To Build Up Confidence In Students 

5 Ways To Build Up Confidence In Students 

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Confidence empowers you in many areas. It helps you achieve impossible goals, mentally prepares you for the task ahead, helps to get your point across, and wins support and encouragement from fellow people. Gaining confidence is a similar challenge for students across various learning streams. 

There is no quick formula to increase confidence in students. They have to face their fears almost every day, whether in studies, sports, or extracurricular activities. Students need mental support to overcome obstacles and get past them. However, students’ self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered with a few tips. Here are some meaningful ways to bring on self-positivity and self-esteem in young students.  

1. Acknowledge Students’ Achievements  and confidence

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Students lacking confidence focus on their failures and skip seeing the progress they have made. This breeds low-esteem in them and leaves them doubting their ability to succeed. It further makes them hesitant to engage in positive learning or take academic growth risks. Over time, it may block students’ performance and make them feel incompetent.  

Building an interaction with a confident counsellor is one way to bring back self-assurance and conviction in students. Make it a point to praise students when they do something correctly and proactively, in private and in front of the peer group. Students’ praise done individually and in group help students realize their potential and further boost confidence. Teachers should write short feedback on paper praising the students’ word choice, mathematical skills, or scientific bent of mind, and have the class give a round of applause to any student in particular to make a world of difference.   

2. Be Realistic In Expectations 

All students have different levels of caliber. Hence, it is essential to be realistic about what students can accomplish in academic grades and sports. Not all students can perform at par in each round of tests. So, try to get students to create their own goals and things they would like to achieve during the school year and review it after every few days. 

Set such goals and responsibilities for students that they can handle reasonably. After every quarter, set new targets for students to improve their last show. This will help students evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in studies, arts, and sports and help them see how much they have grown. Create goals for every student in the classroom to improve their test scores, interaction level, responsibility, and eagerness.   

3. Set Growth As A Mindset In Kids 

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Life is a mix of trials. The same formula applies to educational learning. No student is perfect, so mistakes will likely happen as a child moves up the learning graph. Students with low confidence may ponder over their failures more, not the progress they have made. Hence, they should take their mistakes and failures as a learning pitch.    

Remind the pupils about overcoming their shortcomings and reassure them to concentrate more on their studies. Teach the students to develop a growth mindset, where they move away from saying negatives like ‘not’ and ‘can’t’ to positive thoughts like ‘I will try. Failure today can bring success tomorrow is a belief that students must learn and imbibe for their individual growth.   

4. Challenge Your Students Intellectually 

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Stretch your students academically by making them think at a deeper level, what we call outside the box. In doing so, you communicate to them, believing they are up to the task. This approach will boost their confidence and push them to rise to your intellectual expectations. They can learn a great deal about the academic challenges that come their way. 

Teaching vocabulary is one way to challenge your students academically. Broadening their vocabulary banks will increase their reading comprehension, directly impacting the content they learn and pick up in class. Pre-teach vocabulary to English language learners as it will equip your students for a more enjoyable reading experience and enhance their confidence.     

5. Foster Students’ Creativity 

Encourage your students to vent their creativity in the classroom. This is important for artistic students who are more introverted in their behavior and actions. Include creativity in regular assignments, activities, and projects.  

Give your students the flexibility to express themselves creatively. Creativity is an unmissable part of who they are. Allow them to create posters, flyers, brochures, paint, draw, perform in plays, and maintain a writing journal. Have them do something creative and whacky, like fake graffiti on a bulletin board paper, to express their opinions on a current topic of debate. Let them write phrases or words to convey their unique perspectives on the issue put up for discussion. 

The Bottom Line 

Accept the students as they are in terms of their interests and individual personalities. Listen to them attentively during class hours and encourage the rest of your class to do the same—value what they say in their writing journals or creative writing activities. Honor your introvert students as much as you do with your extrovert pupils.