Originally published 092823

The Power of Failure

If I hadn’t failed so miserably during the first three weeks at Parkway Middle School (010), I would have never been desperate enough to have found my own way.

The same holds for my first two weeks in the Mac Lab.

020102 (9th day on the job)

I rolled out the cart, flipped on the projector, and said, “Look what I just taught myself to do with Flash!”

A red circle slowly moved from the top of the screen to the bottom, then back up.

As the simplistic animation looped, I asked, “What do you think?”

The kids looked at me like I was an idiot, and some unflattering comments were made.

Wishing on a shooting star, don’t dread the count from ten
If it seems I lost the round, check scenery again
Strategy that I call safe, and umpire calls strike three
Catchers just can’t catch ’em all, runner holds the key
Empty box by empty plate, it always seems the worst
Just before it dawns and you, take second look at first

Earlier that morning (between one breath and the next), an idea blossomed.

It was as brilliant as it was terrifying.

But not as terrifying as losing the teaching position.

I’d spent weeks in the room as a sub and volunteer before assuming the position (pun intended).

The prior teacher (who was, by all accounts, awesome in previous years) had not asked much of the kids.

Sure, a few worked diligently, but most spent their time socializing or playing computer games.

I wasn’t a blip on their radar.

I pitched all five classes.

I’m going to teach myself Flash over the weekend and show you what I learned on Monday. If you still think I suck at Flash after watching my animation, you don’t have to listen to me for the rest of the year. But, if I don’t suck—if my animation is actually kind of cool—we’ll all learn Flash together. Deal?
— Spontaneous Compulsion

“Who judges?”

“You do. But you have to be honest.”

020402

“That sucks!”

After the animation, some joker in every class tried to shoot me down, but some version of “No, it didn’t. How’d you do that?” followed.

After pushing all my chips into the pot, I just needed a winning hand.

Once again, extreme pressure clarified the risk; I had nowhere to go but up.

And together, up we went.

Well, most of us did.

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Context: Many of the games kids played online (in 2002) were Flash-based. So were some of the slickest websites. The program was popular but considered difficult to learn. When I realized that Flash was like juggling and only looked hard, I found my own way to help the kids get up to speed.

Featured Image: Just sayin’.

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