Confidence: is this Blog Post Okay

There is some irony that our first blog post for class coincides with the confidence learning key; it’s an opportunity to put yourself out there. For that matter, it’s not just the first blog post: almost every group is debuting a different assessment this week. This offers opportunities to challenge myself, and model good attitudes and encouragement for my peers. As I fret about being the first group to post here this semester, I should take the opportunity to consciously undertake the lessons from our learning key and remember that taking a risk is part of learning. I will not be confident if I believe that blogging competence is inborn or gained “with minimal effort and persistence”. Real confidence is knowing you can learn to do anything well, regardless of the outcome of the first attempt.

As teacher candidates, we must confront the tendency to treat ability as fixed and instead foster a growth-oriented environment where feedback emphasizes effort, strategy, and perseverance. That starts with our own willingness to take risks. Making mistakes is uncomfortable but doing so without treating them as a verdict on our potential or qualifications allows us to model the kind of learning we want from students. Good teachers aren’t infallible. I’m learning quickly from my classes that it’s far more important to build relationships, listen, and connect with students. The last time I checked, “Care” is closer to the centre of the OCT professional standards graphic than being a blog expert.

In my future classroom, that could mean praising students for revising their thinking, asking for help, or trying a difficult strategy—not only for getting the right answer. If I want students to see confidence as something they can build, I need to make productive struggle visible and worthwhile. I can begin by setting an example: participating genuinely and curiously in class presentations and workshops this semester, and honouring the risks and challenges of colleagues at the front of the class. Confidence, then, is not pretending that public work feels easy; it is trusting that we can learn from doing it. I’m looking forward to hearing what my classmates have to say and to practicing what this first learning key has taught me.

SamH@OTU