Bonus task: Self-talk and teacher confidence (ELT Playbook 1)

Here’s a bonus task to complement the ‘Teacher Health and Wellbeing’ section of ELT Playbook 1, a book I self-published this year which is designed to help early career teachers reflect on their teaching. Download the task as a pdf (Self-talk and teacher confidence), or read on…

Teacher health and wellbeing
Self-talk and teacher confidence

Task: 25 minutes
Reflection: 25 minutes

Make a list of things which you say to yourself about your teaching, for example ‘I can’t control this class’ or ‘That board race went really well’.

Categorise them into positive, negative and neutral.

Why do you think you say these things to yourself?
Would you say them to a friend?
Do you think your students or your colleagues would tell you the same things?
How often do you say them to yourself?
For those on the ‘positive’ list, how did you arrive at this point? How could other teachers do the same?
For those on the ‘negative’ list, what do you think are the roots of these issues? What effect do they have on your confidence? How can you diminish their effects?
What effect does your confidence have on your teaching?

Via your blog, share one of the positive things that you say to yourself. Describe how other teachers can reach the point where they can say this to themselves too. Use the #ELTplaybook hashtag on Twitter or facebook.

Record yourself talking about the effects of confidence on teaching. Refer to your own experience if you want to.

Draw a picture of what’s going on inside your head when you teach now. If you want it to change, draw a second picture of how you’d like it to look.

In your teaching journal, write about the roots of one of the negative things you say to yourself and how you could diminish the effects of it.

ELT Playbook 1 cover, showing title, a pale blue book, and the author's name (Sandy Millin) with a computer mouse coming out of the 'y'

If you want to continue reflecting on your teaching, why not get your own copy of ELT Playbook 1 from Amazon (ebook or paperback) or Smashwords (ebook)? [affiliate links] You can also find out more by looking at the ELT Playbook blog, where you can see examples of badges you can earn, as well as a sample task from the book.