Teach Boldly: Embrace Fearless Creativity in the Classroom
The Virtual Vibe: Success and Sanity for the Online Teacher
October 6, 2025
If you have ever found a cool new app or tool that you know your students would love, only to get tangled in a never-ending approval process, welcome to modern teaching. Sometimes the red tape feels like an anaconda wrapping itself around you, making you its last meal. Frustrating? Absolutely. Deflating? Even more so.
These limitations, including district policies, state regulations, and national mandates, can easily stifle creativity and kill the drive to explore new teaching methods. They can leave us feeling defeated, disrespected, or just plain tired before the school day even starts. If we carry that frustration into the classroom, our students feel it too.
Here is the truth. Teaching with fear does not serve anyone. Creativity, curiosity, and innovation in education thrive when we dare to try new things, even within constraints.
Close Out the Noise
Do not let approval processes, restrictive policies, or bureaucratic red tape hold you back. Fear of navigating these processes can sometimes make us hesitant. Thoughtful experimentation within the rules can lead to big wins in engagement and learning.
Rethink What Is Available
Innovation does not always mean finding new tools. Sometimes it means creatively leveraging the resources already approved for use. A little preplanning can turn an existing app, platform, or lesson format into something extraordinary. Your students will notice.
Lead by Example
Trying new things, even small ones, models risk-taking and creativity for students. When they see that it is safe to explore, fail, and adapt, they adopt those same skills. Fearless teaching encourages fearless learners.
Pause, Ponder & Progress
When was the last time you tried a new teaching tool or strategy, even within limitations?
How could you creatively use existing resources to accomplish what you want in the classroom?
What small risks could you take next week that might engage students in a fresh, meaningful way?
Teaching without fear is not about ignoring rules or being reckless. It is about finding ways to innovate, inspire, and engage within the guidelines you are given. Close out the noise, embrace what you can control and remember that creativity can thrive anywhere!
About the Author
With over 20 years in education - most of them spent in the virtual trenches - Desire’ Mosser has done more than survive online teaching; she’s helped others thrive in it! As the author of SOS: Strategies for Online Survival, she dishes out practical tools, honest lessons, and just the right amount of humor to keep educators going.
Former Pasco eSchool Teacher of the Year and Florida Virtual Schools Mentor of the Year, she continues to champion excellence in virtual learning today. She currently serves as Vice President of B.O.L.D. (Blended Online Learning Discovery of Florida). Her passion? Coaching educators to find their stride, build meaningful connections with students and families, and master the art of scheduling for sanity—preferably with a strong cup of coffee in hand. For more real talk, useful tips, and the occasional caffeine-fueled confession, connect with her on LinkedIn.
