15 teaching, we should take them as ideas and try to integrate them little bits at a time. Select one new thing that will best fit your class or your style and try it for a week or two before adding another new element. Vicarious experiences and verbal persuasion Perhaps now more than ever it is important to give support and receive support from our colleagues. Faculty can build their confidence to try new things in the classroom when they learn and see other people succeed, and when they are encouraged by others. If you’re thinking about trying something new, there is probably another faculty member on campus who has already tried it before you. Network with other faculty, talk to them, learn from them, and take encouragement from them. Observing successes and receiving genuine verbal encouragement can help boost our own internal confidence reserves. So, make time to connect with each other and be intentional about sharing your successes, not just commiserating about your challenges. Emotional arousal Our own mental state impacts the way we respond to and perceive our sense of self. Bandura (1977) states that “high arousal usually debilitates performance.” When we are feeling mentally distressed about the circumstances surrounding our teaching, it is more difficult to stay positive and confident about how we are performing in the virtual classroom. It is important to practice self-care so that we can remain physically and emotionally healthy, which will help increase optimism and positivity about our own teaching experiences. Resilience when learning a new pedagogical method is critical and is easier to maintain when fear and self-doubt are not dominating thoughts. Taking a mindful minute before each class, practicing a personal favorite stress management technique, or sharing our concerns with trusted colleagues can help balance our emotional arousal and should be made a priority. Another potential reason for the decrease in teaching confidence in the online environment may be directly related to a lack of student engagement. Educators are professionals with the highest regard for student learning who desire to meet the social and emotional needs of students. As such, teachers need to experience successes in the online environment, attend quality professional development regarding design and implementation of online instruction, and receive quality feedback from their students. Conclusion Every day feels like a risk as we try new technological modalities and instructional styles. Although you think you don’t have enough security and you don’t think you will teach well using new digital resources and blended learning, you will have to face risk and discomfort on the first try. Yet, we are all taking the risk, and most days we don’t fall on our faces, but we also don’t feel very graceful. Despite our self-doubt and stumbles, we can learn to thrive in this new teaching environment and use the self-efficacy theory to offer practical guidance to help us get there. These suggested strategies to boost teacher confidence aim to increase teacher self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s self to perform at exemplary levels. When teachers believe in themselves, they will work harder, and instruction will be higher
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