image from Curisoity Collective week 3 session
We are now into week 4 of a tiny experiment process for a school I am supporting and as I have been doing wanted to share the process with anyone who might be interested. We’ve explored observing our productivity patterns, making intentional shifts, and testing tiny experiments in our classrooms. If you’ve been following along, you know that this journey isn’t about perfection or rigid success—it’s about continuous learning, iteration, and small, meaningful adjustments.
In Week 4, we are leaning into the reality that experiments don’t always go as planned. This week is about reflection and refinement—deciding whether to Persist, Pivot, or Pause based on real-world feedback from your classroom.
Why This Week Matters
Not all productivity experiments will be instant successes. Some will work smoothly, some will need small adjustments, and others may not serve the purpose we originally intended. That’s okay! The key is to embrace a flexible mindset and adjust instead of abandoning the work altogether.
The Persist, Pivot, Pause Framework
To help you analyze your progress, I decided to introduce the Persist, Pivot, Pause framework. This simple structure allows you to step back, evaluate external and internal signals, and make intentional decisions about what happens next.
- Persist: Continue the experiment if it’s working well.
- Pivot: Modify the experiment to increase effectiveness.
- Pause: Consciously step away from the experiment and reflect on why.
Week 4 Newsletter: Continuous Adaptation
This week’s full newsletter walks through the reflection process, key questions to consider, and practical ways to make adjustments without losing momentum.
Subject: Observe & Adjust: Learning from the Experiment
Focus:
- Reflect on the effectiveness of the tiny experiments you’ve implemented so far.
- Identify what’s working, what’s not, and what can be adjusted.
- Emphasize the importance of iteration over rigid goal-setting—this is about adapting, not proving.
- Give yourself grace in uncertainty—you don’t need to know everything, and that’s okay.
- Introduce the Persist, Pivot, Pause framework to guide next steps.
Activity:
- Reflection Check-In: Take 10-15 minutes to review your PACT Document.
- Look at your experiments from the past three weeks—are they creating positive changes?
- If yes, how can you expand or refine them?
- If no, how can you pivot or adjust without discarding the progress you’ve made?
- Original Pact: What experiment did you conduct last week?
- External Signals: What are some factual metrics of success or practical challenges around your pact?
- Internal Signals: What are your current emotions, motivations, and beliefs around your pact?
- Decision: Whether you decided to persist, pivot, or pause and why, and what your next pact will be.
Persist, Pivot, Pause Framework:
- Persist: Continue the experiment if it’s working well.
- Pivot: Modify the experiment to increase effectiveness.
- Pause: Consciously step away from the experiment and reflect on why.
Optional AI Support:
- Use ChatGPT (or another AI tool) to talk through your reflections in voice mode.
- Ask: “How can I refine my approach to student accountability based on my observations so far?”
- Save your notes using the structured field note format introduced last week.
Key Questions:
- What unexpected obstacles have you encountered?
- How are students responding to the changes you’ve introduced?
- What’s one adjustment you can test this week?
- “When we feel stuck, instead of giving up, let’s ask: How can we adjust our approach?” – Tiny Experiments
Further Reading:
- Explore how embracing uncertainty can actually lead to more productive and creative growth: Liberating Uncertainty.
Action:
- Update your PACT Document with at least one pivot or refinement to your experiment.
- If you’re struggling with adjusting, reach out to a peer or leave a reflection in our shared discussion space.
What’s Next?
As we move forward, we will continue refining our approach to accountability, experimentation, and long-term productivity strategies. If you’ve been applying these concepts in your teaching practice, I’d love to hear:
- What have you persisted with so far?
- What have you pivoted based on student or personal feedback?
- What have you paused, and why?
Leave a comment or connect with me to keep the conversation going. Let’s continue iterating, adapting, and learning together!
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