Teach-Primary-Issue-19.2

26 | www.teachwire.net A s with so many traits, confidence is one the origins of which are hard to pin down. Some pupils will be lucky enough to have family members who have instilled assertiveness in them from day one, whereas others might not be from such self-assured backgrounds. But confidence can be a useful tool in learning, so if you have more shy or humble pupils, these simple techniques could be just what you need. Mistakes are OK Work at normalising mistakes and failures; a process some pupils may fear. Try and dissolve the dread of failure as much as you can with reassuring comments, such as “Failure is part of the learning process and anyone who has had any success in life will tell you they’ve failed many times” and “It’s not the failing that matters, it’s how you respond to it”. Promote ‘yet’ If a child says they can’t do something, or that they don’t understand, ask them to try adding the word ‘yet’ to the end of their sentence. This will help reinforce that learning is a process, and encourage a growth mindset. For example: “I can’t spell this word, yet”, “I can’t do this sum, yet”, “I can’t score a goal, yet”. Encourage open communication You likely communicate with your pupils hundreds of times throughout the day, but there are some more targeted approaches you can take to give them greater agency. Try asking them at the end of an activity how they felt it went, and encourage them to express themselves without fear of judgement. Listening to their thoughts and experiences will help them to feel valued. You can also encourage self-reflection by asking them about what they learned, what they thought they did well, and how they think they could have improved. Reflecting back on longer periods of time also works; you can ask pupils to write, or talk, about how much they have progressed in the last six months, or year. Break down larger tasks Feeling overwhelmed can knock our confidence and make us doubt our abilities, even as adults. Try breaking larger tasks into smaller chunks so that pupils feel confident in tackling the work. Encourage them to be pleased with themselves each time they achieve a small milestone. Be positive about the small wins, and this will add up gradually over time. Believe in your class If you believe in the children, trust them, and have confidence in them, this will help them to have belief, trust, and confidence in themselves. Pupils can be sensitive to non-verbal cues. Try and find something positive in every pupil, through which you can make a connection. Focusing your energies on their strengths will help them to do the same. Be a role model Be confident in yourself. If you show how to handle difficult situations and how to respond to mistakes positively, this will spill out and benefit your pupils, too. Give pupils choices When you can, offer pupils a choice, even if it’s only small. For example, let the children take it in turns to choose a book for story time, or to decide the activity they’ll do (from a pre-approved list) if they finish work early. This can help to empower them, which in turn builds confidence. Encourage individuality Remind your class often that we are all different, and that this is a good thing! Get to know pupils’ strengths, interests, passions, and struggles. You can introduce some books that celebrate diversity and empathy to help spread the message, too. Find a list at tinyurl.com/ tp-empathybooks Try drama games Adding some theatricality into the classroom can be a great way to help pupils express emotions. Improvisation games can be particularly helpful with building trust, intuition and voice. Drama is also a great tool to help pupils connect with one another, and to feel a part of the group. You can find some easy-to-use drama games at tinyurl.com/ tp-DramaGames Building pupils’ confidence doesn’t happen overnight, but by sowing the seeds throughout all your lessons, one day they might germinate, and help your pupils in every area of their life. TP Confidence TRICKS Sam has been a drama teacher for 20 years, and is the author of 100 Acting Exercises for 8 – 18-Year-Olds, Acting Games for Improv, Drama Games for Early Years, and Acting Exercises for Creative Writing . F EATURE S WE L L BE I NG Inject the power of positive thinking into your classroom and help improve pupils’ self-esteem says SamMarsden © Rosalind Hobley