【Eachofusfailsfromtimetotime．Ifwearewise，weacceptthesefailuresasanecessarypartofthelearningprocess．Butalltoooftenweconveytoourchildreneitherbywordsorbyactionsthatfailureissomethingtobeashamedof，thatn】

　　Each of us fails from time to time．If we are wise，we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process．But all too often we convey to our children either by words or by actions that failure is something to be ashamed of，that nothing but top performance meets our approval．

　　Donnie was my youngest third-grader．His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played excitedly．He seldom answered questions---he might be wrong．He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadn't made a mistake．

　　I tried my best to build his self-confidence．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，admired her．But even enthusiastic，loving Mary was baffledby this little boy who feared he might make a mistake．

　　Then one morning we were working math problems．Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row．Pleased with his progress，I left the children with Mary．But when I returned，Donnie was in tears．He'd missed the third problem．

　　Mary looked at me in despair．Suddenly her face brightened．From the desk we shared，she got a canister （小筒） filled with pencils．

　　"Look，Donnie，"she said，"I've got something to show you．"She removed the pencils and placed them on his desk．"See these pencils，Donnie？"she continued．"They belong to Mrs．Lindstrom and me．See how the erasers are worn？That's because we make mistakes too．Lots of them．But we erase the mistakes and try again．That'what you must learn to do，too．"

　　She kissed him and continued，"I'll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you'll remember that everybody makes mistakes，even teachers．"Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer （少许） of a smile．

　　The pencil became Donnie's prized pos