TEFL Gunnison Utah

Confidence is a very important component in the teacher's job. It's connected with the faith a person has in himself, how secure he is with his/her knowledge, his decisions and abilities. How a teacher views himself reflects how the students see him. Why is it so significant to be a confident teacher? Can you imagine a teacher in front of the class, who is nervous, sweating and shaking, stuttering and making mistakes in his/her explanations? Will he/she be able to impart knowledge, to keep discipline in the class, to keep interest and motivation of the students, to make students involved in the learning process? It's obvious that confidence plays an important role in a language teacher's performance. What are the factors which can influence to the level of our confidence? 1.Professionalism First of all, the professionalism, which means thorough knowledge of the subject that is being taught. Knowledge of phrasal verbs or tenses or other important language points are not enough to be confident in a class. When he teaching in a foreign country, the teacher should know some geographical, historical, cultural aspects of the country in which he/she is teaching, not to make faux pax, to avoid cultural misunderstandings. In other words, the teacher should make sure that he/she has a sufficient grasp of the subject matter and an understanding of external factors that affect the sensitivity of students. 2. Preparation If the teacher feels prepared and he knows the topic well, he will feel more confident about his ability to speak about it, to run the class. That's why it is so important even for experienced teachers to prepare a lesson plan. The success of a class is directly proportional to the amount of preparation the teacher puts in. 3. Practice - practice makes perfect. And more – practice with reflection and review of what is being doing in the class, as well as searching for ways to improve his/her skills and technique. A few key strategies can effectively raise confidence - Enthusiasm We feel confident when we enjoy what we're doing. Enthusiasm is contagious – students, seeing how engaged the teacher is, are more motivated and involved. In such a positive learning environment both the teacher and students feel confident. - To act confident Not every teacher is a naturally confident person. There is no other way but to act confident. If the teacher acts confident, he gives students the impression that he/she is confident, but this method will also help him literally feel more confident. - Learn from your mistakes Every inexperienced teacher is bound to make mistakes – this may affect his/her confidence – so it's important to learn from mistakes in order to improve the quality of teaching and gain confidence. - Know your role teachers should always be aware of what their role is – why they are in the classroom – to help students learn a language, so in essence, to serve the students. This realization should help to alleviate feelings of self-doubt – “maybe I'm not a perfect teacher, but I'm doing the best I can to guide and assist my students”. When the teacher observes the progress they're making, this will boost his/her confidence tremendously