How to Fix Procedures That Seem Great in Theory

We’ve all been there—you design what feels like a brilliant classroom procedure, get excited about how innovative it is, and then… it completely falls apart with real students.

In this month’s tips episode of If Teachers Ruled the World, Leah shares her biggest procedure fails, including an overly complicated digital task card system she was so proud of she started selling it (spoiler: nobody could follow it), and a semester-long annotation project she stubbornly kept going despite knowing it wasn’t working.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to tell the difference between teenage snark and genuine feedback

• The best questions to ask students for real answers

• When to pivot mid-lesson vs. waiting until the next day

• Why relationships are the foundation for honest feedback

• How to admit your “brilliant” idea flopped—without losing credibility

Leah’s two big takeaways: don’t beat yourself up for trying something new, and don’t spend an entire semester forcing something that’s clearly not working.

If you’ve ever overcomplicated a system or defended a procedure that made everyone miserable, this episode is for you. Sometimes the simplest solutions really are the best ones.