November 17, 2024 • 12 mins
What if shifting our focus from perfection to effort could transform the way students learn and thrive? Join me, Edward DeShazer, on the Teacher's Ed podcast as we explore the incredible impact of fostering student confidence through a supportive learning environment. We'll uncover powerful strategies like praising the process and setting attainable goals, enabling students to embrace risks and learn from mistakes. By prioritizing effort and nurturing a growth mindset, we can create a classroom culture buzzing with innovation and resilience.
Beyond enhancing student confidence, we'll also tackle the crucial topic of educator self-care. Learn actionable techniques for setting healthy boundaries to prevent burnout and maintain productivity. Discover the magic of peer recognition activities such as shout-out sessions and recognition boards that foster a stronger sense of community in classrooms. Let's redefine success in education by valuing effort, supporting one another, and building a connected school environment where both educators and students flourish.
www.EdwardDeShazer.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're not out here to give participation awards, like
I hear.
I can hear the bros in thebackground, even though they're
not listening to this, but I canhear those bros.
But perfection is often anunrealistic and stressful goal,
especially for students who arestill learning and growing.
Welcome back to the Teacher'sEd podcast, the place where the
(00:25):
best and brightest in educationcome to be inspired, to connect,
to learn and to grow.
I'm your host, edward DeShazer,excuse me, and today we're
focusing on building confidencein our students.
It is a critical aspect ineducation and today we're going
to touch a little bit on it.
Confidence isn't just a nice tohave.
(00:48):
It's a foundational elementthat really affects how students
engage with learning, facechallenges and grow academically
and personally.
You know, and as educators wehave the unique opportunity to
nurture this confidence everysingle day.
So in this episode we're goingto give you, or I'm going to
(01:10):
give you, two impactfulstrategies to help boost student
confidence, and then in themiddle we will pause for our
self-care segment, and todayI'll tell you about it when we
get there.
But let's dive into our firsttip.
First thing that I want us tobegin to do with our students is
to encourage effort overperfection, and I know some of
(01:33):
you are like we're not out hereto get participation awards.
I can hear the bros in thebackground, even though they're
not listening to this, but I canhear those bros.
But perfection is often anunrealistic and stressful goal,
especially for students who arestill learning and growing.
And when we shift the focusfrom perfection to effort, we
(01:54):
create a learning environmentwhere students feel safe to take
risks, they feel safe to makemistakes and ultimately, they
learn more effectively.
So a couple ways that you canencourage effort in your
classroom.
Number one is praise theprocess.
When a student works hard on anassignment, acknowledge their
(02:17):
dedication, regardless of theoutcome.
You know you can say thingslike I noticed how much effort
you put into this and that'simpressive.
Although you may not have doneas well, your effort was
incredible or your hard work isreally showing.
And using stories of famousfigures who faced setbacks but
persisted through effort, we candiscuss how athletes train, how
(02:43):
scientists experiment.
The biggest discoveries inscience are realized because of
the failures of past experimentsand we can use those examples
as another tip to help encourageeffort in our classroom.
Another tip is we can just setrealistic goals, helping
students set achievableshort-term goals that help focus
(03:06):
on efforts such as improvingtheir study habits or
participating more in theclassroom discussions.
And the last tip I would sayfor this is to just model it.
Share your own experiences witheffort.
Perhaps you know, as a teacher,you're learning a new skill.
Lord knows, you don't have timeto do anything other than teach
and breathe and grade papers,but let's just say that you're
(03:28):
learning a new skill or takingon another challenging project
outside of work.
Let the students know thatyou're putting in effort and
there's challenges that you'refacing as a person outside of
the classroom and foradministrators.
Fostering a culture that valueseffort over perfection starts
with policies and attitudes thatencourage growth, recognizing
(03:51):
and celebrating teachers who trynew methods or take innovative
approaches, even if they don'talways yield perfect results.
This approach oftentimes cantrickle down for the students.
Why is this important?
When students understand thattheir value isn't tied to being
perfect, they're more likely toengage deeper with the learning,
(04:14):
they become more resilient,they're more willing to face
challenges, more open tofeedback, and these are all
essential qualities for lifelonglearning.
