We all make mistakes. Some are huge, some are pretty small; some may have a critical impact, while others we can smile at and move on. What’s most important about mistakes is that we learn from them.
I feel I rushed The Capybara Flag Revolt, because I just couldn’t wait to hold it in my hands. I am certainly moving much slower with book 6. Actually, I have been not moving at all, for quite a while.
The beginning of the school year takes so much mental energy, which can be physically draining. Two weeks ago we had parent-teacher-student conferences. While it’s generally a fabulous week connecting with families, it’s exhausting. This exhaustion drizzled into last week, and I found myself crabby and tired. Luckily this weekend has been rejuvenating, and I am ready for the week!
So back to the mistakes. Alyssa introduced me to sourdough starter, and it was love at first sight. Until it wasn’t… It’s a time commitment, but a new recipe allowed me to start on Friday, and have a beautiful loaf in a day or two. I keep the starter in the fridge the rest of the week, and find it to be therapeutic to knead/fold it every 30 minutes for 4-7 hours. No, I wasn’t lying about the time commitment!
My first loaf was so beautiful! And then I got cocky… I decided to make a jalapeno cheddar loaf. The starter was runnier when I fed it on Friday, but I let it do its thing. It was still runny on Saturday, so I added a bit more flour. I should have added more. Since the weather was cooler last weekend, I put it in our office with a space heater. It rose pretty steadily… right over the side of my bread pan and on to my desk. Good thing I had cleared the papers from anywhere near it!
It seemed too late at this point to add more flour, so I baked it as directed. It wasn’t something I am proud of, and would love to hide it from the world. But if we can’t be a little vulnerable, admit our faux pas, and move on, what’s the point? It was dark, but not really burnt. Once I trimmed off the outer “rind” and sliced into the loaf, I found it to be incredibly tasty! Whew! My time and effort hadn’t been wasted.
So this week I went back to the basic recipe, judged the starter when I fed it on Friday, and baked a perfect loaf today. I learned. That’s all that matters.
So I will share this concept with my students tomorrow. It’s not actually new to them. We do celebrate mistakes, because everyone makes them. What we do when we discover our errors shows our character. Are we going to keep making the same mistakes? Or try something new? I model this every day in my classroom, making purposeful errors for them to find, as well as a few OOPSIES I’d better learn from!
So book 6 will continue when I can dedicate some serious time to it. Until then I will keep teaching, baking, traveling, and hanging out with my family.
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
~ Thomas A. Edison
Until next time…
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