The times we are wrong

If I were to think about how many times a day I was wrong about something, I would probably be bummed about it. I am wrong about little things (like which line to stand in to check out at the grocery store) and medium-sized things (like wearing heels on a day when I am in several walking meetings). I try really hard not to be wrong about the big stuff, but that happens, too.

The thing about being wrong is that I am upset about it in the moment (I mean, who isn't?) but I try to remind myself to learn the lesson from it so that I don't repeat the mistake. That is just one part of the joy of being wrong.

But a measure of wrongness can show you how much you are still learning. In this interesting article that I caught in one of my feeds and my wonderful husband also noticed and sent me, the authors think about wrongness from a unique perspective: If all you ever got was 100 percent correct on a test, then the result would be that you aren't really being challenged. Getting some questions wrong shows that you are still learning, but of course, you don't want to get all the questions wrong.

Thinking back through my own academic life, I was a mostly A and B student. There were a few classes that I  sailed through - no challenge at all. And there were a few classes that I worked really hard in to maintain good grades: Those are the ones that I remember the most.

While all of this makes sense, it is hard to take in when we think about our own child's academic success. I want my son to learn and grow and be challenged, and I also want him to do his best.

What classes did you take as a student that were too easy? Tell me in the comments.