THINK Series Part 1: Self Esteem

A child’s confidence is learned, not inherited. As a teacher, we have to provide a learning environment that builds self-worth and teaches confidence. Confidence and self-worth directly correlate to our everyday surroundings, now for kids, that usually means. . .home, school, a familiar park or sports arena, grocery store, etc. Their surroundings create an “awareness atmosphere” and how the world runs.

Within this world, children experience different levels of self worth. For example: If a child is playing soccer for the first time at a community park, they might feel timid or scared to try something new. Over the course of the soccer season, a child might build in confidence if he/she has a positive experience playing on the team. By the end of the season, the child might even associate that particular community park as a place of enjoyment and confidence booster!

In the classroom, teachers need to be aware of different cultures, genders, religions, and social classes that are present in their room. These aspects can all affect a child’s confidence level when learning.

Teaching children to handle criticism can greatly improve a child’s self worth. This might be a hard concept to understand due to the sheer fact that MOST adults have difficulty with this! As a teacher, sometimes I find it difficult to hear constructive criticism, especially if it involves a topic that I am passionate about (plus, if you know me---I am very organized and dislike any kind of change). Criticism for children CAN be good, as long as teachers use the changes to allow the child to grow.

Try This: Read or sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to your class. Explain how the spider felt with the rain washed him back down. Ask questions like, “How do you think the spider had enough courage to try it again?”

Optimistic and independent children are often times more confident in what they are doing, however you can never under estimate a student’s ability.

Try This: Keep a writing journal for each child in your classroom. Have them do an entry everyday for morning work/afternoon work. They will begin to see a visual progress with their writing skills and you will be able to see a transformation with letter formation, number formation, etc.

Children will be able to look at their progress and feel rewarded for improving their skills! Plus, it’s a great portfolio to give parents at the end of the year. I also use these when we have parent conferences to showcase a child’s progress for each quarter.