We’re starting a new series on personal development for teachers. Content knowledge, curriculum standards and understanding teaching strategies are just part of the equation of what makes a successful teacher. Personal habits, attitudes and behaviors are also a big part of the picture. In this series, we are going to focus on things that will help you as a teacher, and as a person. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed researching and writing it.
Have you ever struggled to find your teacher confidence?
One of us showed up on the very first day of teacher in-service at her first job wearing a dress and heels. Every other teacher wore shorts and a t-shirt. They were ready to tackle getting their classrooms ready by moving boxes and furniture. Needless to say, being uncomfortable in that dress made her uncomfortable in her skin all day. It was not a confidence building day.
Some people just march into a room and confidently own it. One man who showed up at a Halloween party dressed as a banana. It turned out that it wasn’t a costume party. He just went with it, enjoying the party and making jokes, the happy banana in the room.
Are you the confident banana in the room?
You can become more confident. How do we build confidence?
Obtain higher levels of competence and skill.
Every day is a chance to perfect a small technique in the classroom. Keep trying to get better and better at small things. They will add up to big things. When you do something competently, take note. When you master a skill or technique, recognize it as a win. As you feel more skillful, you will feel more confident.
Build strong personal connections.
Have you ever noticed that doing something new or different seems safer when you do it with another person or group? Have you ever been part of a good discussion with another teacher and found yourself energized or filled with enthusiasm? We are stronger together. Building strong relationships with colleagues will build your confidence.
Look the part.
You know you feel more confident and feel your best on days when you are wearing something you like. Think about what you wear and how you present yourself. You don’t need designer clothes and an expensive hair cut to look great, but a shower and clean, well-fitting, appropriate clothes will make you feel more confident.
Stop worrying about what other people think.
What other people think is out of your control. When you do things to please others, you aren’t necessarily doing the things that will help you become more confident. Spending all your time and energy on other people’s agenda does not help you to take action on your own agenda. When your thoughts and actions are built around what is important to you, you become more confident.
Stop comparing.
Comparison is the thief of happiness. Are you comparing yourself to someone who has been teaching for many years? Are you comparing your beginning to someone else’s’ middle or end? If this is an issue with you, be careful of social media. What people share on social media is often carefully curated to highlight the best. Everyone has messiness and imperfection; they just don’t always show it. At the end of the day, everyone is just human. Don’t let the illusion of perfection steal your confidence.
Plan well.
Have you heard the phrase proper planning prevents poor performance? It is generally true. Think about the days when you have had well planned lessons versus the days when you just fly by the seat of your pants. Is there a difference? Often, we feel more confident when we feel ready. This goes for conferences and meetings as well as for classroom activities.
Choose confidence.
When we act more confidently, we learn and do the things we need to do in order to become more competent. When we act as if we are confident in our ability to build relationships, we make stronger connections with people. When we act confident in the way we look and feel, that confidence will exude from or pores and as a result we will look and feel great.
Personal development trainer and author Brendon Burchard teaches that we can choose confidence. He says, “Your next level of confidence is going to be willed. You’re going to choose it.”
Burchard studied thousands of high performers around the world. In his book, High Performance Habits he identified six habits that were consistently present in high performers. These habits included clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence and courage. The secret to increasing skill in all of these areas was confidence.
The world’s highest performers agree with this statement:
I’m confident I can achieve my goals despite challenges or resistance.
Having confidence, predicts exceptional performance and happiness. When you are confident, you feel less burn-out. You are more inclined to say no to things that don’t serve you well. You are clear in your focus and know where to put your efforts. When you are confident, you will do more things to improve your health.
In Burchard’s studies, people who were more confident were not born with confidence. They were not luckier or more skilled. What they did, was to think about things that give them more confidence and then do those things. They also thought about what made them feel less confident and stopped doing those things.
Their thinking led them to choose to be confident first, then follow through with action.
Here’s how it works. When we choose to act confidently, even if we don’t feel it, we will show up. We enter the room understanding that we are not the smartest or most skilled one in the room, but we are confident in our ability to learn and gain skill. We learn to reframe things. Rather than feeling that we are “less than” we understand that we are learning and don’t have to be perfect. We believe we can figure it out. As a result of engaging, we grow new skills, which increases our competence. The new level of competence, in turn, increases our confidence.
Choosing to be confident increases confidence just like choosing to be happy increases happiness.
Growing confidence isn’t passive- it isn’t something you get. Growing confidence is active- it’s something you do. It is something that you can go after.
Tomorrow, walk into your classroom like you own it. Hold your head high or strike a power pose.
You’ve got this!
Our best,
Have you joined our free Facebook group Teacher Warriors? If not, head over to Facebook and join now!
Today we are sharing a guest post written by Carolyn Wiezorek. Carolyn left a position she loved as a university professor with a passion for teaching and a calling to change the system of education. Her first stop took her back to teaching a 4th grade classroom in a Title 1 school. While she only stayed one year, she learned valuable lesson that will contribute to her efforts in making school better for all. We think she has great insight into what teaching looks like and how to do it well.
Carolyn Wiezorek is a former classroom teacher, education professor and coach. She is currently principal of a private school in Dubuque, Iowa.
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