Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
“I don’t know” is an acceptable answer.
As teachers we are “the expert” and have a certain authority. Sometimes a student asks a question and the teacher doesn’t have the answer. It can be hard to give up that authority and admit that you’re not the expert after all.
There is nothing wrong with that! It is so much better to say you don’t have the answer instead of guessing or making something up (I’ve seen it happen!)
A gentleman-scholar of my acquaintance (may his memory be a blessing) used to say “Non scio sed invenire possum” — Latin for “I don’t know, but I can look it up”*.
You are doing your job as an educator if you say “That’s a really good question. I don’t know. Let me do some research/check with someone/try it out/&c. and get back to you.” And then make sure to get back to them!
* Yes, fellow Classicists, I would have used nescio too, but I’m quoting someone whose specialty was Icelandic literature, not Latin.
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Oh, The Glamourous Life! 
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