Efficacy

"Children cannot be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement...ego identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of real accomplishment, that is, achievement that has meaning in the culture." - Erik Erikson

This summer at camp, specifically in my two weeks with my own group at the "big camp," I had a couple girls who didn't really want to do many of the activities. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of having 6 and 7 year-olds shooting BB guns and bow/arrows, but that's what some of the activities were, so that's what we did. I had a couple girls who didn't think they could do it at all, but I said they all at least needed to try. I never made anyone do it twice if they didn't want to, but I wanted them all to try at least once. Archery definitely went a LOT better than BB guns, but it might have been a bit disheartening for them that I couldn't even hit the target at BB guns. Everyone tried though, and that was the important part.

It's a lot harder to convince someone they can do something if you can't. With archery, I could at least usually hit the target. I still have yet to hit a target with a BB gun though. I could demonstrate that archery was possible, at least. As a teacher, it's important to believe in yourself and your abilities. Experience is probably the best way to become more confident. The more often you are successful, the more sure you will be that you can be successful again. Pretty much everyone has had a teacher who obviously isn't confident and isn't sure what exactly they're supposed to be teaching. Sometimes it's more about knowledge of material, but sometimes it's about how to act in front of a class. Going in, first year of teaching, you just have to know that you'll make mistakes, but that you'll also have successes. It's all about balance.