Permission to Pivot

Melissa Laurie
Jun 18
2 min read

Rewriting the Rules of Teaching—One Brave Shift at a Time

If you’ve ever looked around your classroom and thought,"This isn’t working, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to change it," this one’s for you.

Teaching is full of invisible rules. Some are helpful. Many aren’t. At The GAP Lab, we believe you should always have permission to teach with joy, creativity, or curiosity. But sometimes it helps to hear it anyway:

You can pause a lesson for a teachable moment.
You can throw out the worksheet.
You can follow a student question into uncharted territory.

Let’s explore what it means to pivot, gracefully, intentionally, and with heart.

What It Means to Pivot

To pivot doesn’t mean throwing everything away. It means realigning: with your values, your learners, and the kind of educator you want to be.

Common pivots we’ve seen:

From rigid lesson plans → to responsive inquiry
From behavior charts → to co-regulation and connection
From indoor-only classrooms → to outdoor, real-world learning
From compliance → to creativity

These pivots don’t require perfect conditions. They require courage, and often, community.

Signs It Might Be Time to Pivot

You feel exhausted trying to “manage” everything.
Your students are disengaged or just going through the motions.
You find yourself asking, “What’s the point of this activity?”
You’re spending more time controlling behavior than sparking curiosity.

If any of that resonates, it’s okay. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re doing something brave, you're noticing.

Small, Brave Pivots You Can Try This Week

Pivot a question: Instead of asking, “Who can tell me the answer?” try “What do you notice?” or “What else could be true?”
Pivot the setting: Take one lesson outdoors, even for ten minutes. Movement and nature can do wonders.
Pivot the product: Let students choose how they show what they know: a skit, model, journal, podcast, drawing.
Pivot the pace: Slow down. Linger on an idea. Let students wrestle with it.
Pivot the posture: From expert → to facilitator. From answers → to questions.

Rewriting Your Own Rules

What rule have you been following that is no longer serving you? What belief could you replace it with?

Old Rule	New Truth
I have to cover everything.	Deep learning happens when I follow the spark.
If it’s not quiet, they aren’t learning.	Learning is often loud, messy, and alive.
I can’t go off-script.	The best lessons often come from the unexpected.

Make a list. Then choose one belief to replace this month.

Final Thoughts

Permission isn’t something you’re given. It’s something you claim. Every time you make a change in service of wonder, well-being, or authenticity- you’re rewriting what school can be.

And that makes you a leader, whether anyone’s named it or not.

We see you. Keep pivoting.