Tip #4: Believe in Your Students

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth". - Dan Rather

I remember this one particular student who I taught English to years ago. She was quiet and very shy at school.

But her writing was so fluent and expressive. She would open herself up in her journals, and write so freely. She wrote amazing stories, with imaginative characters, actions and conversations that demonstrated how perceptive she was towards people and emotions.

She often wrote about actresses, and how beautiful she thought they were. She shared how she admired her younger sister for going out on stage and performing in front of large audiences. And she confessed a few times that she wanted to be an actress herself. She had already decided which parts she wanted to play, and what she would wear, and how she longed to be up on a stage too.

But the problem was that this girl barely spoke up in class, she didn't socialize a lot, and no one else seemed to know about these aspirations of hers except for me. I was her English teacher and the only teacher who was taking a look at her journal entries daily.

I think all of us teachers assumed that this girl was uncomfortable speaking out, that perhaps if she was pushed to speak and participate more in skits and reading aloud, that it would be upsetting for her. I remember that when our yearly assembly production was coming up, one of the teachers announced that every student would have a role in the play. "But don't worry," this teacher said to the girl who was always so quiet. "We will give you a small part. We know you won't want a big role."

That moment and those words stand out so clearly to me because of the awkwardness I felt in the situation. Here was this experienced teacher who thought he was doing this girl a favour. He thought he was reassuring her that she wouldn't be pushed into doing something uncomfortable. But here I was, completely new to teaching, knowing that inside, this girl actually did want to learn to overcome that fear and be able to act on stage.

I should have found ways to give this girl a platform, an opening, an outlet to explore this dream she had. I should have told the other teacher about this girl's journal entries so that we could have worked together to help her develop her speaking and performance skills.

But instead, I thought, "Well, I'm a new teacher and these other teachers have been teaching for so long. They must know what they are doing." And I didn't say a thing.

I believed in this student. But what I regret is that I didn't SHOW HER that I believed in her. Maybe I didn't want to put her on the spot, because I knew what it felt like to be a shy and quiet little girl. That was me growing up. But there were people- teachers in particular- who showed me that they believed in me. And that helped me gain confidence and speak up later in my life. I should have done the same for this girl. I think she just needed to see that someone believed in her and her abilities, in order to learn to believe in herself.

I was happy to hear that after the year that I taught her, this student was exposed to teachers who showed her that faith.

Recently, I happen to have run into this same student. She is now a young woman. And when she said she is hoping to become a teacher, I couldn't help but to smile. I also made sure to tell her that I think she would make a great teacher, and that she would be successful in any career she chose. I finally got the chance to tell her that I believe in her. I always did.

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How can you make use of this tip?

• Find out what it is that your students want to learn or gain from your classes, what they are striving for. You can either simply ask them, or LISTEN to them carefully when they voice their concerns or questions. And don't peg them as a particular "type". Because what they may "seem" to be like or to want might be completely different than what they really feel. Sure, one student may seem shy and quiet, but maybe they want help in finding how to be more confident. Perhaps another one of your students always makes jokes and doesn't "seem" to take things seriously. But maybe they are really scared or want someone to show them how to be more mature and confident without hiding behind the jokes.
  
• Next, ask yourself if you believe in your students, if you believe in their ability to learn what you are teaching them, or to achieve their goals and desires.
  -If you hesitate in your answer, ask yourself why.
  -If you do believe in them, are you doing things to show them that you believe in them? - eg. simply telling them you believe in them, giving them opportunities to further develop their skills, allowing them to assist in your class, getting them to lead a group, challenging them with new material, putting time into them, and allowing them to ask questions, and to explore on their own, without you always being the one to tell them how it should be done. Sometimes, allowing someone this freedom is the best way to say I believe in you!
  
  And once you feel someone else's faith in you, it makes it so much easier to believe in yourself.