Leaving my comfort zone

I'm sure we've all seen the image below, or one like it.

While I would like to say leaving my comfort zone comes naturally to me, I have to be totally honest: I do a lot of things that would make other people say "WOW! That's a big deal!" (i.e. signing up for half ironmans, launching life coaching businesses whilst in school, etc.). But what's comfy for one person might be absolutely terrifying for another (trying a zumba class has been on my list of things to do for years).

In teaching, especially as I begin to build my practice as a new professional, I've realized the role a comfort zone can play. I'm happy to teach with a set of Google slides I've prepared myself, or with things like Kahoots! and Menti polls that I've spent time and energy practicing with. I feel like I can come up with a pretty stellar rubric. These are good things about which to be confident, of course, and they're within my comfort zone. We need things in there, to fall back on! But I'm currently on my final in-school teaching practicum and coming to realize that I really need to step a foot or two out of that zone while I have the chance! What better time than with the support of an associate teacher, and the freedom to experiment (and fail! and succeed!) that comes with being a budding new teacher.

Today, I was taken outside of my comfort zone by my associate teacher, who brought in a freshly-killed cow's heart/lungs to let the students in the 3U Biology class he teaches really get into the respiratory/circulatory systems. The kids loved it! I wanted to see how the day went--I've been known to get a little woozy with blood and dissections--but part way through, I decided to get involved. You'll notice my facial expressions indicate that I was teetering on the edge of my comfort zone.

Something cool happened. Once I'd held that heart, somewhat reluctantly, a couple of the students sitting near me (farthest from the action) grabbed gloves themselves and took things into their hands. I learned today that stepping outside of our comfort zones is good for us, and good for our students. At the end of the day, our job as teachers involves so much more than just giving our students knowledge. Who knew that I'd have such a big realization from the cheap seats, so to speak? I've embraced the opportunity to soak things up and, as one teacher I've really begun to look up to at the school says, to be "a sponge" while I'm in these last stages of my practicum placement. Today that meant taking hold of that heart and tiptoeing out of that comfort zone of mine.

#teaching #biology #practicum #pedagogy #philosophy #demo