4 Ways to Help Shy Students in Your Classroom

I’m Joe Romano. For the last three decades, I’ve performed amazing educational school assemblies in PA, VA, MD, NY, NJ, Washington DC, and many more. Teachers love how educational my shows are. Kids love how exciting and interactive my shows are. Each month, I update my website’s blog with valuable information to help parents, teachers, and school administrators.

Why Are Some Kids Shy?

Shyness can be caused by a lot of things. How a child is raised, their social interactions, life experiences, and much more shape the kind of person they are. Many a child has had trouble fitting in. Or they were picked on by classmates. Some children have a less-than-ideal home life, coming from abusive households. Even when raised in a loving and supportive environment, some children are just born predisposed to being shy.

But being shy doesn’t have to be a lifelong sentence. As a teacher, you have the ability to help change a child’s life. This article will explore 4 different ways to help shy kids come out of their shells.

How Kids View Teachers

Many teachers consider themselves, well, teachers! But a teacher to a student can be many things. A teacher can be a student’s protector, advocate, and disciplinarian. Depending on the child, you may find yourself acting as all these to a student and many more!

Remember your role as an authority too. Kids look to adults for guidance. Even if they rebel and act out, they still crave and want guidance and approval. As a teacher, your approval will likely carry a great deal of weight…even if the child does not show it.

Helping a Shy Student Tip #1: Positive Reinforcement

This is a biggie! Because many of your students will look to you for guidance, how you respond to their successes or failures will greatly influence how they feel about themselves. If they are shy kids, then they may not have a robust social life. So their sense of who they are, and self-esteem may hinge even more on their schoolwork.

Give your students plenty of positive reinforcement when they accomplish something. But this is key: remember to praise the effort, too. When kids are praised only for their successes, they may not value the effort they put into tasks when they don’t succeed.

Helping a Shy Student Tip #2: Create a Safe Space

For a child – any child – to come out of their shell, they need to feel safe. To help your shy students feel comfortable getting involved and speaking up, create a safe space. Establish early in the school year that your classroom is where students can and should put forth effort, ask questions, and embrace their role as students.

Let your entire class know what your expectations are and how everyone is to be treated. Remind them that everyone is equal in your classroom. No putdowns. No bullying. No behavior that will cause anyone to feel threatened or bad about themselves.

Helping a Shy Student #3: Create Peer Support Groups

Do you have students in your class who always seem to help others? If so, pair up your shy student with your helpful student. The more a shy child gets to interact with someone their own age in a positive beneficial way, the more comfortable they’ll feel.

Your helpful student can encourage your shy student, serve as a good listener, and offer help with difficult assignments.

Helping a Shy Student #4: Give Them a Job

Assign your shy student a simple daily task or ‘job’ in the classroom. This gives the student a sense of responsibility and accomplishment. By giving them a job, you’re providing them with a safe way to get more involved with the class. They’ll feel more like part of the group and valued, too.

Help Your Students Feel Good About Themselves

Want to give all of your students a roadmap for confidence? My new “SMILE! It’s Magic!” school assembly gives your students easy ways to boost their self-esteem. During the show, students participate, help make the magic happen, and get to have fun in safe, non-threatening ways. Contact me today for more information on this fun interactive Character Education assembly!