Ron Clark- The Excellent 11 - Chapter 7 Confidence

Chapter 7: Confidence

Chapter 7 opens with a great quote. Clark writes, "Half of the battle in raising kids is teaching them to be confident." (150) I really have been confident in my school abilities most of my life. As I was reading this chapter, I was wondering why that was. As I think about it, and reflect on my childhood, I realize that my confidence stems from my parents. They have always been my biggest cheerleaders .. with me every step of the way. In this chapter Clark talks about how not all students have such supportive and cheerful parents like mine. He talks in this chapter about finding potential for greatness in each child and tapping into it. Without the reinforcement, often times children don't believe in themselves and their abilities. Clark talks about how experience leads to confidence. He writes, "The more these kids experience, the more self-esteem they will have and the better they will feel about themselves. I don't want my students to be twenty two years old, go to a job interview, be qualified for the job, but not get the position because they don't know how to hold themselves in a certain way and present themselves in a manner that is professional." (152) After reading Clark's essential 55, I realized that many of Clark's rules were instilling life skills. Clark carries this out when talking about instilling values to help build confidence.

Clark continues on in this chapter by talking about how confidence comes with preparation. By preparing students with the tools they need for success, you are making them more confident in their own personal abilities. Preparation is the key to success. It is teachers job to prepare students for success and greatness. Clark writes, "as teachers and parents we have the freedom to lift up children and make them feel special. We can build confidence and self-esteem simply by taking the time to applaud good work and to show students how talented they are." (161) As teachers we have to tell students we are proud of them- because for some, it is the only person who is reinforcing them with positive praise. In the summer I teach swimming lessons and I am constantly praising small victories in my students. I am constantly telling them how proud I am of them. Learning to swim involves a lot of risks and overcoming of many fears and positive reinforcements are a must (without them you might not get the student coming back the next day!) I never realized how much the reinforcement really meant to the students until I met a little girl name Brooke. Brooke was so scared to learn to swim, but after 5 weeks of hard work she was swimming across the pool. Brooke would say things like "Brittany are you so proud of me?" and loved to hear my praise. She would smile and take in all the accolades. At the end of the 6 weeks of swimming lessons (Everyday too!! - that's a lot of swimming!!) Brooke told me "Brittany I'm so proud of you, because you made me learn to swim even though I was scared and didn't want to, and now I can swim and I'm proud of myself." Her sweet world melt my heart, but made me relize that the possitive reinforcement really helped her through a hard journey!