{"id":125,"date":"2019-03-05T20:31:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T20:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/?p=125"},"modified":"2023-04-06T18:29:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T18:29:13","slug":"overcoming-stage-fright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/overcoming-stage-fright\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Stage Fright"},"content":{"rendered":"

PDF version for download:\u00a0 13 Overcoming Stage Fright<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a013a Citations for Overcoming Stage Fright<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overcoming Stage Fright<\/strong><\/p>\n

New teachers as well as seasoned veterans can get nervous or worried before getting up in front of a class.\u00a0 It could be the beginning of a new semester, and you are excited about starting up after break.\u00a0 It could be that you\u2019ve had some rough times and you are worried this day might also be rough.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, it helps to have some techniques to help you relax.<\/p>\n

Move, laugh, and breathe.<\/strong>\u00a0Before class, release nervous energy by jumping up and down 15 times in the bathroom. It will make you laugh. Shake your limbs to release nervous tension. Breathe slowly and deeply from the belly with your hands on the back of your hips.<\/p>\n

\u201cPower pose\u201d for two minutes.<\/strong>\u00a0After leaping up 72 stairs in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the film\u00a0Rocky, Sly Stallone raises his fists in what Harvard professor Amy Cuddy calls the\u00a0power pose<\/a>. As\u00a0HuffingtonPost.com<\/a>\u00a0explains: \u201cCuddy\u2019s research… has shown that adopting the body language associated with dominance for just 120 seconds is enough to create a 20 percent increase in testosterone and a 25 percent decrease in the stress hormone cortisol. In other words, adopting these postures makes a person feel more powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deposit Easter eggs into your curriculum.<\/strong>\u00a0Dreading students\u2019 negative response to a lesson that is conceptually confusing? Plant some surprises in the lesson for you and the class to look forward to: a slide featuring Ryan Gosling, popcorn, an\u00a0energizer<\/a>, a\u00a0short video<\/a>, a Bob Dylan break, or a review game. Playfulness is confidence building and contagious.<\/p>\n

Start the class off with a ritual.<\/strong>\u00a0The first couple minutes of a new class can be the most intimidating. I begin all my classes with 60 seconds of good news. Students report birthdays, new cars, successful surgeries, or relatives returning from Afghanistan. Besides marinating everyone in warm connections, the spotlight is on students, not you.<\/p>\n

Reinforce content.<\/strong>\u00a0Bring ancillary materials: posters, handouts, advance organizers, or a PowerPoint presentation. Don\u2019t try to be as verbally gifted as Noam Chomsky\u2014your materials will convey needed content.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t cede your center<\/strong>.\u00a0Avoid interpreting blank student faces as uninterested or angry (see \u201ccritical-parent syndrome<\/a>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Commit to an emotion.<\/strong>\u00a0Right before class begins,\u00a0recall the last time you were happy and excited<\/a>. When class starts, you\u2019ll feel more relaxed and animated.<\/p>\n

Count chairs.<\/strong>\u00a0Counting rhythmically<\/a>\u00a0will help keep your adrenaline more regulated.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about you.<\/strong>\u00a0Remember to concentrate on students learning instead of you performing perfectly.<\/p>\n

Lastly, find inspiration in Eleanor Roosevelt\u2019s words: \u201cYou can gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, \u2018I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.\u2019… You must do the thing you cannot do.\u201d<\/p>\n

(edutopia stage fright)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cited web sites for \u201cOvercoming Stage Fright\u201d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Format:<\/p>\n

reference name in text
\nlink
\naccess date<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

edutopia stage fright
\nhttps:\/\/www.edutopia.org\/blog\/overcoming-classroom-stage-fright-todd-finley<\/a>
\n16-Jan-18<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PDF version for download:\u00a0 13 Overcoming Stage Fright \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a013a Citations for Overcoming Stage Fright   Overcoming Stage Fright New teachers as well as seasoned veterans can get nervous or worried before getting up in front of a class.\u00a0 It could be the beginning of a new semester, and you are excited about starting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,17],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-classroom-management","tag-stage-fright"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}