I have learned that I can do little in the classroom if my
students do not have confidence in themselves.
From the very first day of school I work to build a class
culture that breathes confidence, love, and support. I want my students to know
that our classroom is a safe haven where they are believed in, always.
It has amazed me this month to see the changes in my
students. The way they hold themselves as they speak, the way they talk to
others, and the way they present their work. It is like a fire was lit.
I want to share 3 stories that happened TODAY that lets me
know we are on the right track in building confidence in the classroom.
Before I share let me give you a little background on how
the morning runs in our class:
In my classroom each day I have a morning meeting. We have a
greeting, an activity, a share time, a message, and we always close with a
song. The song I play every day is, If What I Am by Will.i.am.
This song uses positive self-talk to get kids to understand
they are important. “What I am is thoughtful, what I am is musical, what I am
is smart, what I am is brave.” “Never going to quit, just keep getting
stronger.” These are a few of the amazing lyrics that my students have been
exposed to each day.
Every single morning, we sing this song, but we do something
special in January through May to help build confidence. We pause the song, do
a power stance, and repeat words of positive self-talk.
“I am smart.”
“I am brave.”
“I am beautiful.”
“I’ve got this day.”
This idea came from The Ted Talk, Your Body Languages Shapes
Who You Are by Amy Cuddy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
These 3 students TODAY showed the importance of teaching confidence:
Child One:
I have a student who has come a long way in our classroom.
She used to be one of my last students to enter the room, she used to cry before
class, and refused to come to the meeting place. She was nervous to be a part
of the team and she withdrew from her classmates.
This child is completely different now.
Now she is one of the first students in the room, she
joyfully comes down the hallway with a smile, and comes to the meeting place
without being asked. She hugs her classmates and she has made many friends throughout
this semester. This student has grown so much and you can tell she is happy. She
is happy with her class and she is happy to be surrounded by a team.
Today as we were walking down the hallway she got out of
line, held my hand, and told me, “Ms. Stanton don’t forget your power stance.”
I thanked her and I assured her I would walk with confidence. She then let me
know that she does this each day at her house. She continued to tell me that
she looks in the mirror and tells herself, “I’m smart.” I never would have
thought a kindergartner would tell me they did this on their own. It goes to
show that if we teach our students how to be confident, they will learn and
even teach others to be confident. We might not see it on day one, but it will
come.
Child Two:
My second student is a joyful person who is very reserved.
It has been hard for this student to open up. She has been finally coming out
of her shell and sharing more of her life with us. I learned she is terrified
of bees. Now that it is spring bees are everywhere on our playground. Two weeks
ago this child who never shows nerves was screaming in fear of the bumblebees. Immediately
when I saw how upset she was I walked over to her to calm her down. We then talked
about her fear and I explained we would work through this together.
The next day we had a lesson on bees in the classroom. We
talked about a bee’s purpose and their importance in our world. We then studied
the difference between bees and wasps. We read a nonfiction story about
bumblebees, which she took home. I then told the students about my own
experience with them. The way I fought my fear was by naming it. As a class we named
our fear and we called it Speedy. Every bumblebee from now on would have the
name Speedy and we planned to wave to them as we walked past them.
(note: we
did talk about ways to be careful around all bees/wasps)
The next week my student was still very scared around the
bees. Each time I saw her looking worried, I would go and talk to her, show her
how the bees were curious, and have a friend come to support her. At one time I
thought maybe this is a fear she will not fight through this year….and then it happened!
Today she proudly came over to me all by herself on the
playground and said, “Mrs. Stanton I have something to tell you.” She then
pulls my arms down to whisper in my ear, “I’m not scared of bees anymore.” She
had a huge smile on her face, something she is well known for.
I nearly jumped out
of my skin! I am sure the other teachers thought I was crazy. I hugged her,
told her how proud of her I was, listened to her story, and let her know we
would be meeting as a class to talk about this accomplishment.
Child Three:
I have a third student who we have watched become strength in
our classroom. In January I learned about One Word. I had my students create their
One Word and make art to represent their word. The students took pictures with
these words, placed them on the walls, and learned to explain their One Word to
the world. Each day we say our One Word to remind ourselves of our goals.
