 6 Steps To Becoming A More Confident Teacher Every teacher needs a confidence boost, whether they are new or experienced doesn't matter. It all depends on oneself to constantly develop and nurture one's level of self-confidence in the classroom because being confident in teaching is crucial as this is something transmittable. Your students always reflect your confidence level and this might affect their way of absorbing the language taught in the classroom. If a teacher is confident in what they're doing, so are the students and unfortunately, the students can quickly spot the lack of confidence which can lead to complications in classroom management. Here are 6 easy ways to help new teachers to boost their confidence in a classroom environment. 1. Prepare Before Teaching Planning your class beforehand will always boost your confidence. It's always better to put some extra effort and time to prepare your lesson before starting a class. Anticipating challenges that you might face in the classroom environment is a great way to be able to take control if things fall apart. 2. Don't Be A Perfectionist Of course, a teacher should do their best when creating or designing a lesson plan, activities, tests, etc. However, being a perfectionist doesn't always help inside the classroom because it is an ever-changing environment. Being over-planned, inflexible and indecisive can put some students off and actually be demotivating. Try to relate to your students and plan your lessons accordingly. 3. Accept Your Mistakes Everyone makes errors during their career but accepting one's mistakes and, more importantly, learning from them will certainly take your confidence to the next level. This is also a great way to show your students that making errors is a normal part of the learning process and there is nothing to worry about it. Therefore, when you make a mistake, don't overreact but correct it openly and in a positive way. Accept it, correct it and move on. This way your students also feel more comfortable with you in their own learning process. 4. Realize Your Strengths As a new teacher, it might take some time and practice to find out what your strengths are but this will pay off in the long run. Once you know your strengths, you can then move on to working on your negative self-perception which ultimately builds your confidence level. 5. Set Your Own Classroom Rules As a teacher, being flexible is necessary but, at the same time, you should have fixed rules that the students have to abide by. Your presence starts even before entering the class like greeting your students in the hallway, for example. If you find that you're losing control of your class at any point of time, be confident in laying out the rules and encouraging your students to follow them. At the same time, you should never lose your patience, take a moment of silence, breathe and then act mindfully. 6. Clothing and Body Language Wearing the right outfit instantly boosts your confidence. Choosing nice clothing and dressing up in a professional manner does not only improve your level of confidence but will also show your students that you care about them and your job and take it seriously. In return, they are likely to show you respect and want to please you by paying attention and studying hard. Are you ready to teach English abroad? Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad. Send us an email or call us toll-free at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.