What do you consider an #EpicFail?

As the semester winds down I am left taking inventory of my preformance over the past 16 weeks. Could I have done better? What have I learned? Can I apply what I've learned?

I've spent considerable time complaining about GNDR 501. Sometimes just in passing, sometimes my complaints are more blatant. It makes you wonder if I took anything else (I did actually, Research Methods in Social Science.) But it's the 501 that I'm really worried about. It was difficult for me to put into context until I read Kristen Lamb's thoughts on failing. What is a true failure?

My conclusion is that a true failure is something that you fail to learn from. In this case, 501 is my true failure. Was it my fault? Partially, I shouldn't have procrastonated so much. Maybe reading the whole chapter, rather than just skimming, would have been helpful. However, I don't think the failure (and grades are due by Dec. 13th, so we'll see then how big the failure actually is) is totally my fault.

As an undergraduate student in a graduate class, I was way out of my leauge. The feedback I got from my professors wasn't totally helpful. They never told me how I was doing in terms of a grade (I think I'll get a "C", but I'm not sure.) There was constant complaining about how our book did a horrible job of explaining the concepts we were talking about. Expectations were not clearly laid out.

So yes, I had a hard time learning from my own mediocrity. Luckily, there are a few things I can learn from this experience that don't make it a total failure. One, if I ever end up teaching I now know how not to teach. Two, the importance of not procrastinating has been reinforced for me. Three, I know to never take a co-taught class again.

What are some of the most important things you've learned from an epic fail?