Do One Scary Thing: Why Teachers Need to Be Beginners Again
Teachers ask students to be bad at things every day. When did we last do it ourselves? A podcast episode on finding the right-sized scary thing.
We ask our students to be beginners all day long. Try the new skill. Write the rough draft. Get it wrong, because that's how you learn.
So when was the last time you were bad at something in front of people?
This week's Why Edify episode starts on Day 1 of my 8th grade Gummy Bear Lab. It's messy and unpredictable, and every year it gives me a little flutter of fear right before I say "go." I could swap it for a worksheet. I don't, and in this episode I explain why that flutter might be the most useful feeling in teaching.
▶ Watch the episode on YouTube
In the episode:
- Why "get out of your comfort zone" fails tired teachers, and what the real problem is (hint: it's the size of the scare)
- The "optimal anxiety zone," the research-backed sweet spot where growth happens without burnout
- What Seneca knew about the fear we build up in our heads
- How the N in STRONG, No to Perfectionism, makes room for being a beginner again
- A simple three-step way to pick your scary thing this week, and size it right
Can't watch right now? It works just as well on your commute.
🎧 Listen to the audio version
Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
Want all ten ideas? The original newsletter lists ten ways teachers can scare themselves this month. Read "Do One Scary Thing" here →
Pick one, then reply to the newsletter and tell me how it went. You get a new STRONG Framework practice every Wednesday.
I don't have to feel ready to do the thing that scares me — I just have to do it.
Stay STRONG.
