Procedural Patience

What I Learned In School Today: It’s okay if something doesn’t work perfectly the first time.

Today we held our first fire drill of the year and it went well, thanks in part to our teachers preparing our primary aged kids. Was the drill perfect? No. Do we have some tweaks to make? Yes. Are we prepared to keep the kids safe? DEFINITELY!

This brought to mind the idea of procedural patience. This time of year teachers are painstakingly developing routines and implementing procedures In their classrooms so that they can run efficiently and effectively. We also know the importance of the first days in the school year and the time needed for a new procedure to become routine. Today's fire drill reminded me that time and repetition is necessary for everyone, not just students. If changes are made to a procedure such as a fire drill, it will take some time for it to become routine. As long as the kids are safe, that is perfectly fine.