I want us to pause forreflection and think about a
specific time, or think about anopportunity you have this week
(04:34):
where you can emphasize effortover perfection?
What language can you use withyour students or use with your
team that can encourage thismindset?
Because, remember, the attitudetowards effort is really what
sets the tone for the students.
So I want you to think about atime in your classroom this week
(04:55):
where we can really emphasizeour students just giving the
best effort.
So we think about that and,before we jump into our
self-care tip, I want to sharean opportunity for you to invest
in your own well-being.
As educators, we give so muchof ourselves to our students and
(05:15):
it is essential that wereplenish our energy and nurture
our own growth.
So I want to introduce you tothe Be Well Teacher Academy, an
online community that isdesigned to support educators in
their journey towards betterself-care and wellness.
We are a supportive network ofeducators who understand your
challenges and can offerencouragement and advice.
(05:36):
Not just advice andencouragement, but we're going
to give you practical tips onhow to be intentional with your
self-care.
And here's the exciting partthe first 250 people that join
get lifetime free access to allof these resources.
It won't be free forever, sodon't wait.
Head to wwwbewellteachercomtoday to claim your spot.
(05:57):
Remember, taking care ofyourself isn't just beneficial
for you.
It's the best way to ensurethat you're bringing your best
self to your students.
The self-care practice that wehave today is one that is
essential but often overlookedsetting healthy boundaries.
Setting boundaries is aboutdefining what is acceptable and
(06:21):
necessary for your well-being.
It is recognizing your limitsand communicating them
effectively to others.
Why boundaries are important?
Number one the most importantin my opinion it prevents
burnout.
Without boundaries, it is easyto overextend yourself, it is
easy to end up being exhaustedand it is easy to end up burnt
(06:43):
out.
Second reason that boundariesare important it improves
relationships.
Clear boundaries help manageexpectations and reduce
misunderstandings that you mayhave with a colleague, that you
may have with a student or evena family member.
And the last is that itenhances productivity.
When you set boundaries aroundyour time and energy, you can
focus more effectively on thepriorities that you have.
(07:06):
The tips that I'm going to giveyou today number one identify
your limits.
Reflect on what drains yourenergy and causes stress.
Is it staying late at workevery day?
Is it constantly checking youremails?
Is it social media?
Is it something that's going onwith your family?
You have to identify yourlimits.
That is number one.
Number two you have tocommunicate things clearly.
(07:27):
We often some people in theirhead.
They set boundaries, but theydon't clearly communicate them
to the people around them.
Let others know your boundariesin a respectful manner.
For example, I won't beavailable for emails after 6 pm,
but I will respond first thingor as soon as I can in the
morning.
The next thing is be consistent.
You have to stick to theboundaries that you set.
(07:47):
Consistency is what's going tohelp others understand and
respect your limits.
And the last one is giveyourself permission.
I need you to understand thatit's okay to say no and that
doing so doesn't make you anyless dedicated to being a
teacher.
It doesn't make you any lessstrong of a teacher and it sure
(08:22):
does not make you any lesscaring.
You are trying to prioritizeyour boundaries and set healthy
parameters so you can improveyour relationships, prevent your
burnout and enhance yourproductivity.
Setting boundaries is aboutknowing when to say no and being
okay with it.
It's recognizing that you can'tbe everything for everyone and
that is okay.
You cannot pour from an emptycup.
Boundaries allow you to keepgiving your best self without
losing yourself in the process,and remember that setting
(08:43):
boundaries is an act ofself-respect and self-care.
It's essential for sustainingyour passion and effectiveness
as an educator.
Now we're in transition.
That was a rough transition.
We're in transition.
That was a rough transition.
We're transitioning into ourfinal tip.
I hope you are feelingempowered and ready to start
setting some healthy boundariesin your classrooms, in your
(09:06):
schools, with your school people, with your family.
But now we need to nurtureourselves and we need to nurture
back to our student, back tonurturing our confidence that
our students have.
So I want us to move to ourfinal tip and that is
encouraging peer recognition inthe classroom.
