Taking Risks as a Teacher: 9 Reasons Not to Listen to the Jokers
Taking risks as a teacher means trying something outside your routine even when it might flop. Two common obstacles are what Hope and Wade King call "jokers": your own self-doubt, plus colleagues who discourage you. Start small, check safety and school policy, and expect to revise.
Part 3 of 5 … Join us in the third installment of a five-part series that tells the story of how one dedicated principal observed positive change in the classroom when teachers incorporated the principles and philosophy from the popular book, The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King.
I have always been a high-energy kind of dude, but how many times have I had people make comments about the projects I did in my classroom, or the ones I'm doing now in my school as a principal? These comments sometimes are said directly to me and are backhanded, while others get retold to me from mutual friends. In addition, I sometimes have negative self-talk about what I can and cannot accomplish. This holds me back sometimes from reaching my potential.
If I truly took to heart what these people were saying as well as my own self-doubts, I would have left education my first year. In Wild Card, a book by Hope and Wade King, they label and describe this self-doubt and negative internal talk as "jokers." I have expanded that to also include the people who make comments that may hold you back.
In my first year of teaching in Lakeside, Montana, I created a school-wide reading program. I had just moved back from Alaska, and I was highly engaged with the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. I had brought back a half-scale model of a dog sled that was given to me as a gift. I was excited to hang it in our school's entryway. I then created an 8' by 8'map of Alaska. A picture of a dog sled was then used to track each classroom's reading. The sleds would travel from Wasilla to Nome … a distance of over 1,000 miles. Each scale mile the sleds moved across the map was equated to the number of minutes students read in the classroom. Students and (most) teachers loved watching the dog sleds move across the map as students updated it once or twice a week to show progress.
Then…a "joker" comment was made: "You are not going to continue to do this (big project) when you are my age and have kids."
I didn't quite know how to respond to this comment. I could agree and say, "Yes, I have time now, and I love doing this stuff." I could also disagree, which is what I wanted to do, and say, "No, I hope I don't lose the love and passion for learning with kids."
Small digs like that have occurred all throughout my 20-year career in education. Sometimes they come from parents, but they hurt the most when they come from colleagues. The comments can play into your psyche and determine your self-worth at times. They can even hold you back from greatness and creative breakthroughs.
The worst comment I received one year was, "Keep it up, you make us all look good." When I dug into that comment, my read was that the person wanted the opposite. My interpretation was that they were worried about looking bad for not doing it too. I can't actually know what was behind it, and that's worth saying plainly.
If you need more convincing as to why you shouldn't listen to these jokers - and your own self-doubt - then here are nine reasons why you should ditch it all!
1 - Taking A Risk is Scary, but Necessary!
Stepping outside of the normal teaching routine can be downright scary. Not only does the fear of failure set in, but the fear of what students will say when the lesson flops creates even more stress. The routine we fall into day after day can provide the necessary structure for ourselves and may even be beneficial for some students who strive for the same structure. Unfortunately, mundane and rote routines don't hold every student's attention. Some students respond better when a lesson gives them something to be excited about. My own observation over twenty years has been that the more engaged a class is, the more of a lesson tends to stay with them, though that's the read of my own classrooms rather than a research finding.
In the book, Wild Card, Hope and Wade King encourage teachers to step outside their comfort zone and try some new instructional and engagement strategies. This is something that benefits both the teacher and the student. For example, a room transformation may put students (or doctors, in this exercise) into an operating room wearing medical scrubs and masks while dissecting multi-syllabic words. This simple idea can make a vocabulary lesson more engaging and more memorable for students who now make the connection between using a scalpel for the dissection and pronunciation of new vocabulary words.
Starting small can make a new approach more manageable. When something flops, we must be honest and tell students we as teachers make mistakes and have failures just like them. We may be showing our vulnerability, but we are letting them know it is okay to fail. Failing and making mistakes is an opportunity for new learning to take place (see #3 below).
2 - Eliminate the Need to Compete or Compare, Have Fun!
