This is our final stand-alone failure story of the season. We added this story series to this particular season because we found that a number of faculty and staff are quietly telling students their own stories of failure. We want to amplify and encourage this thoughtful practice. With this episode, we’re going straight to the top of our college to our current college president, Dr. Ronald Rhames.
We hear the story of a college freshman, here at MTC, who is taking the required English writing course, as many of our students do. And when he received his first marked essay back, the grade was absolutely not what he expected or hoped for. In today’s story, we’ll hear about how the young Dr. Rhames, faced with a failing grade, was at a decision point right at the start of his college career. We’ll hear him narrate his choices and the choices of those teaching him. Dr. Rhames announced this past Fall that he will be retiring in the Summer of 2024 so we’re again speaking to someone looking back at an almost-complete career.
The end of the episode also features information about support the CTE offers our community to tell our failure stories to better support our students.
Stream the episode here or listen through Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Spontaneous storytelling, when you know just the story to tell at the right time, is a great tool in the teaching skill set. However, by planning ahead and deliberately crafting your narrative, your failure story can have greater import and impact on your students.
The CTE has made some simple storytelling guidelines you can use to plan your failure storytelling. If you'd like to consult about producing a recorded version of your story for use in your course, please contact us.
Your stories have meaning in lives other than your own and can offer hope and guidance to students when they're uncertain where to turn. We hope you'll consider adding this practice to your courses in whatever ways work best for your teaching.