I need us to create a classroomculture where students
(09:29):
recognize and celebrate eachother's efforts, because it can
boost individual and it canboost the collective confidence
of your entire class.
Ways that you can encourage peerrecognition shout out sessions
A lot of time each week wherestudents can give shout outs to
their classmates.
One of the things our principal, melissa Rada, shout out to our
(09:51):
principal, melissa Rada Everymorning we have an email that
goes out at 7 o'clock on the dotin my drop top.
Cruising the streets, I hadthis pretty little email that
was in my email box waiting forme, but one of the things she
does every morning.
In that email there's a staffshout out, where staff are able
(10:12):
to shout out and highlight theother things that other staff
members are doing or the greatthings we're seeing around the
building, so these are justgreat.
To encourage peer recognition,another thing you can do is
arrange a compliment circle.
Arrange the class in a circleand have each student share
something positive about theperson next to them.
Now, this is not somethingyou'll be able to jump into
right away.
This is something that takestime, because I know you're
(10:32):
going to be worried thatsomeone's going to say something
disrespectful about the personnext to them, but this is a
skill that we have to slowlynurture and grow in our students
.
The next one is peer feedbackDuring group projects or group
work, teaching students how togive constructive and positive
(10:53):
feedback to their peers.
And then, last, is recognitionboards.
We talked about this before,but having a board where
students can post notes andrecognize their classmates'
achievements, whether they arebig or whether they're small.
Peer recognition is effectivebecause it helps build community
, it helps enhance self-esteemand it helps develop social
skills.
And for administrators, I wouldconsider implementing peer
(11:16):
recognition among the staff.
Encourage teachers toacknowledge each other's
successes during staff meetingsor through the internal
communications, like I talkedabout with our email.
This not only boosts morale,but also strengthens
professional relationships.
Now pause for reflection.
How might you incorporate peerrecognition into your classroom
(11:37):
or school?
What systems or activitiescould you introduce to make
recognizing each other's effortsa regular practice?
This shouldn't be a bonus.
It should be something that'staking place on a daily basis.
And as I get ready to land theplane and close out, I just want
to take a second to thank youfor joining me on this
(11:57):
conversation about confidenceand how we can build our
students' confidence, but alsohow we can build our peers' and
our staff's confidence, and Iwant you to remember, as I close
, that when you take care ofyourself and those around you,
you are building a stronger,more connected school community.
I need you to keep believing inyourself, keep believing in
(12:20):
your colleagues and keepbelieving in your students.
Until next time, stay inspired,stay connected and keep growing
.
We're not out here to give participation awards, like
I hear.
I can hear the bros in thebackground, even though they're
not listening to this, but I canhear those bros.
But perfection is often anunrealistic and stressful goal,
especially for students who arestill learning and growing.
Welcome back to the Teacher'sEd podcast, the place where the
(00:25):
best and brightest in educationcome to be inspired, to connect,
to learn and to grow.
I'm your host, edward DeShazer,excuse me, and today we're
focusing on building confidencein our students.
It is a critical aspect ineducation and today we're going
to touch a little bit on it.
Confidence isn't just a nice tohave.
(00:48):
It's a foundational elementthat really affects how students
engage with learning, facechallenges and grow academically
and personally.
You know, and as educators wehave the unique opportunity to
nurture this confidence everysingle day.
So in this episode we're goingto give you, or I'm going to
(01:10):
give you, two impactfulstrategies to help boost student
confidence, and then in themiddle we will pause for our
self-care segment, and todayI'll tell you about it when we
get there.
But let's dive into our firsttip.
First thing that I want us tobegin to do with our students is
to encourage effort overperfection, and I know some of
(01:33):
you are like we're not out hereto get participation awards.
I can hear the bros in thebackground, even though they're
not listening to this, but I canhear those bros.
But perfection is often anunrealistic and stressful goal,
especially for students who arestill learning and growing.
And when we shift the focusfrom perfection to effort, we
(01:54):
create a learning environmentwhere students feel safe to take
risks, they feel safe to makemistakes and ultimately, they
learn more effectively.
So a couple ways that you canencourage effort in your
classroom.
Number one is praise theprocess.
