after having a very sincere talk with them they insisted they wanted to try. I got home and started to think how frustrated they'd probably feel if they really had to face "failure". Well, to make a long story short again, in the middle of the night this song came to my mind and I sent it to the group. It proved to be really helpful as I got a number of emails thanking me for the support and specially for the song. They really got the message and realized we do learn from our mistakes if there is such a thing because as Barbra puts here "there are no mistakes...just lessons to be learned..." How about you? Is there any personal experience you would like to share? A "mistake" which turned out to be a good lesson to be learned. I'd love to hear from you.
6 comments:
Every day I learn from my mistakes, Gilmar. When I think I cannot do something, I tend not to give up, keeping making mistakes, and then I figure out a way of doing it!
But, I guess my biggest mistake was when I decided to change a job that I loved for a government job, a stable one because of family pressure...Well, I learned a lot, but then just quit and decided my true passion was teaching!
Look, one little detail in your tags. Great that you're adding more, but in Blogger, you need to put commas in between them so that each word is a different tag. Great job! Also, you might consider using a color which is not so bright...try light gray. It might be better for readers, or one that isn't too bright for the eyes.
Thanks Carla... I guess I can understand this thing about the stable job and family pressure. Your hints are always precious and I'll improve things here.
You have made a great point.
You know Glimar, I must say I am far from being perfect - LOL. In fact I am so imperfect. I am always making mistakes, and I learn from them (most times). That is actually the most efficient way of learning for me, because my mind tends to capture that very moment in which I made that mistake, and then there is a better chance I won't do it again!
By having chosen languages as my learning field, I see myself fighting imperfection all the time. Learning a language is always a lost battle, in the sense you will always make a mistake, no matter how tiny it is. I used to tell my students that we all make mistakes while using language, even in our mother tongue, and so we might as well get over it and talk - practise the language - it will get better with practice,we will get closer to perfection. Somehow it helped them to feel less shy/afraid of talking in class.
I look at kids and see that they still don't have that awareness of perfection, and how happy they are learning, without thinking they might be making mistakes.
In fact, when kids go to primary school it never crosses their minds they will never learn how to spell, to draw the letters...They just get on with it...
sometimes adults just make it harder...harder on their selves.
I think mistakes are good, they make us aware of how much we know and how much we still have to learn. After all, we are only able to recognize mistakes if we know enough to spot them! ;-)
Thanks for the song and the post. They are indeed really inspiring!
Hi, Gilmar.
"Lessons to be Learned" was a wonderful post: so empowering, so filled with positive thoughts and images! I also agree wholeheartedly with one of the main thoughts in the lyrics: "There are no mistakes—just lessons to be learned."
I'm a great fan of Barbra Streisand, too. I admire her primarily for two reasons: her enormous musical gifts (especially styling and interpreting and her impressive range) and her quirky, individualistic, "I am who and what I am" lifestyle.
I hadn't listened to any of Streisand's songs for quite a while until I visited your blog and played the video. Thanks for the gift, Gilmar!
Here's a gift for you: A Kid Again.
Dennis in Phoenix
Dear Dennis..
You are always so kind and wise. Thank you so much for the comments. As for the gift - it can't get any better than that.
See you...
Dear Cristina..
Thank you for visiting this blog and always making ineteresting comments. I could not agree more when you mention the kids'way of learning here. I happen to have a 5-year-old-niece and we live together. She's been attending school for almost 2 years now and it's amazing to see the process of learning taking place. She's like a spounge(like most kids)when it comes to learn. I could also try to describe it if we think about this brand new computer you have just bought.There's nothing or very little installed in the machine and then you go choosing things to help you throughout the journey. We tend to be really careful with these machines as we know how expensive (precious) they are so we become selective and want to have only the best installed there. This is very close to the learning process (for kids mainly)IMHO.
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