The Importance of Confidence in the Classroom

Where does confidence come from?

Why do some students have it and others don’t? It’s all about having the skills and tools to access the curriculum. Students who have working memory or processing delays struggle to remember or process information in a timely manner keeping them from feeling confident asking questions in large and sometimes small groups. Students who have difficulty reading or comprehending lack confidence because they are never truly sure if they read information correctly or comprehended it accurately. Students who lack math foundations or have math misconceptions feel weak and therefore do not have confidence in their answers to math questions. Sometimes, they don’t feel comfortable even starting a math problem particularly a word problem. When students lack organizational strategies, they feel disorganized and anxious they are going to miss something at school. Many feel like a failure since they can’t gather themselves together all while thinking, “everyone else has it together.”

Why is confidence important in the classroom?

Upon gaining confidence, students can actively participate in class. When they are no longer scared, they gain meaning by asking clarifying questions and engaging in conversations with classmates about learning. They feel comfortable taking safe risks to start assignments. Confident students' problem solve obstacles that fall on their paths versus passively doing nothing and failing to engage or get started on their work. They persevere through rigorous studies, pushing themselves to reach new academic heights.

How to build confidence?

                  If students lack confidence, they lack skills. The solution is to determine the skills they lack and build those skills. Students who have working memory or processing delays benefit from building their working memory and improving their processing speed. Our Brain Training helps improve both. In addition, our executive function (EF) coaches through Tailored Tutoring teach strategies to help cope with deficits in working memory and processing speed. Students who struggle with reading or reading comprehension need their specific reading deficits acknowledged. Then, our executive function coaches teach them individualized reading strategies including organized thinking to aid in comprehension. If reading is a problem, our EF coaches teach reading skills individualized to each client. For students struggling in math our EF coaches help them break down problems making them manageable. Once students learn strategies to tackle math problems, they feel confident. Organizational skills and strategies bind it all together, creating confident students who feel prepared for class. Upon gaining skills to cope with a diagnosis or no longer having deficits, students are now confident in themselves! Written by Andrea Brunsman, M.Ed. Executive Function Coach, Academic Tutor

Written by Andrea Brunsman, M.Ed. Executive Function Coach, Academic Tutor