Student-teachers

I've been teaching a group of pre-K and kindergarteners Spanish for a few weeks now.

Today, we learned to count to 10. After a couple of tries as a group and a few games, I asked who would be brave enough to try counting on their own.

Many of them raised their hand. I was impressed that so many of them got it so quickly!
I was about to give myself a good pat on the back until I realized that most of them could barely get to two. And still, they tried — no embarrassment, no judgment.

It's naive, I know, to assume that adults can be as carefree as these kids. But it got me wondering whether being a little more like them wouldn't be great. I have to really think about what I want to say and whether it is worth saying it before I do, especially in classes. I'm scared of saying something stupid, so I often don't say anything at all! Most perverse of all, questions need to be intellectually stimulating too (you might want to already know the answer, actually), so small doubts and concerns often go unanswered. And all because I don't want to seem like I don't understand, when in reality, that's what school is for.

I can personally learn something from these kids, who try, even when they know they'll "fail." The truth is, that's actually more impressive than always saying impressive things.