Confidence Is Built, Not Born: 10 Strategies That Actually Work to Help Students Overcome Anxiety

[MarisaBluestone]

Academic anxiety is real—whether it’s students freezing up before an assignment, hesitating to participate, or staring at a blank screen like it personally insulted them. But confidence? That can be built.

At The What and Who of Edu, we asked experienced educators across the country to share what actually works in helping students push past fear and develop the self-assurance they need to succeed. The result? Ten classroom-tested strategies that help students take risks, find their voices, and see mistakes as part of the learning process.

Here’s a sneak peek of what they had to say—be sure to check out the full podcast episode: 10 Ways to Help Students Overcome Anxiety on Apple or Spotify to hear all the tips straight from the instructors. Here’s a quick take of the 10 inspiring tips.

1. Build a Squad: Creating a Supportive Community

English class can feel like a minefield for students who have been burned by red-inked essays and nerve-wracking oral presentations. That’s why Adriana Bryant, an English Instructor at Lone Star College-Kingwood, makes community-building a priority. Students don’t just need a classroom—they need a squad. When they have a support system, they take more risks, speak up more, and learn more.

“I often establish what we call community groups within my classes. I think this really helps them to feel comfortable and understand that everything's a learning process. And it’s a journey that we take together… By establishing those kinds of community groups, they feel more at ease.”

2. Give Students a Common Enemy (a.k.a. You!)

Students don’t always naturally work together, so Dr. Mike May, Lower Division Coordinator in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Saint Louis University, gives them a reason to. He positions himself as the “common enemy. ” It’s a playful but effective strategy when students quickly realize that working together isn’t just encouraged, it’s their best option.

"I encourage group work … anyone not working in a group is volunteering to explain to the class. That makes me the common enemy that they all get to band together against."

3. Make Peer Review Less Terrifying

Sharing your writing with strangers is scary. Jennifer Duncan, Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College, knows the key to making peer review less painful: trust. Because when students see each other as allies, not critics, peer review stops feeling like an ambush and starts feeling like collaboration.

"For me, the biggest thing that I can do to help them overcome their anxiety is to help them recognize that I am here, and I am a human, and I'm going to answer them, and I'm going to respond to them."

4. Ease Into Online Learning

In an online course, students aren’t just learning the material—they’re also figuring out how to navigate the technology. Betsy Langness, a psychology professor at Jefferson Community & Technical College, lowers the stakes by making those first steps as low-pressure as possible. Before they dive into the heavy coursework, students get small wins—learning how to submit assignments, engage with discussions, and feel comfortable in the digital space.

"I always start by asking students what they want to get out of the course. Then I give them lots of low-stakes, introductory assignments to help them get used to the technology."

5. Give Permission to be Imperfect

Many students believe that if they don’t get it right the first time, they’re doomed. Dr. Christin Monroe, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Landmark College, sets the record straight by sharing her own experiences. She doesn’t just talk about it—she builds it into her teaching. 

"I start off by sharing that I failed my first chemistry class in high school… It’s important to share both our successes and our failures.”

Dr. Monroe has actually had students who would rather not turn in anything and get a 0 instead of turning something in and not having it be perfect. That’s why she allows revisions on every formative assessment. By removing the pressure to be right the first time, students stop seeing mistakes as failures and start seeing them as opportunities for growth.

6. Start Small—Like, Really Small

Many students come into class believing they’re bad writers. Julie Moore, Senior Online Academic Advisor and First-Year Composition Instructor at Eastern University, helps them unlearn that fear by starting with low-stakes writing. When students aren’t afraid of “messing up,” they actually engage more and improve faster.

"First off is beginning the class with very low risk, right? Low impact. Kinds of writing assignments so that they're not right away writing something that has a whole bunch of points."

7. Show Them That Even Professors Struggled

Students often assume good writing comes naturally to experts. Dr. Margaret Holloway, an Assistant Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, debunks that myth by sharing her old essays. When students realize even their professor, an actual expert, had to struggle through early drafts, they start to give themselves more grace.

"I show them essays from when I was an undergrad to say, ‘Hey, this is what my writing looked like when I was your age.’"

8. Mistakes Are the Point

Dr. Jennifer Ripley Stueckle, Teaching Professor and Non-Majors Biology Program Director at West Virginia University, sometimes announces the wrong answer on purpose—just to see if her students will correct her. Instead of seeing mistakes as embarrassing failures, her students learn that catching and fixing errors is part of real learning.

"I make mistakes on purpose, just so that they can see that I'm a human. And it's okay to make mistakes."

9. Treat Exams Like a First Date

Tests make students nervous, but so do first dates. And Dr. Ripley Stueckle, believes preparing for an exam is just like preparing for a date. By the time students take their first test, they’ve already practiced the material in multiple ways—so the test itself feels like a natural next step, not a high-pressure performance.

"As soon as we take that first test, I tell them it’s like our first date. We were formal, nervous, unsure. But now? Now we’re in a relationship for the rest of the semester.”

10. Play the Long Game

Confidence isn’t built overnight. Dr. Charlotte de Araujo, an Assistant Professor at York University, shares the story of a student who had already failed biology twice. Instead of letting her give up, Dr. de Araujo helped her rethink her study strategies, attend peer sessions, and stick with it. The result?

"She was successful in midterm two and ended up getting a B on the final exam … and at the end of the semester, she decided to continue on in the biology program."

The best educators know that confidence isn’t about eliminating anxiety—it’s about giving students the tools and support to push through it. 🎧 Listen to the first episode: 10 Ways to Help Students Overcome Anxiety on Apple or Spotify to hear all the tips straight from the instructors.

Got a confidence-building strategy that works wonders in your classroom? Drop us a voicemail at (512) 765-4688, and you might hear yourself on a future episode!