This is the fifth installment in the confidence building series. Click on the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “Imagine what you could do if you know you wouldn’t fail?”
Most of us have notions that there are challenges/tasks/activities that we incapable of doing successfully. This mental barrier is often wrong. Board breaking (see part 3), the ropes course (see part 4), and various other activities are designed to show people that the barriers to success are often psychological.
For schools/classes that do not have access or the means to do board breaking and/or ropes courses, there are most certainly other ways to help students build confidence. Every success is a step toward confidence. I think that in many classrooms, there are few opportunities for the types of challenges students need to build complete confidence.
In a data-driven/test-scores oriented culture, success on standardized tests is the most common instrument used to measure success-outcomes. Test scores (a topic of national debate right now) are, in my opinion, not necessarily a good indicator of measuring what has been learned, and they most certianly aren’t useful for real world confidence building. Whereas it is true that seeing ones’ test results can be a nice confidence boost, they make up only one of many areas in which students need confidence.
Working within the framework of state curriculum standards, there are many opportunities for students to build confidence for the “bigger picture.” Another favorite quote of mine is this: “if you are afraid of something, it is exactly what you should do.” Going with this, I try to incorporate into my classes activities that students tend to fear. Interviewing experts, oral reports, working with others to accomplish a task.
For my school’s student body elections, I have candidates give speeches to a full auditorium (600 people). My leadership students take turns doing morning Public Address (PA) announcements (to 1300 people). At assemblies, my elected class officers lead the flag salute and introduce speakers. My leadership class gives incoming fifth graders tours of the school.
I try to give students as many opportunities as possible to work in environments that are often uncomfortable for them. As humans, we generally like stay within our “comfort zones.” We want to do things that are easy for us, or come naturally. The idea is to expand ones’ comfort zone to include things we used to classify as things we feared (i.e. public speaking, interacting with strangers, etc.).
The larger our comfort zone, the more interesting and exciting our lives will be. Giving students opportunities to expand their comfort zones while learning curriculum is possible. It might take some planning, and it might take some time to properly do so, but the reward is well worth the price.
Read Part 6: parental tools here and Part 7: volunteering here
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Mr. Franklin is a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is an eleven year veteran and has won District and County Teacher of the Year awards. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Bank of America Community Hero award. Before teaching, he spent five years at Learning Forum, which runs summer camps designed to increase student academic potential. It is a world-wide program.
