Letting Go of Perfectionism in the Classroom

Perfection

[per-fek-shuh n]

noun

1. The highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art
2. Something that cannot be improved

Perfection. A word that can be both a blessing and a curse. This single word can lead you to strive to be the very best in all that you do, setting high expectations and goals for yourself. Or it can make you focus your mind on everything you cannot do well, forcing you to feel like a failure when you do not meet your own standards. When we focus our minds on being perfect, we forget to look beyond goals. We miss the impact we are making and often lose sight of what is truly important: being a role model for our students and showing them how to love and learn like Jesus taught.

Perfectionism has always been a part of who I am. It is something I have never attained and never will. None of us will. Growing up, I was the student who did not think a B+ was good enough. I spent way too long on assignments than the average student because I wanted to be the “best.” This pursuit for perfection made me loose sight (at times) of what truly mattered because I was too caught up in the “little things.” Thus, I often missed the big picture.

As teachers, we need to show our students we are not perfect. We too make mistakes. We need to demonstrate this by letting our students watch us deal with mistakes every day. How do we react? Do we become frustrated or do we take a deep breath? What use is it to go through life with nothing to work towards or nothing to improve upon? Life would be pretty boring, we would not grow, and our work would become actions without passion. Our lessons wouldn’t get better and our teaching would stay static. We need to show our students that mistakes are simply learning opportunities. And we should be welcoming every opportunity to learn in the classroom.

When I began teaching just three short weeks ago, I hoped to be that new teacher who never messed up and who jumped right in like I had been there for years- in my mind a “perfect teacher.” That first week of school, I took my kids to the wrong special and we were stranded in the hallway. Soon the librarian came to find us and took the kids to library. Horrified, I told one of the other teachers about my purported first week “mess up.” After looking at me confused she responded, “If that’s the worst thing that happens to you, you’re in pretty good shape!” After that mishap I never assumed I knew where I was taking my kids, I always double-checked our schedule. I learned from it and so far, my kids have made it to the right special ever since.

Being perfect is no longer something I expect myself to be. Instead, I strive each day to be the best teacher I can and to show my students genuine love and care. I now give myself grace to learn from my mistakes and simply move on, instead of dwelling on the past. I am a strong believer in modeling what I teach and if I can show my students that mistakes are okay then hopefully they will believe it too.