Each of us fails from time to time．If we are wise, we accept these failures as a 1 part of the learning process．But all too often as parents and teachers we disallow this same right to our children．
When I see a child suffer from this kind of 2 , I think of Donnie．
Donnie was my youngest third grader．His fear of 3 ,kept him from classroom games that other children enjoyed．He 4 , answered questions — — — he might be wrong．
I tried my best to 5 his confidence．But nothing changed until midterm, 6 Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned(安排)to our classroom．She was young and pretty, and she loved children．My pupils, Donnie included, 7 her．
One morning, we were working math problems at the chalkboard．Donnie had copied the problems with great care．Pleased with his progress, I 8 the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials．When I returned, Donnie was in 9 ．He’d missed the third problem．
My student teacher looked at me 10 ．Suddenly her face brightened．From the desk we shared, she got a container filled with 11 ．
“Look, Donnie,” she said, kneeling beside him and gently 12 his tearful face from his arms．“I’ve got something to 13 you．” She removed the pencils, one at a time, and placed them on his desk．
“See these pencils, Donnie,” she continued, “They belong to Mrs．Lindstrom and me．See these erasers(橡皮)．How are they 14 ? That’s because people make mistakes, even teachers．But we erase the mistakes and try again．That’s 15 you must learn to do, too．” She kissed him and stood up．“Here,” she said, “I’ll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you’ll 16 that everybody makes mistakes．” Donnie looked up with 17 in his eyes and a smile．
The pencil became Donnie’s 18 possession．That, together with Mary Anne’s unfailing 19 for even Donnie’s small success, gradually 20 him that it’s all right to make mistakes — — — as long as you erase them and try again．
