TT0302: 6 Tips for Teaching Outside Your Comfort Zone

Every teacher I’ve met has at one point found themselves in a situation where they were expected to teach something outside of their comfort zone. As teachers, we are considered experts in our content area - at least by our students, we are. Kids think that they can ask us about anything even tangentially related to the subject area and we are expected to know the answer. Unfortunately, there’s no way that we can know everything! But lucky for us, we can learn everything. I’m going to be honest, I’ve found myself in this situation multiple times. I have a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a minor in Physics. Originally, I was a Chemical Engineering major, so I have some background in that as well. So you would think I have a pretty well rounded body of knowledge when it comes to STEM. And I believe that I do. However, when it comes down to teaching high school, the degrees and certifications don’t mean that I have recently been fluent in every high school math and science topic. I’ve taught geometry when the only geometry course I ever took was my sophomore year of high school 10 years prior. Having only ever taken an online class through a city college with a crappy professor, I've had to teach statistics with very little notice. The only biology I ever took was freshman year of high school, but I had to learn to teach that too. I could list more, but I think you get my point. And I’m willing to bet that many of you either have similar stories, or will experience them at some point during your teaching career. So what do we do about it? How can we teach these courses without completely stressing ourselves out and losing our credibility with the students? Here are 6 tips to prepare yourself for teaching outside of your comfort zone. Stay Ahead of the KidsAs long as you learn what you’re supposed to teach before you have to teach it, you’re good. You don’t have to master the entire curriculum before the school year starts. Obviously, the more you know ahead of time, the less stressful it will be, but as long as you’re one step ahead, you’re good. Start with the first unit. When you’re about halfway through that unit, start studying the next. Use Your ColleaguesJust because you don’t know it doesn’t mean someone else on your team doesn’t. Ask around. Someone you know and love might have some awesome resources and tips to help you out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Use the InterwebsI have found YouTube to be extremely helpful. TeacherTube, Khan Academy and any of the wide variety of tutoring sites out there could be great. Google is your friend. Use Your Process for Teaching StrategiesThe fact that you have to go learn this content can actually be extremely helpful to planning lessons. As you search for understanding yourself, you will get a feel for what your students are about to go through. Set aside videos and resources that help you gain an understanding and then use them in your lessons. Don’t Be Afraid to Not KnowIt’s important that our students trust us and believe in us that we know what we’re talking about. However, we are allowed to say “I don’t know” every now and then. You should be sure to get solid on anything that you are planning on assessing. It’s not really fair for you to expect them to master something that you haven’t yet. However, if the topic leads to other questions that you might not know, sometimes you can just say so. Use it as a Learning OpportunityAnother option if you don’t know the answer to something that a student is asking is to turn it back to them. “That’s a great question, maybe you could do some research on it and tell the class about it tomorrow.” They’ll either buy into it and everyone, including you, will learn from it, or they won’t want to do the extra work and will let it go. Either way, you’re off the hook for the moment, and can buy yourself some time to go google it later. Overall, you have the advantage because you're an expert learner! Which tip did you find the most useful? Do you have any additional tips? Let us know in the comments!! The post TT0302: 6 Tips for Teaching Outside Your Comfort Zone appeared first on Teacher Tribes.