Low-Stakes Experiments to Build Confidence

How do you move forward with AI in schools when staff confidence is all over the place?

Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman address one of the most persistent leadership challenges in AI literacy implementation. Within the same faculty, some educators are experimenting confidently with tools and workflows while others feel intimidated, skeptical, or frustrated by rapid change.

Jeff and Tricia frame the issue through a mindset-first lens and introduce practical leadership moves grounded in BAKE: balance, adaptability, knowledge sharing, and empathy. The conversation begins with a simple leadership truth: confidence grows through a beginner's stance, repetition, and low-stakes practice, not perfection on day one. Tricia shares a "pumpkin patch" analogy for learning something new and models how leaders can normalize experimentation and productive struggle for staff.

From there, the episode explores how leaders can reduce anxiety and build confidence by "level setting" foundational understanding of how AI works. When teachers grasp what is happening under the hood, they are more willing to engage, ask better questions, and try new workflows.

A central theme is personalization. Confidence increases when educators connect AI learning to what they already love about teaching, then use AI to enhance that strength rather than asking teachers to adopt tools for their own sake. The hosts also highlight the importance of playful, low-stakes experimentation outside of school contexts, from recipe support to pop-culture research challenges, as a way to learn tool boundaries without the pressure of classroom performance.

The episode closes with a clear leadership stance: sustained learning matters. AI capabilities are changing quickly, so professional learning cannot be treated as a one-time training. Adaptability requires ongoing documentation of experiments, time-stamped learning, and renewed emphasis on media literacy as AI becomes more persuasive and more embedded in everyday life.

If you are leading AI literacy in a school or district and trying to support both early adopters and hesitant educators, this episode offers a grounded approach to building momentum without fracturing culture.

In this episode, you will hear about leading AI literacy when teacher confidence varies widely, progress over perfection and the beginner's stance, differentiated professional learning for AI, foundational understanding of how AI works, low-stakes experimentation that increases staff buy-in, balancing voices of early adopters and skeptics, adaptability as AI tools evolve, and mindset-first change management through the BAKE Framework.

Explore the BAKE resources and multiple ways to engage, including a four-week email series, PLC slide decks, a live cohort, and school-wide implementation:

https://www.shiftingschools.com/

Our show is edited and produced by Sagheer M. Learn more about his work:

https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01a20f0c0c32996d55

Are you signed up for Crayola Creativity Week?

https://www.crayola.com/learning/creativity-week

Reach out to learn with us: info@shiftingschools.com

00:00 Welcome and Series Context Jeff frames the third and final BAKE episode and names the core leadership question about uneven staff confidence.

01:30 Why Confidence Gaps Are Normal When Learning Something New Using the beginner's stance and the pumpkin patch example to normalize discomfort and learning curves.

03:30 Progress Over Perfection in Teaching and Leadership Why educators often expect mastery too quickly and how modeling learning matters.

05:30 The Leadership Challenge of Mixed AI Confidence High flyers, hesitant staff, and the tension leaders feel managing both groups.

08:00 Level Setting: How Understanding AI Builds Confidence Why explaining how AI works reduces fear and increases willingness to engage.

10:30 Passion-Based Entry Points for AI Learning Connecting AI use to what educators already love doing in their work.

13:00 Playful, Low-Stakes AI Experiments Using non-school examples to explore AI without pressure or risk.

15:30 Pop Culture as a Confidence Builder The Taylor Swift research experiment and why interest drives learning.

18:00 Abundance of Information and Better Questions Why confidence grows when educators move from answers to inquiry.

20:00 Empathy First: Leading With BAKE Starting with empathy before tools, expertise, or expectations.

21:45 Knowledge Sharing Inside and Outside the Classroom Why sharing personal AI use builds collective confidence.

23:15 Adaptability in a Fast-Changing AI Landscape Why AI learning must be ongoing, time-stamped, and revisited.

25:15 Balance: Creating Space for All Voices Supporting both skeptics and early adopters through reciprocal dialogue.

27:15 Key Takeaways and Next Steps Mindset-first leadership, community, and how schools can engage further with BAKE.