1 . Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a _____ part of the learning process. But all too often as parents and teachers we ______ this same right to our children. When I see a child ______ from this kind of pressure, I think of Donnie.

Donnie was my youngest third-grader. His ______ of failure kept him from classroom games that other children enjoyed. He ______ answered questions — he was afraid he might be wrong. I tried my best to build his ______. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, all ______ her very much.

One morning, we were working on math problems at the chalkboard. Donnie had ______ the problems with pains-taking tidiness. Pleased with his progress, I _____ the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in ______. He’d missed the third problem. My student teacher looked at me in despair.   Suddenly her face _____. From the desk we shared, she got a container filled with pencils.“Look, Donnie,” she said, kneeling beside him and gently ______ the tear-stained (弄脏的) face from his arms. “I’ve got something to ______ you.” She removed the pencils, one at a time, and placed them on his desk.   “See these ______, Donnie,” she continued. “They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are ______? That’s because we make mistakes too. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That’s what you ______ learn to do, too.” She kissed him and stood up. “Here,” she said, “I’ll leave one of these pencils on ______ desk so you’ll remember that everybody makes mistakes, ______ teachers.” Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and a smile.

The ______ became Donnie’s prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne’s frequent encouragement, gradually ______ him that it’s all right to make mistakes — as long as you erase them and try again.