Guess what, administrators. If you want your educators to teach responsively, dynamically, and sustainably, then you’ve got to create safe spaces for experimentation.

That means that it has to be okay for teachers to try some new things. To leave the familiar from time to time. To make spontaneous decisions. And to make mistakes.

That means that it has to be okay for you as an administrator to walk into a classroom where the lesson plan hasn’t been completely defined. Where the learning activity has yet to appear in a unit plan. Where the teacher asks students to try out new technologies that don’t work exactly as intended.

That has to be okay with you. Because if it’s not — if every instructional decision has to be planned, defined, and described in advance — then experimentation simply won’t happen as often. Or ever.

Welcome to SPARKS: mini-segments intended to spark your thinking and ignite your practice. These short episodes are based on my written reflections, which you can find on the Teachers on Fire Magazine at Medium.com.

Read the blog post featured in this episode at https://medium.com/teachers-on-fire/its-okay-to-be-messy-at-the-start-c4471dc2888c.

My name is Tim Cavey, and I’m proud to contribute to the education conversation through the Teachers on Fire podcast. Make sure to connect with me @TeachersOnFire on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to catch more from me and hear from amazing educators who are bringing growth and transformation to K-12 education today.

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SONG TRACK CREDIT

Flight to Tunisia by Causmic

Tangled by Emmit Fenn

Road Tripzzz by Ofshane

Sunrise Drive by South London Hifi

Fast and Run by Nico Staf

*All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.