When looking down the hallway, it may be hard not to compare what we are doing with another teacher. We see that one specific teacher is always implementing grandiose ideas and putting on what looks like a big show. We may think in our head, we can't do that. If we continue to compare and judge, we will find ourselves being complacent and unhappy with our instruction. It is interesting, though, that one specific teacher and her students seem happier, and it looks like she even enjoys her job more than you.
Eliminating the need to compare can set you up for some fun, too. Do something different - don't be afraid to be yourself. What types of interests do you and your students have that would make a great learning experience? When you delve into that simple question, the world can be your oyster. As mentioned above, I took my love of the Iditarod and created a school-wide reading program that tracked minutes read. We set a school-wide goal. Though our school culture allowed for a little healthy competition, it was based on goal setting and competition with ourselves. Each student wanted to contribute to moving their dog sled on the map. I didn't set this reading program up to compete with other teachers in my school building. I developed the program so we can all share a combined positive culture-building experience, and the bonus was increasing our reading enjoyment and achievement. If you can keep culture-building as the premise for your instructional decisions, those activities may support engagement and a positive learning environment.
A second grade teacher in my school transformed her classroom into Jurassic Park. All made from cheap school supplies, a 6' foot volcano was created, desks were put together that resembled Jeeps, and huge Easter eggs were painted to resemble dinosaur eggs. When teachers visited her classroom, they were in awe until she explained some of the simple materials she used to create Jurassic Park. This inspired other teachers to do room transformations of their own. The best advice is to "do you" and "have fun." Find something that is unique to you and your students, or simply pull an idea from Pinterest, tweak or copy, and begin.
3 - Mistakes are Where the New Learning Goes!
Students benefit from seeing how we handle adversity and setbacks. Using the mantra, "Mistakes are where the new learning goes," gives students permission to fail or make a mistake. Treating mistakes and revision as one useful part of learning is worth building into a classroom. Plenty of inventions took years of trial and revision before they worked, and it doesn't take much research to find one. That cycle of trying, missing, and adjusting is a normal part of problem-solving.
Problem-solving and perseverance are two qualities worth teaching alongside content. Anyone can take an iPhone into a college exam and pass it if they were allowed to use it as a tool for the test. Problem solving is what's left when the tool is gone. We want students who can work through a difficult situation and keep going when it gets hard. Angela Duckworth's research on grit examines how perseverance relates to achievement, and it is one factor among many rather than the dominant predictor of how a life turns out. As you may know, grit can be synonymous with perseverance, and both are difficult to grow. We as educators must figure out how these characteristics can be part of everyday instruction.
Cultivating grit in our classrooms means we accept failure and teach our students how to work through adversity. It is one of several things that can help a student down the road.
4 - Ignore the Naysayers!
In my experience, you may hear other teachers cutting up their fellow colleagues on a routine basis, and some of it has felt to me like jealousy. I can't know what's actually behind another person's comment, but the effect on you is real either way. So, why should we step outside of the box if we know these comments are coming? Whether they are directly to our face or behind our back, we owe it to our students to create a learning atmosphere that breaks down these barriers. A great mantra to use with colleagues and your classroom can be stated with these powerful words, "Create the world you want to live in."
One caution before you write off every objection. Not every piece of pushback is a joker. A colleague or an administrator may be raising a real concern about curriculum alignment, student safety, accessibility, cost, instructional time, or school policy, and that kind of feedback is worth hearing and acting on. The distinction to make is between unproductive negativity and useful professional feedback, and it isn't always obvious in the moment. If you can't tell which one you're getting, ask the person what specifically worries them.
A teacher who can ignore naysayers can set themselves and their students up for success. No matter the comments, looks, or actions, you are modeling for your students that positivity, creativity, and how a growth mindset can set you free. Being set free means we are free to learn, free to have fun, and free to enjoy our time together. We are creating problem-solving citizens in our classrooms that will be contributing to society much the same way they have seen it modeled.
5 - No Matter Your Years of Service, Start Now!
