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The fear of students to participate comes from two reasons. One is the lack of confidence and the other is shyness, both interdependant from each other, but yet can be overcome by slowly infusing confidence into the students, by asking them questions individuall and praising their contributions in front of the class. The individual questioninng will raise their confidence in a slow fashion and the the praising will motivate them to shine, getting rid of the shyness.
I helped them by motivating and by encourgement through which they would be able to rely on their abilities.I endulged them in positive reinforcement.
Making the classroom a pleasant and friendly place for the student might be able to help to overcome this issue. Because when the student does not feel confident to come forward as the teacher, I must be able to encourage him/her. Being friendly with students and identify the student can help this out.
Fear in students occurs only when there is a gap between a student-teacher relationship. I would try my best to build that gap by supporting every student when he stumbles with care and patience. Once I came across a student who was highly disturbed, and stubborn refraining from classes, I spent a few minutes with him and got to know that he had a terrible family background. I never judge a student by his behavior because every child who fails to express positively has a story to cry out to the world.
Some students are shy, and it does not always mean that they all have some problems. Somebody is an introvert, somebody is an extravert - it is OK. I agree that a classroom atmosphere should be friendly - students and teachers accept each other as they are. But from my point of view, it is not enough - educators can try different learning styles, involve students in extracurricular activities, use learning apps to make their lessons more interactive. Additionally, teachers should not treat some students differently, everyone is equal.
Usually kids who have a fear of participating in my experience are mostly shy. Kids feed on compliments, the more you compliment them their confidence level goes a step higher. I make it a point to always pay attention to the quiet ones in my classroom and sometimes take them aside to have conversations with them on how they feel they can take part in various activities in the classroom, most of the time they come up with brilliant ideas which I retalate with words of encouragement. Also remember its very important to have a relationship with your students so that they know when their Teacher gives them a pep talk it's coming from the right place.
The source of classroom participation lies in fear of humilitation or the individual being a natural introvert. For the introverts, fun ice breaker activities are a great way to make these students more comfortable in conversing with their peers.
Individual projects that are discussed within groups are the best way to give introverts the opportunity to still work alone but also receive valuable peer input. Specific consultation times for one-on-one sessions with me as the teacher would be perfect for those students who fear humiliation in a classroom environment. This will surely build their confidence as they become more familiar with course content.
I will help students overcome the fear of participation in the class by giving easy tips and strategies for public speaking such as speaking only three sentences in simple language taking the help of notes then asking them to speak the other few sentences without referring to notes and then gradually making them adaptive with the environment. I will take a few ice-breaking exercises in the class every day to make them comfortable. Preparation is the key to success and practice leads to perfection.
