How I Gained Confidence in Teaching Tricky Social Studies Topics

Kirsten 0:09

This is The Social Studies Teacher Podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten of The Southern Teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello there, and welcome to another episode of The Social Studies Teacher Podcast. Today's episode is a little bit more personal. Gonna change things up, since it is winter break for many of us right now, I'm sharing my journey of gaining confidence in teaching tricky Social Studies topics. As a third and fifth grade social studies teacher, I have definitely experienced that feeling of anxiety when you're not quite sure about a topic, or you're worried that you might give your students incorrect information. It was super intimidating, and at times, I would avoid certain subjects altogether. But the good news is that I'm here to tell you that it is possible to overcome that fear and build the confidence to teach any social studies topic, even the ones you're not familiar with. I'll be sharing with you how I faced those fears, the strategies I used, and how I came out on the other side, ready to tackle those challenging subjects head on. By the end of this episode, I hope you will feel empowered to approach those tricky topics with confidence, knowing that you and your students can succeed. All right, so let's sit back. Let's grab some coffee or a drink of choice, and I will share with you my story of how I was able to gain some confidence in teaching the social studies topics that I was a little bit afraid to talk about.

Kirsten 2:09

Let me start by saying, I get it. There were definitely moments in my early years of teaching where I would look at the curriculum and I'm thinking, I do not feel confident in teaching this at all. Whether it was a topic I didn't cover much in my own education, or it was something that felt unfamiliar, like certain parts of us, history or economics, or because it was a hot minute since I was in AP US History or AP government in high school, I was still terrified of getting it wrong, and that fear can be overwhelming, especially when we want to be the best educators that we can be for our students. I remember that feeling of panic that would bubble up before a lesson, thinking, what if I give them wrong information? I wasn't just anxious about understanding the material myself. I was also worried about the responsibility of shaping my students knowledge about these important events. It's a lot of pressure to try to make sure that they're getting the right information. I specifically remember a year that I had a few very smart cookies, like they were just over there reading at high school level, middle school level, and one in particular was very politically aware. He had his own beliefs about certain social studies topics. So I was like, really putting things to the test here, so I could not just lightly brush over different branches of government without being asked questions and being prepared to answer those questions. I also didn't have the background of knowing Texas history. Most of my elementary and middle school years were growing up in Oklahoma, so I missed both seventh and fourth grade Texas history, and it wasn't until after I became a certified teacher that I knew more information on Texas history. I am not sure how I passed the initial certification test, but I did it.

Kirsten 4:08

So over time, I realized that avoiding these topics wasn't helping me, wasn't helping my students. So I did make a conscious decision to face the fear head on. The first step for me was simply just recognizing that it's okay not to know everything we're human, and part of being a great teacher is continuing to learn and grow. Once I gave myself permission to keep learning alongside with my students, the pressure started to lift gradually. Regarding the year that I had those really advanced students who would ask me questions that were way above my pay grade, I wasn't afraid to tell them that this is something you'll discuss in high school. We are not covering that in fifth grade, especially if the question was just not appropriate for upper elementary I was like, We're not touching that, but you're gonna learn about that later on. I also began to break down the process into smaller, manageable steps. So step number one, doing your homework before I introduced a topic to my students. I would spend time brushing up on the content myself. This could be through reading a teacher's guide or watching a documentary, or even taking a quick course online, or just finding articles related to that topic, like actual, real articles, like on history.com or online encyclopedia articles. If there was a specific event I felt unsure about, like the civil rights movement or the details of how the government works, I would gather and find those resources that simplified the material for me.

Kirsten 5:36

For the second step, finding reliable resources. There is no shame in using teacher friendly resources to support your lessons. Back way when, when I was teaching, I did find some really great sources, real history sources, real government sources, real economic sources, geography, all that good stuff. And while it was not 100% perfect. There wasn't usually the best blog post, or maybe it was a little outdated in the terminology. I do hope that by having the social studies teacher podcast and my blog with a lot of relevant articles and my membership with all the resources and topic overview videos. I'm hoping that this will give another source, another teacher friendly source, to support your lessons and to help you teach with confidence.

Kirsten 6:31

And then the third step I have is to be open with your students. One of the best strategies I learned was to just be transparent with my students. There was something I didn't know, I was not afraid of it. I'd say, Oh, that's a great question. Let's explore it together. Let's look it up together. And so this turned these tricky moments into teachable opportunities, where students saw that learning is an ongoing process. You are not the teacher that knows it all. You do not always know everything. You are not omniscient. It also took the pressure off of me to know everything up front, so sometimes I would look it up right then and there, if it took just a quick Google search.

Kirsten 7:08

As I began implementing these strategies, I noticed that my confidence grew over time and still grows even today. The more I work with the material, the more I research the material, the more comfortable I become. I also discovered that teaching these topics didn't mean delivering a lecture where I had to know everything. Instead, you can focus on facilitating discussions and guiding students in exploring the material together. What I mean by that is you can design lessons around inquiry based learning, where students would pose their own questions about a topic and research answers. So this is more like a, you know, similar to kind of like that problem based learning method. This method also shifted the focus away from me needing to be the sole source of information, and it allowed students to take ownership of their learning, all while reinforcing the idea that it's okay to explore, ask questions and find answers together collaboratively. We've done this inquiry based learning on a few projects over the years. There was one specifically that I can think about regarding the American Revolution, and they had to pick a certain side or group like the French or the Native Americans or the loyalists, the Patriots, they had to research their perspective and how they contributed to the American Revolution.

Kirsten 8:36

So next, I'm going to be sharing with you some tips for teaching those tough topics. Number one, start small. If a topic feels overwhelming, start by breaking it down into smaller, bite sized chunks. Teach one aspect of it at a time, and don't feel like you need to cover everything in one lesson.

Kirsten 8:57

Number two, use visual aids. Visuals like timelines, maps or graphic organizers can help both you and your students make sense of complicated information. They also make it easier to explain relationships between events or concepts.

Kirsten 9:14

Tip number three is to collaborate with your colleagues. Reach out to other teachers in your school or online communities, such as my upper elementary Social Studies Facebook group that I have and I'll link it in the show notes. Chances are they've dealt with similar challenges and can offer some advice or share resources that have worked for them.

Kirsten 9:35

Tip number four, turn learning into a joint effort. Remember, you do not have to be the sole expert. Encourage students to ask questions, conduct research, share their own findings with the class. This can create a learning environment where everyone is working together to discover new things.

Kirsten 9:52

And tip number five, emphasize growth over perfection. Both you and your students are learning and growing. I am still to this day, always learning and growing in even the topics that I know so very well, such as the 20th century. I know a lot about it, and I love learning about it. It's okay to make mistakes and revisit topics as needed. The goal isn't to be perfect, it's to foster curiosity and critical thinking. In the end, gaining confidence in teaching tricky Social Studies topics isn't about becoming a walking encyclopedia where you are a know it all. It's about embracing a growth mindset and giving yourself the freedom to learn along the way. I hope that this episode encourages you to tackle those intimidating subjects without fear, and to see them as opportunities for both you and your students to grow. If you have any questions or you would like to share how you have overcome your own challenges with tricky topics, I would love to hear from you, and you can always DM me on Instagram at the southern teach. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review or share it with a fellow teacher who might benefit. Thanks for listening to another episode, I will be here in your earbuds next week. Bye, guys.

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.