Confidence: Participation

 

Aside from helping us make new friends, confidence is important for the new school year to make sure classes are fun and educational. Every week, teachers spend countless hours preparing plans for each day’s class; they craft lessons that need to teach the necessary material, yet maintain children’s attention. However, a large part of the success of these daily lessons is the level to which students interact with it. In other words, student participation is essential to keeping the classroom an educational, yet still exciting place!!

 

Think about those classes you’ve been in where no one wants to participate. No one raises their hands to answer the teacher’s questions because students are either too shy or timid, or because they are distracted. What happens next? The teacher has to start randomly calling on students to force participation, which is not fun for the teacher nor the class. Classes like these have low energy, and are not captivating. Children are less likely to engage with the curriculum materials in these settings.

 

On the flip side, now imagine classes where everyone in the room is actively participating. Students are raising their hands in the air to answer a question, the class is having an insightful discussion, and kids are smiling. In these situations, it almost becomes a friendly competition between students to see who can participate the most. In these classes, energy is not only high, but constantly flowing between the class and teacher. This kind of learning environment provides a captivating and exciting experience for children!

 

As much of the responsibility to make the classroom a participatory setting falls onto the teacher, it truly is up to the students to actually do the participating. One of the main reasons why kids may not want to participate is because they are not comfortable with the material yet, and are unsure of their ability to answer questions correctly. 

 

This is where confidence skills come in. Remember, participating in class doesn’t mean your answer has to be right!! On the contrary, having an incorrect answer is actually one of the best ways to learn and engage with educational material. Being wrong gives us the opportunity to find the mistake, and learn how to do it the right way. In fact, if your answer is wrong, the best thing you can do is speak up. If you keep quiet, the teacher will not know that you were wrong, and won’t be able to show you how to fix it!

 

In classes, we encourage participation by asking a multitude of different questions. From one-word answers to open-ended discussion questions, students are encouraged to engage with the class materials. Our team of dynamic instructors also strives to lead energetic classes where kids are smiling, sweating, but most importantly learning!

 

Confidence is a big factor of participation, and is also a skill that is often underdeveloped in children. Practicing the Three Rules at home can hone your child’s confidence skills to make sure they are able to participate in the classroom effectively!!