Learning from Failure and Remediation 

“Learn from your mistakes.” Everyone says it, but no one mentions how hard it is. Failure is hard to accept; it hurts and it's easy to want to just forget about it and move on. This can lead to you repeating the same mistakes over again on the next big test or project. This becomes even harder as you transition from Mastery course to college class with no remediation. Here's a couple tips from a student well versed in failure. 

 

Breathe, relax, take a break

It can be easy to get caught up in failure, to look at it subjectively, get hurt or angry at the assignment or yourself. Take a break, look at it with a level head. Don’t put your personal worth on this grade, but remember repeated mistakes form a habit. Don’t take too long, you don’t want to fall behind.

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Remediation Tip

It's better to try and remediate while the information is still in your brain. You don’t want to have to re-study to finish your remediation. 

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Look at all feedback

Look at any and all feedback you receive, whether that be the score on the questions, comments on a paper, or a rubric on a project, look at everything. Take note as to what you did really bad, along with what you did kinda well or even really well. Look for common threads if any. Did you make a bunch of small mistakes? Did you bomb all the grammar parts? Did you not do any of the last problems? 

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Look at remediation process

Look at your teacher's expected process before you start, each teacher’s is different and may change between semesters. It should be on the syllabus or you can ask your teacher for clarification. There might be different processes depending on what and how much you got wrong.

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Deduce why you got things wrong

Start looking at the threads from last time and analyze what they might mean. Recall what you did before and during the test that could create that outcome. Try to find the root cause and not the superficial one.  Did you go too fast causing a ton of errors? Did you forget to study grammar? Did you poorly manage your time taking the test because you were stressed? 

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Figure out ways to change 

Is there a way you can prevent the root cause from happening again? Look deeply at how to avoid the same pitfall you fell into. Research online to see if there is any inspiration that might help. Remember! Something that works for someone else might not work for you. Trial and error and trial by fire are probably the only true methods you have.