Failure Isn't Failure When Handled Well

Our Downey Elementary Crew had the unfortunate experience of losing all their fish with the Trout in the Classroom Project. You may say, Nicole, why would you want to highlight something like that. My response to that is because it was an experience rich with learning experiences!

We first noticed our fish were struggling back in November. This gave myself and Lead Teacher, Kayla Montgomery the perfect opportunity to do a deeper teaching on the cleanliness of the water and testing chemical levels in the water.

It was great to see 4th graders truly caring about the fish and the condition of the water in their tank. They paid close attention as I shared with them that we would be testing the water for pH & ammonia levels. Several students assisted me with the testing. Other students assisted added the water cleaners we used to purify the tank. Ms. Montgomery had a wonderful discussion with the students about how the process of cleaning the water happens without adding chemicals in nature.

Though our fish were not able to fully recover, because the students were diligent in cleaning the tank and assisting with testing, we were able to slow down our loss and learned some valuable lessons along the way.

I am truly proud of our students for hanging in there and not giving up even when the situation was disappointing for them. I hope to see some future scientists or marine biologists come out of this group. This trout "failure" held valuable lessons for them that I hope they will take into their future educational experiences.

Looking forward to a great spring with some exciting projects for both of my schools, Downey and Melrose Elementary Schools.