Mistakes as opportunities for learning
Aruna Sharma
I have been teaching Hindi to grades 7 to 10 for the past 18 years. During this time, I have faced several challenges, such as helping non-Hindi-speaking students grasp the fundamentals of the language, encouraging them to speak in Hindi, and above all, kindling their interest in reading Hindi.
I wish to share my experience of taking a specific course titled “Mistakes or MISSED Takes?” I learnt to see mistakes as opportunities and this process not only changed my thinking, but also had a positive impact on my students. I think my account may be particularly useful to teachers who are looking for new perspectives and strategies to address their students’ mistakes.
When I first enrolled in the “Missed Takes” course, I was doubtful whether it would be effective for me and my students. I used to correct my students’ errors repeatedly while teaching Hindi and I noticed that students would sometimes become discouraged by their repetitive mistakes.
On the very first day of the course, I realized that I had been viewing mistakes as punishable offenses, whereas in reality, they are opportunities for learning. I was taught that we should see mistakes as part of the learning process. This brought about a significant shift in my mindset, and now I look at my students’ mistakes from a completely different perspective.
In this course, I learnt several new strategies. First, I prepared the ground for sharing mistakes by laying open, to the entire class, my own mistakes. I recounted how I used to make errors as a student and this was a revelation to my class. They had never thought that their teacher was fallible too!
Next, I led the class through a process of identifying errors. I drew a map on the board that showed various types of errors (see Figure 1). Using my experience of their common errors, I placed before them various types of errors and gave examples of each.

Photos courtesy: Aruna Sharma
I then asked the students to identify their mistakes on the map and create a checklist. Each student marked their recurring errors on a chart and acknowledged them.
Figures 2 and 3 show some errors identified by students of grade 7.

Scrutinising and correcting mistakes through sequential activities
I then prepared dummy worksheets, where I made deliberate errors belonging to these categories. I told the class that these were worksheets of some other school and that I needed their help in correcting them. (see Figure 4.)

Students were asked to first spot and then correct the errors. During this stage, I had them work in pairs and assigned specific challenges related to grammar and spelling. For example, one pair had to find mistakes related to nouns and pronouns, while another had to identify errors in gender or number. Having identified errors, they then moved on to correcting misspelt words. As a continuation of the “spot the error” activity with dummy worksheets, they were asked to do peer correction of actual worksheets. This segued easily into students proofreading their own work. (see Figure 5.)

I observed that when students identify their own mistakes, they become more active and enthusiastic about correcting them. Slowly, as their confidence grew I felt the need to kindle their interest in the language. In order to excite them about Hindi, I showed my students silent movie clips and asked them to script – and then speak – the dialogues for those scenes. I also played a few English audio clips and asked them to translate these into Hindi. This activity was particularly effective for non-Hindi-speaking students, as it helped improve their writing and communication skills. I also encouraged reading Hindi during the school’s ‘DEAR’ (Drop Everything And Read) sessions, where every Thursday, all students focused on reading Hindi for half an hour. This enhanced their reading habit, and now they approach Hindi literature with more interest.
Now comes the question: how would I know individual students’ progress?
Tracking students’ progress
I began tracking students’ mistakes by maintaining a chart, so I could see which errors were recurring and for who. This helped me better understand students’ individual weaknesses and provide more accurate and customized support. Earlier, students would use maatras without thinking. But now, after first pronouncing it, they ascertain which maatra will come where and even proofread their work before submitting it. Gradually, their mistakes started decreasing. By week 5, they had somewhat managed to gain control over their errors. (see Figure 6.)

What I stopped and what I started
In this process, I adopted some new methods, which I will continue to use regularly, such as:
- pairing students for tasks
- creating mistake charts
- using silent films and
- having students proofread their work.
At the same time, I have abandoned some of my old methods, such as:
- immediately correcting students’ mistakes and
- viewing mistakes through the lens of punishment.
This course changed my thinking. Earlier, I saw mistakes as a sign of failure, but now I see them as opportunities for learning. I also noticed a change in my students’ attitudes; they no longer fear mistakes, instead, they try to correct them.
The author is a dedicated Hindi educator with 18 years of experience teaching grades 7-10. Passionate about fostering language skills, she transforms mistakes into learning opportunities, employing innovative methods like peer correction and creative activities to inspire and empower her students. She can be reached at aruna.sharma@suchitra.in.