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Teacher confidence within the classroom is crucial if one plans on being an effective and inspiring teacher. Teacher efficacy and confidence has a significant impact on student progress and performance since they are guiding and leading the lesson. Confidence is contagious, especially in an educational setting, and influences students to do their best. Operating as a teacher who knows the material, knows they are a practiced and well-articulated model and utilizes every role of a teacher provides the students with an educator they can look up to and learn from with ease and excitement. Being a confident teacher is necessary in order to solicit student participation, respect and trust which is important in their learning experience for multiple reasons. Respect and trust from the student allows the teacher to feel more comfortable and less nervous. A confident teacher is entertaining, lively and well-educated on the subjects of focus in the classroom. When the teacher is entertaining, the students can have more fun with the lesson and feel as if they can relate to and trust the teacher which creates an environment that students can enjoy and look forward to. Using body language to communicate is a sign of a confident teacher. Utilizing eye contact to build rapport with students helps them to understand certain things like when to speak or when to pay attention. Other forms of body language like using gestures helps to manage the class which brings the students' attention back to you. Using body language engages the students in a different way versus only speaking, it allows them to feel closer to the teacher. Being a confident and effective educator requires one to utilize different classroom roles like the mentor, the facilitator, the participant, etc. If the teacher can effectively utilize roles to match various parts of the lesson, they can keep the students engaged, the class can be managed more successfully and the lesson can be guided more easily. A teacher's level of confidence can be influenced by past teaching positions as well as current experience in the classroom. If a teacher has a poor experience with current students or previous students or teachers, confidence can easily be reduced since they might feel embarrassed or "lost." This is why taking the time to study and memorize lesson plans, prioritize student-teacher relationships and discuss student strengths and weaknesses are some of the many crucial steps in being confident within the classroom. There are multiple classroom settings where it may be difficult to feel as confident as one might want to be. Working with special populations, classes with mixed abilities and students of varied ages can cause stress on the teacher because they might feel as if they are not prepared for the potential difficulties that could arise. However, this is where the importance of preparation is emphasized. Various methods of improving teacher confidence exist and should be used regularly if one wants to improve their own confidence as well as the students. One method is to focus on one's own strengths, just as they would the students'. By doing this, the teacher can be more aware of what needs to be improved in order to ensure student participation and success. Another method of improving teacher confidence is being organized and prepared. The teacher should always know what their next step is in order to keep a steady pace within the classroom. By being prepared for the lesson as well as for questions that students may ask will allow the students to feel comfortable and guided instead of feeling like they don't know what is going on. Being a confident English teacher requires one to know the material front and back and how to apply that material to the situation and lesson at hand, like knowing how to teach reading and writing, the various aspects of English grammar and the different types of lessons that can be used. Arguably, being well-educated on the subjects at hand is what will encourage teacher confidence since the students are there to listen, participate and learn. The classroom is a place where the teacher and student should feel comfortable, focused and respected. There are various reasons why teacher confidence should be prioritized and various ways that one can pursue the goal of confidence. It is a goal that difficult to achieve at times worth the pursuit as it impacts the students just as much as the teacher.
