Confidence Vs. Self-Esteem

In my American Heritage Dictionary I found the following definitions:

Self-Esteem ... Pride in oneself.

I didn't think that was a very good defintion, so I looked up Pride.

Pride ... A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect: One should not be robbed of his pride.

Confidence ... A feeling of assurance or certainty, especially concerning oneself.

Self-Confidence ... consciousness of one's own powers and abilities.

A child's Self-Esteem and maintaining that self-esteem has had a major effect on education over the past 20 years. For instance .... many schools no longer publish an A-Honor Roll or even an AB-Honor Roll because it might hurt the self-esteem of the students who didn't make it onto one of those lists. Cheerleading sqauds and athletic teams must take all comers because to hold try-outs might hurt the self-esteem of those who get cut. Instead of holding classes based on a student's ability, classes are now all "mainstreamed" with children of all abilities from 70 IQ to 150 IQ all placed in the same classroom and asked to learn at the same rates. Yes there are Honors classes and Pre-AP classes ... but schools are not allowed to deny entry to anyone who wants to take those classes, even if the classes are way beyond the student's current abilities. Teachers who teach these classes are often pressured to teach to the ability of the lowest student in the class because it is that one student's parents who will complain the most about how hard that teacher is teaching and how their child's self-esteem is being injured.

Okay .... I could go on and on .... but I bring all of this up because of a question I put on a Parent Survey for the parents of my new classes of 6th and 7th graders. Well ... not because of my question .... but because the the Parents' response to my question.

The question was ... "What would you like to see your child get from this Math class?"

Here are some of the responses ... "To gain the confidence back that he lost last year." ... "Confidence with numbers." .... "Continued improvement and confidence in her Math Skills" ... "A confidence on Math Skills, which I have never had." .... "To feel confident in her Math ability." ... "Confidence and understanding of concepts - not just rote memory."

I was touched, and amazed, by how well these parents expressed exactly what I believe is one of the most important things for an educator to offer a student ... CONFIDENCE.

Competence is another one of my "key" words ... which I will touch on now and again, and not one parent mentioned Competence .... but not one parent mentioned "self-esteem" either!!

Okay parents, leave a comment and correct me if I am wrong ... but here is what I see you asking for ... You want your children to learn Math and learn it well. You want them to leave my class in May KNOWING that they can now do certian things and do them well. You also want them to be able to say ... "I'm not sure how to do that, but I would appreciate it if you would show me how so that I can become even better" ... as well as be able to say to someone ... "I am absolutely sure that I have done this problem correctly." and to be right!

I am 46 years old and I am have only recently, in the past few years, begun to feel the power of confidence in myself. I am confident and competent in my Math Skills and in my ability to teach children (6th grade and higher ... I also know my limits). And it feels really good to be able to say that!! I am good at what I do. I would love to be able to have my students feel the same way about themsleves. (And my son, too, for that matter.)

I want to give my students an environment where it is very safe to be wrong because if they are anything like me (and you) they often need to learn from their mistakes. They shouldn't be ridiculed for their mistakes, but instead allowed to make mistakes and then given corrections in a positive way. Many students (and people in general) who are ridiculed for their mistakes simply give up trying at all. That is no way to teach a person. That is no way to build confidence and competence.

What is the Thomas Edison quote about the number of attempts it took him to make a lightbulb? (I have run several searches, the numbers differ ... so I will make up an example) It took Thomas Edison 342 attempts to make a light-bulb which worked ... he not only invented the lightbulb ... he also discovered 341 ways to NOT make a lightbulb.

I want to create students who aren't afraid to try .... try and maybe be wrong .... and try again and keep trying until they are right ... and are SURE they are right. And tomorrow and next month and next year they will still be right. And if someone says they are wrong, I want to create a student who will respectfully defend themsleves and be confident in their ability to do so.

This is something I hope to give to my students which NO ONE can take away ... all Pride and Sef-Esteem aside.

Back to the Classroom ...

LOL .... well .... I post a post about being glad that I am not going back to school ... and here I am a week later about to go select a curriculum for 6th grade and 7th grade classes I have agreed to take on!!

I will be teaching these classes twice a week ... for a total of 1.5 hours per day or 3 hours per week .... which isn't much. Should be nice to walk in at 9:30am and out at 11:00am ... and that's it! Eleven 6th graders and seven 7th graders ... should be interesting ....

The school is called Bridgepoint ... and is Private .... linked with a program called the Circle of Sciences .... http://www.circleofsciences.com .... and is here in town. The classroom I will be teaching in is in a very nice building in Parker Square in Flower Mound, TX ... which to those of you who live nearby, you know it is Hoity and Toity!

I am to meet the students on Wednesday ... and start my classes next Tuesday 8-22 ....

The woman who runs the school contacted me Friday evening and I mulled it over all day Saturday and had pretty well decided that I didn't want to do it ... it has been forever since I taught 6th graders ... do I want "classes" of students again? .... do I want to be making quizzes and tests and grading homework and keeping grades and planning lessons again? .... the really nice thing about tutoring is that you don't have to do that stuff!! ....

But then I met the lady on Sunday ... and set my price pretty high ... but the more I listened to her as we chatted about all kinds of things, the more I liked her .... she has really good energy about her and she is very straight-forward ... and her robotics team beat my ex-husband's robotics team (and that is a BIG DEAL) .... well, we negotiated a price we could both live with.

So now I need to go find curriculum. I don't think Saxon is going to cut it ... but I can for sure use the Saxon software to generate tests and quizzes and such .... and I still have my Grade-Book Plus software to set up a gradebook and generate all kinds of reports ....

Oh .... and I am getting a lot of calls from parents of students who failed the July retest of the TAKS Exit Level Math .... but they are all local and want private tutoring ... instead of buying my DVD .... more $$ for me ... but I really want the DVD to get out there!! Also there are parents calling me to "save " them spots for their kids for either the Fall or Spring ... depending on what their schedule says today ... which I think is great!! I have a feeling business is going to go well this year!!

I am so Grateful!!

It is on days like today ... which happen once a year .... that I am so grateful I became a Math Tutor with my own business.

Today ... August 7th ... LISD teachers went back to school ... they started 5 days of Teacher Inservice. August 14th .... next Monday ... they will be back at it for another school year!!

Now .... don't get me wrong! I LOVE Teaching!!! I absolutely LOVE teaching. But I am pretty happy with my decision to run my own business. I am learning SO MUCH about so many different aspects of Mathematics education here in Texas. I am learning about Homeschoolers and Unschoolers and Private Schoolers and Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers and Community Collegers ....

I am learning about all different kinds of curriculums and testing.

I am also learning about what it takes to make an educational DVD and sell it to the public ... I am learning a lot!!

I am REALLY GLAD to not be in a teacher inservice right now!!

I have also noticed lately that the Dallas Morning News seems to be making a special effort to bring education to the forefront. I like seeing that. They are publishing more articles on TAKS and on school starting dates and requesting articles from teachers specifically! I think that is great and plan to try to add my $.02 to the general knowledge!!

I need to write more in this BLOG ... I do have lots to say, so I need to get back at it!!

I will!!