When a student works hard on anassignment, acknowledge their
(02:17):
dedication, regardless of theoutcome.
You know you can say thingslike I noticed how much effort
you put into this and that'simpressive.
Although you may not have doneas well, your effort was
incredible or your hard work isreally showing.
And using stories of famousfigures who faced setbacks but
persisted through effort, we candiscuss how athletes train, how
(02:43):
scientists experiment.
The biggest discoveries inscience are realized because of
the failures of past experimentsand we can use those examples
as another tip to help encourageeffort in our classroom.
Another tip is we can just setrealistic goals, helping
students set achievableshort-term goals that help focus
(03:06):
on efforts such as improvingtheir study habits or
participating more in theclassroom discussions.
And the last tip I would sayfor this is to just model it.
Share your own experiences witheffort.
Perhaps you know, as a teacher,you're learning a new skill.
Lord knows, you don't have timeto do anything other than teach
and breathe and grade papers,but let's just say that you're
(03:28):
learning a new skill or takingon another challenging project
outside of work.
Let the students know thatyou're putting in effort and
there's challenges that you'refacing as a person outside of
the classroom and foradministrators.
Fostering a culture that valueseffort over perfection starts
with policies and attitudes thatencourage growth, recognizing
(03:51):
and celebrating teachers who trynew methods or take innovative
approaches, even if they don'talways yield perfect results.
This approach oftentimes cantrickle down for the students.
Why is this important?
When students understand thattheir value isn't tied to being
perfect, they're more likely toengage deeper with the learning,
(04:14):
they become more resilient,they're more willing to face
challenges, more open tofeedback, and these are all
essential qualities for lifelonglearning.
I want us to pause forreflection and think about a
specific time, or think about anopportunity you have this week
(04:34):
where you can emphasize effortover perfection?
What language can you use withyour students or use with your
team that can encourage thismindset?
Because, remember, the attitudetowards effort is really what
sets the tone for the students.
So I want you to think about atime in your classroom this week
(04:55):
where we can really emphasizeour students just giving the
best effort.
So we think about that and,before we jump into our
self-care tip, I want to sharean opportunity for you to invest
in your own well-being.
As educators, we give so muchof ourselves to our students and
(05:15):
it is essential that wereplenish our energy and nurture
our own growth.
So I want to introduce you tothe Be Well Teacher Academy, an
online community that isdesigned to support educators in
their journey towards betterself-care and wellness.
We are a supportive network ofeducators who understand your
challenges and can offerencouragement and advice.
(05:36):
Not just advice andencouragement, but we're going
to give you practical tips onhow to be intentional with your
self-care.
And here's the exciting partthe first 250 people that join
get lifetime free access to allof these resources.
It won't be free forever, sodon't wait.
Head to wwwbewellteachercomtoday to claim your spot.
(05:57):
Remember, taking care ofyourself isn't just beneficial
for you.
It's the best way to ensurethat you're bringing your best
self to your students.
The self-care practice that wehave today is one that is
essential but often overlookedsetting healthy boundaries.
Setting boundaries is aboutdefining what is acceptable and
(06:21):
necessary for your well-being.
It is recognizing your limitsand communicating them
effectively to others.
Why boundaries are important?
Number one the most importantin my opinion it prevents
burnout.
Without boundaries, it is easyto overextend yourself, it is
easy to end up being exhaustedand it is easy to end up burnt
(06:43):
out.
Second reason that boundariesare important it improves
relationships.
Clear boundaries help manageexpectations and reduce
misunderstandings that you mayhave with a colleague, that you
may have with a student or evena family member.
And the last is that itenhances productivity.
When you set boundaries aroundyour time and energy, you can
focus more effectively on thepriorities that you have.
(07:06):
The tips that I'm going to giveyou today number one identify
your limits.
Reflect on what drains yourenergy and causes stress.
Is it staying late at workevery day?
Is it constantly checking youremails?
Is it social media?
Is it something that's going onwith your family?
You have to identify yourlimits.
That is number one.
Number two you have tocommunicate things clearly.
(07:27):
We often some people in theirhead.
