1 . A few years back a group of young teachers from another school was spending a day in my class. They were energetic, bright and _______. However, I noticed a key _______in their approach to teaching. Their desire to help kids was so strong that they never allowed the students to get the wrong answer or take a _______.

We were building _______that week. My students were working in groups of four. Each group was _______a small Viking model rocket, instructions, and the materials with which to put it _______. The challenge for each team was to precisely measure, _______, and assemble their project. One group was trying hard but making mistakes in the placement of missile sections. Several of the teachers _______going over to the kids to show them how to build the rocket _______. On a number of occasions I had to politely but firmly ask them to leave the kids alone.

It’s important to remember that we ________individually define the word failure. In my class, a rocket that doesn’t fly is not a failure. Failure ________only when students stop trying to solve a problem. It may he solved in five minutes, or it may take two months, as was the case where my students built an enormous roller coaster and could not create a loop with enough centripetal force to allow the cars to move along the track safely. ________those two months of failed trials were some of the most fascinating and exciting times the kids had in science that year. And when the roller coaster finally ________, the kids could say they did it themselves. They ________the physics of the roller coaster. I did the best teaching during those two months when I decided to ________and leave the kids alone.