"Believe in yourself!" Here's how . . .

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. 

~ Norman Vincent Peale

As school approaches I start to get nervous. Still, after 20 successful years. 

Dr. Peale advises us above to believe in ourselves. Often you'll hear speakers (maybe even me or you!) say that to kids: "Just believe in yourself."  But usually we believe in something we have evidence of. If I've actually been successful at getting on base lately, I'm much more likely to believe in myself as a baseball player, right?

So rather than just mindlessly saying, "I believe in my abilities," I think I'll do a little self-imposed cognitive therapy; take a moment, and reflect on some of the evidence that I am competent: student achievement, kind words students have said about life in my classroom, good evaluations from administrators I trust.  All this helps me believe in myself and have faith in my abilities.

May it be so also with you,

The Teacher Encourager