Teach English in Diao Zhen - Jinan Shi

Confidence refers to the feeling or belief that one can have faith in or rely on someone or something. Having confidence in oneself (self-esteem) can be quite challenging as most people don’t believe how able they are until they get an opinion from someone who knows them. Confidence in oneself is vital as it helps people during relationship building especially if you are living in place new to you or when meeting new people. It’s largely argued that having confidence is a natural feeling. However, it can be improved with a few aspects in consideration as explained further below. A teacher’s confidence in the classroom will largely determine the success of the lesson. If a teacher is not confident enough, the students will find it hard to believe what he is teaching them. They’ll find the subject a bit not interesting and will always avoid asking questions. There are many ideas on how teachers can improve their confidence in the classroom; Always do enough research on the subject language before coming to class. Teachers should carry out enough research on what they will teach in order to avoid leaving out key issues. This will also give the students the impression that their teacher is largely knowledgeable with what he/she is teaching them. Use of many examples as possible can help to explain the subject point better to the students. Plan for the lesson. Lesson planning is one task that most teachers find so boring and cumbersome and so try avoiding it. As a teacher, you have to foresee the challenges of particular classes and ensure that you're ready for any observations, probable situations that could arise and how you might deal with them. If your confidence is lacking, try to put a little extra preparation time in. Try to allow room for some elasticity to avoid panicking. Our body language speaks volumes. It affects how others see us, as well as how we see ourselves. Standing confidently, even if we don't in actual sense feel it can boost your sense of self-confidence and possibly have an impact on our chances for success. People who are scared or unsure tend to sprawl or tremble, so walking tall will give you an air of confidence before your students and therefore higher chances for success of the lesson. Have rules that control your students’ behavior in class. That moment when your students set eyes on you is when your lesson begins. If they're waiting outside your classroom, start the lesson then. Serenely and assuredly demand the behavior you expect from them before they come in, greet them at the door and set expectations. You shouldn’t feel panicky or lose control. If this happens, take a moment and breathe. Refer to your lesson plan and then once you feel more comfortable, try to gain control of the lesson calmly and authoritatively. If your students get raucous and disorderly and don’t want to listen to you, don't try to shout over them. It will quickly frustrate and anger you and it won't encourage your class to listen. Just take a moment of total silence as you stand still and wait. Eventually the class will become quiet, it may not happen right away but a little bit of patience won’t hurt. Always wear a smile as you enter class and don’t take it off throughout the lesson unless otherwise. Whenever a teacher shows up with a smile, he/she will always have a warm reception as the students often reciprocate the emotions of the teacher be it negative or positive. A welcoming class motivates the teacher as he/she sees the willingness of the students to collaborate and learn. This gives the impression that the students trust in your presence and therefore builds your confidence. Use all the criticism shot at you. If you've been given some feedback that sounds to be negative, then use it as a tool to change. By acting on criticism instead of self-pitying and stumbling in it, you will be helping yourself not only build confidence but also really improve your practice. Build on your rapport with the students. By improving your relationship with the students, you’ll not only help your students be free with you but also help you feel confident as your students will always look at you in a positive way. This helps a lot when it comes to classroom discipline. If your students are free with you, they’ll always listen to you and will always want to keep a good record. They’ll also confidently say out anything without hesitation. In a nutshell, self-esteem is very important in any learning environment for both the teacher and the student. The teacher should always show a positive sense of acknowledgement during the learning process. Teachers are equally charged with helping students have self-esteem as this will help them in believing their abilities.