It may seem like the teachers with all the energy and grandiose projects are young whipper-snappers just starting out. This is a myth. In fact, many tenured and seasoned teachers transform their classrooms, inject new types of energy, and take on engaging projects for their children. These teachers understand that their students should get the best…someone excited about learning…they deserve it. In the book, Kids Deserve It by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome, the authors state,
"Kids deserve an excited adult. They need someone who's ready to explore and laugh with them all day - someone who's looking for those magic moments, full of high fives coming down the line with energy radiating all around."
Notice how this quote does not specify an age range. You can bring the energy and ideas from the book, The Wild Card, into your classroom as soon as you make the commitment. You are never too old to infuse new ideas and energy into your instruction. The sooner you start, the more fun and excitement you and your students will enjoy.
6 - Extravagance is Stressful, Start Small!
When becoming a Wild Card Teacher, start small. You can try a room transformation. It is more than adding decorations or changing around your room. It is a philosophy that comes with creating a multi-sensory experience for learning that ties in all curriculum areas for a unit. If you get on Pinterest or even YouTube to learn more about classroom transformations, you will find many that are extravagant and seem time-consuming. Yes, there are a number of teachers that go over the top with creating elaborate and even expensive transformations.
What I recommend is looking for an easy win to start your path. Find a room transformation that fits your curriculum and standards, and that can be done in under an hour. Starting small will help you have success with your first transformation. Understand that students will still be amazed that you have tried something different in the classroom. Your excitement around getting it ready will spread to the students. One of our fourth-grade teachers this year did a pirate-themed room transformation with a large ship, captain's wheel, and even a plank for students to walk. She recorded their faces and reactions when they came into the room. Students were loud, almost screaming, with excitement as they could not wait to start the day of learning.
One practical step before you build anything. Masks, large structures, a six-foot volcano, rearranged desks, costumes, and a plank for students to walk can raise accessibility, fire-code, supervision, allergy, and mobility questions, and some of them run into school or district policy. Check your building's safety and accessibility requirements first, clear anything structural with your administrator, and ask whether any student in the room has an allergy, a mobility need, or an accommodation that the setup would work against.
Here are the four transformations described above, and what each one actually required:
| Transformation | Subject and Grade | What It Took |
|---|---|---|
| Operating room | Vocabulary, multi-syllabic words | Medical scrubs and masks, with students cast as the doctors |
| Jurassic Park | Second grade | Cheap school supplies, a 6-foot volcano, desks arranged to resemble Jeeps, painted Easter eggs as dinosaur eggs |
| Pirate ship | Fourth grade | A large ship, a captain's wheel, and a plank for students to walk |
| European Explorers | Fifth grade social studies | Pirate-theme decor, sailing garb, and a daily weather forecast that changed each group's voyage |
7 - Your Students Will Remember the Experiences First and Foremost!
Speaking only for myself, the experiential lessons I sat through are the ones I still remember. I can't tell you what any particular student will recall in ten years, and I wouldn't want to promise it. What I can say is that the lessons that stayed with me were the ones where something was actually happening in the room.
When I think back to my own learning experiences when I was young at Fort Benton Elementary (side note: I frequented the principal's office routinely), I do have strong memories of my experiential learning. One of my favorites was a simulation game in 5th grade that dealt with the European Explorers to the New World. The teacher spent time getting the room decorated with some pirate theme, as well as sailing garb. Each day we would work in small groups to survive the boat trip from one of the European countries to the New World. Every student was engaged and sat on the edge of their seats as the teacher read the weather forecast and other related events that affected our voyage. I remember the feeling of this experience as well as some of the content…30 years later.
We have to continue creating learning experiences that engage multiple senses, as well as infusing excitement into learning if we want the information to stick. I understand that this cannot be done for all curriculum areas as it would be an excessive amount of time and effort. If we start small and create instructional learning that connects with students, we are on the correct pathway.
8 - Creativity is In the Eye of the Beholder
Creativity seems to be abundant with certain teachers. They know how to precisely take an idea and make it their own to connect with students. Jealousy may set in, and you may think that this teacher is just so much more creative than you. I am here to tell you, most of the great ideas we see in classrooms are already being done by someone else. If we take time to research, we can find an idea that is similar to our original thought, then we can make it our own.
