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In Praise of Foibles
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In Praise of Foibles
The Impact of Mistakes, Failure, and Fear on Continuous Improvement in Schools

  • Ron Nash - Ron Nash and Associates, LLC


August 2023 | 120 pages | Corwin

Classrooms should be inviting and safe places where students can strive to achieve worthwhile goals, even as they learn that the road to improvement is not always paved. This deceptively simple guiding principle is what Ron Nash has spent four decades in education pursuing and refining. In Praise of Foibles: The Impact of Mistakes, Failure, and Fear on Continuous Improvement in Schools is the guide every teacher who has ever wanted to take a chance on improvement needs to read.

Learn the research-based techniques and best practices that enable you to:

  • Establish an environment of safety instead of fear
  • Encourage risk-taking and resilience
  • Set high expectations and achieve high engagement
  • Let go of control and watch your students flourish

Author Ron Nash returns with his inimitable writing style and disarming honesty to show how every teacher can transform their classroom into what students need to be successful in the 21st century.


 
About the Author
 
Acknowledgements
 
Prologue: Fail Forward
Things That Go Bump in the Road

 
Neither Snow, nor Sleet, nor Pain

 
Just Start Writing

 
Easy Doesn't Do It

 
The Gift of Letting Them Figure Things Out

 
 
1. All They Have to Fear
The Fear Factor

 
Beyond The Classroom

 
A Foundation of Trust and Respect

 
The Frazzle Factor

 
Safety First

 
The Do Your Own Work Syndrome

 
The Peers Have It

 
The Learning Zone

 
Moving Forward

 
 
2. You Call That a Mistake?
The Great Toilet Paper Miscue

 
A Little Empath, Please

 
Mistakes Are Inevitable . . . and Profitable

 
Find Another Lens (or Two)

 
Failure and the Creative Process

 
Moving Forward

 
 
3. Something Borrowed, Something New
Four Lenses

 
There Is Always Right Now

 
What Students Want

 
A Glass Filled to Overflowing

 
Listen More; Talk Less

 
Only One Way to Find Out

 
Moving Forward

 
 
4. Feedback and the Modeling of Listening Skills
Sources of Feedback

 
Working the Room

 
Model Listening Skills

 
The Purposeful Pause

 
Paraphrasing for Clarification

 
Make Praise Useful and Authentic

 
Moving Forward

 
 
5. I Used to Think . . .
Sustaining the Status Quo

 
Speaking of Thinking

 
Writing is Thinking

 
Work the Room

 
Moving Forward

 
 
6. Take Care of the Kids; They'll Take Care of the Tests
Win-Win Classrooms

 
Culture as an Accelerator

 
How We Do Things Here

 
Cultures Designed for Comfort and Learning

 
Dump the Excuses

 
No Excuses Here

 
Moving Forward

 
 
7. Build Improvement Systems to Last
Toxic Cultures

 
The Why, Not the Who

 
The Value of Why

 
Seek Feedback and Use It

 
Concentrate on Root Causes, Not Symptoms

 
Let Faculty Meetings Meet Their Maker

 
"What Are You Going to Do About That?"

 
The Beat Goes On

 
Offline and Onsite

 
From Congenial to Collegial

 
Don't Blame the People; Fix the System

 
Fail Quickly, Fail Forward, and Keep Running

 
Move Forward

 
 
Epilogue: The Far Turn
 
References

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Paperback
ISBN: 9781943920570
$24.95