This particular student has the word persevere. Since January
he has worked to overcome his fear of public speaking in the classroom. This
was something that he expressed was a challenge for him, but he told me a few
weeks ago he wanted to persevere through it.
In our class whenever someone is speaking and they get nervous we always chant, You Can Do It three times. If they still do not speak we then chant their name three times. By this second chant they usually share. These chants have helped encourage my students to speak, but they have also helped each child realize what they have to say IS important to us. Over time these chants have helped my students become more confident speakers.
This week I noticed he shined out in many speaking moments in the class, but it was today that shocked me. Once a week I try to get students to read books to the class to help them practice their reading, but also shine in front of an audience. At the end of the day today I asked if anyone would like to read their take home books to the class. I could not believe it when he jumped up and came to the class stage.
In our class whenever someone is speaking and they get nervous we always chant, You Can Do It three times. If they still do not speak we then chant their name three times. By this second chant they usually share. These chants have helped encourage my students to speak, but they have also helped each child realize what they have to say IS important to us. Over time these chants have helped my students become more confident speakers.
This week I noticed he shined out in many speaking moments in the class, but it was today that shocked me. Once a week I try to get students to read books to the class to help them practice their reading, but also shine in front of an audience. At the end of the day today I asked if anyone would like to read their take home books to the class. I could not believe it when he jumped up and came to the class stage.
He didn’t even wait for me to call on him.
It was like he was ready for the moment before I even asked.
He read the entire book to the class on the class stage. You could have heard a
pin drop in the room because the kids were so enthralled with his presence.
And he truly did an outstanding job.
The class was so proud of him that two students actually ran up to get his autograph, how cool is that?! What made it awesome though was he said under his breath after that, “I did it.” I looked at him and said, “You bet you did! Way to persevere!”
And he truly did an outstanding job.
The class was so proud of him that two students actually ran up to get his autograph, how cool is that?! What made it awesome though was he said under his breath after that, “I did it.” I looked at him and said, “You bet you did! Way to persevere!”
I believe the change in these 3 students is more than just 6
months of school under their belt. I believe it is from a class who fully supports
each other and believes in one another. We can truly do anything when we feel
we have a team behind us.
I believe these types of moments can happen for ALL of our
students if we support, listen, and walk part of their journey with them.
Showing our students each day that they are stronger then they believe helps
them discover they ARE strong!
Many times these moments happen in our rooms, but they go
unnoticed. We have to make a conscious choice to call these moments of confidence
OUT to show our students what perseverance looks like, which gets us to
confidence. It is through the struggle that we come out better than we were
before. It is also through the struggle of others that we can learn to be
great.
In order to get strong academic students, we first need confident
students. We can create this if we are intentional in supporting them and
getting them to believe in themselves.
They matter.
Let’s get our students to believe in themselves, so they can
see their greatest potential.
Alana Stanton is a kindergarten teacher at Mulberry Elementary in Gwinnett County, Georgia. She has taught several grades over her 14 year career including K-3 literacy special, first grade, and second grade. Alana believes that relationships always come first in the classroom and the classroom should be a place where students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. She currently writes for her blog, More Than A Lesson where she shares the stories of her classroom and her heart.
Twitter: @stantonalana
Twitter: @stantonalana
Alana, thanks for sharing. I love how you adapted your plans to include what your students were going through to help them manage their fears, especially about bumblebees. It shows that you listen and care for students and accept them for where they are at and not where you want them to be. Great read and very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Abe! We will be doing a unit on bees in 3 weeks, but I knew it could not wait. I love the word adapt! This is what we are called to do in our plans and in our lives. Thanks Abraham!
ReplyDeleteYou are an amazing and inspiring educator. Your dedication to your students is clear, being intentional, visible, you create such a welcoming classroom. Supportive culture for the students to feel safe and build confidence. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Rachelle. You inspire me weekly. I am so thankful I have your mentorship. I truly am. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI have been in teaching for over 40 years, and I must say I don't think I have witnessed anyone more inspiring in the way that they meet their student's needs then you have demonstrated here. You are awesome! I only wish my kids would have been in your classroom. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for sharing your very inspiring methods of teaching. God Bless You!
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