As educators, we were taught to beg, borrow, and steal ideas as we started our careers. If you are like me with 20 years under my belt, I have been able to collect a plethora of ideas for classrooms. When I implemented them, I always put a little twist on the original idea to make it my own. It becomes quicker the more you implement these new ideas. I always felt my creativeness was quite low compared to all the teachers in my school. I learned it doesn't take much to impress and engage your students. Some of the smallest things can be used as props to get students engaged. Creativity is truly in the eye of the beholder.
9 - Fixed Mindsets Prevent Creative Breakthroughs
Carol Dweck's work with Growth Mindsets has influenced educational discussions about the way we talk to our students, and even our own children at home. We are reframing language, giving examples, and even practicing words we can use when problem solving or tackling a new learning task. When someone has a fixed mindset, they are having a difficult time giving up the preconceived notions, as well as possibly battling their own self-talk or "jokers."
A fixed mindset tells us we are not good enough, nor creative enough to pull off a room transformation and change our instruction. A fixed mindset can also discourage experimentation in your classroom. If we want students who are growth-minded, then we must also practice being growth-minded ourselves to ensure it is being modeled correctly.
A growth mindset supports breakthroughs, allows for risk taking, and gives us permission to fail and to try again. As I said earlier, "kids deserve it." We must not let our "jokers" override our passion and energy in providing powerful and engaging learning experiences.
Continue reading... find the fourth installment of Jon Konen's 5-part Wild Card Series here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does taking risks as a teacher actually mean?
It means trying an instructional approach you have not used before, knowing it might not work. That covers a room transformation, a simulation, a new grouping structure, or handing students a problem you have not scripted an answer for. The risk is not recklessness. It is accepting that a lesson you have never run cannot be guaranteed in advance.
What should you do when a lesson you took a risk on flops?
Say so out loud to the class, name what went wrong, and tell them what you would change. Doing that can provide an opportunity to model reflection and persistence, which is the argument this article makes twice over. Write down what failed while it is fresh, keep the part that did land, and run the revised version rather than shelving the idea.
How do you take a risk without much prep time or money?
The author's suggestion is to cap the first attempt at about an hour of setup and use materials already in the building. The transformations described above ran on painted Easter eggs, cardboard, borrowed costumes, and a captain's wheel. Pulling an idea from Pinterest or from a teacher down the hall and adapting it counts, and it gets you a result faster than inventing something from scratch. Whatever you build, check it against your school and district safety and accessibility requirements before students are in the room.
What can a principal or instructional leader do to make risk-taking safe for staff?
Leaders can encourage appropriate experimentation while following applicable evaluation requirements and the locally adopted evaluation system. What a principal can and cannot say about how a lesson counts is shaped by state law, the district's evaluation model, collective bargaining agreements, and the adopted rubric, so blanket assurances aren't a leader's to give. What is available: protected planning time, a small materials budget, help thinking through a new approach before it runs, and talking openly about their own attempts that didn't work.
Is it too late in your career to start?
No. Veteran teachers often have the bigger advantage here, because twenty years of collected ideas is twenty years of material to adapt. The barrier is rarely energy or age. It is the assumption that this kind of teaching belongs to someone younger, which is the same fixed mindset the article's last section describes.
- The jokers work in pairs - the voice telling you a project is not worth it is usually your own self-doubt reinforced by a colleague's backhanded comment.
- Start with about an hour - the author's suggestion is to keep a first transformation small enough to set up in roughly an hour, and to clear it against school safety and accessibility rules.
- Model the recovery - naming a failed lesson in front of a class can provide an opportunity to model reflection and persistence.
- Borrowed ideas still count - adapting something from another teacher or from Pinterest is how most classroom creativity actually works.
- Years of service is not the gate - a tenured teacher's stockpile of ideas is an asset, not a reason to leave this to newer staff.
Some career moves may require a graduate degree, additional endorsement, or other credential, depending on the role and state requirements. The sponsored programs on this page include online and hybrid formats built for teachers already carrying a full course load. Verify that a program meets the applicable educator-certification requirements in your state.
As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award.
Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)
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