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Like a computer, a teacher’s teaching is composed by two components as well. One is the hardware, which includes the knowledge on the subject, methodology and techniques, the other is the software, which covers the passion, satisfaction and fulfillment achieved and devoted in or from teaching. As a matter of fact, the software part is greatly influenced and dominated by how confident the teacher can be in the classroom. The more confident a teacher is, the greater chance that the class will be successful. Thus how to increase the confidence in the classroom is worth discussing. Besides the confidence gained through the hardware part, I think teachers can build more confidence in the following aspects. First, find your role in the classroom. What role should a teacher play is largely dictated by activity concerned. If the teacher is able to find the appropriate roles whenever the changes need to be made, not only will it benefit the students from feeling a comfortable learning environment, but also benefit the teacher from a smoother teaching process. The smoother the teaching process is, the more confident the teacher will be. Secondly, dress properly. You may laugh when reading this article, “what kind of suggestion is this? We all know how to dress!” Yes, we all know how to dress, but trust me “properly’ exists for a reason. For example, a female teacher wears a pair of darling and exquisite earrings, and as soon as she steps in the classroom, the children are attracted immediately, especially little girls, they can’t stop asking questions about the earrings. Another example would be that a male teacher goes to the classroom with some pants whose waist is a little bit too low, which is in fashion actually. When he bends his body to tutor a student, other students can see part of his bottom. Young learners would burst into laughter while teenagers would whisper to one another. We certainly don’t want those to decrease our confidence, do we? Next, improve the ability of trouble shooting. Troubleshooting is more important than we think it is. Finding out the exact problem and dealing with it using smart and appropriate methods and techniques will achieve respect from the students, especially those who are not that into the teacher. It’s obvious that when a student likes and respects the teacher, he or she will likely transfer the affection to the subject that the teacher teaches. That will make the learning more effective as well as teaching. Won’t this help build more confidence? Last, always be well prepared, and always have an active mental attitude. The class may not be successful when we are well prepared, but if we are not well prepared, the class will definitely be a failure, so always prepare more than what you need, and prepared for any situation that could occur during teaching. However, nobody is a shoo-in all the time, we still need to search the good out of the bad and learn from the failure when it really happens. Teaching is a very lofty but difficult career. On one hand, a child’s life can be changed because of the influence of a teacher. On the other hand, teaching does not only require a teacher to have professional knowledge on the subject, but also demands extra effort and devotion. As long as we try to be a caring, knowledgeable and smart teacher, and make every lesson stimulating and helpful to the students, we will increase our confidence, and after all, the more successful the class is, the more confidence a teacher can achieve.