They set boundaries, but theydon't clearly communicate them
to the people around them.
Let others know your boundariesin a respectful manner.
For example, I won't beavailable for emails after 6 pm,
but I will respond first thingor as soon as I can in the
morning.
The next thing is be consistent.
You have to stick to theboundaries that you set.
(07:47):
Consistency is what's going tohelp others understand and
respect your limits.
And the last one is giveyourself permission.
I need you to understand thatit's okay to say no and that
doing so doesn't make you anyless dedicated to being a
teacher.
It doesn't make you any lessstrong of a teacher and it sure
(08:22):
does not make you any lesscaring.
You are trying to prioritizeyour boundaries and set healthy
parameters so you can improveyour relationships, prevent your
burnout and enhance yourproductivity.
Setting boundaries is aboutknowing when to say no and being
okay with it.
It's recognizing that you can'tbe everything for everyone and
that is okay.
You cannot pour from an emptycup.
Boundaries allow you to keepgiving your best self without
losing yourself in the process,and remember that setting
(08:43):
boundaries is an act ofself-respect and self-care.
It's essential for sustainingyour passion and effectiveness
as an educator.
Now we're in transition.
That was a rough transition.
We're in transition.
That was a rough transition.
We're transitioning into ourfinal tip.
I hope you are feelingempowered and ready to start
setting some healthy boundariesin your classrooms, in your
(09:06):
schools, with your school people, with your family.
But now we need to nurtureourselves and we need to nurture
back to our student, back tonurturing our confidence that
our students have.
So I want us to move to ourfinal tip and that is
encouraging peer recognition inthe classroom.
I need us to create a classroomculture where students
(09:29):
recognize and celebrate eachother's efforts, because it can
boost individual and it canboost the collective confidence
of your entire class.
Ways that you can encourage peerrecognition shout out sessions
A lot of time each week wherestudents can give shout outs to
their classmates.
One of the things our principal, melissa Rada, shout out to our
(09:51):
principal, melissa Rada Everymorning we have an email that
goes out at 7 o'clock on the dotin my drop top.
Cruising the streets, I hadthis pretty little email that
was in my email box waiting forme, but one of the things she
does every morning.
In that email there's a staffshout out, where staff are able
(10:12):
to shout out and highlight theother things that other staff
members are doing or the greatthings we're seeing around the
building, so these are justgreat.
To encourage peer recognition,another thing you can do is
arrange a compliment circle.
Arrange the class in a circleand have each student share
something positive about theperson next to them.
Now, this is not somethingyou'll be able to jump into
right away.
This is something that takestime, because I know you're
(10:32):
going to be worried thatsomeone's going to say something
disrespectful about the personnext to them, but this is a
skill that we have to slowlynurture and grow in our students
.
The next one is peer feedbackDuring group projects or group
work, teaching students how togive constructive and positive
(10:53):
feedback to their peers.
And then, last, is recognitionboards.
We talked about this before,but having a board where
students can post notes andrecognize their classmates'
achievements, whether they arebig or whether they're small.
Peer recognition is effectivebecause it helps build community
, it helps enhance self-esteemand it helps develop social
skills.
And for administrators, I wouldconsider implementing peer
(11:16):
recognition among the staff.
Encourage teachers toacknowledge each other's
successes during staff meetingsor through the internal
communications, like I talkedabout with our email.
This not only boosts morale,but also strengthens
professional relationships.
Now pause for reflection.
How might you incorporate peerrecognition into your classroom
(11:37):
or school?
What systems or activitiescould you introduce to make
recognizing each other's effortsa regular practice?
This shouldn't be a bonus.
It should be something that'staking place on a daily basis.
And as I get ready to land theplane and close out, I just want
to take a second to thank youfor joining me on this
(11:57):
conversation about confidenceand how we can build our
students' confidence, but alsohow we can build our peers' and
our staff's confidence, and Iwant you to remember, as I close
, that when you take care ofyourself and those around you,
you are building a stronger,more connected school community.
I need you to keep believing inyourself, keep believing in
(12:20):
your colleagues and keepbelieving in your students.
Until next time, stay inspired,stay connected and keep growing
.
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