Expectations

In The surprising thing about expectations from Seth Godin's Blog, Seth Godin

“...if you relentlessly raise expectations, if you overpromise and add a bit of hype, you’re almost certain to fail to meet our dreams and hopes.”

Teaching has to deal with that fine line between high expectations and realistic dreams.

I think it is important to have high expectations so that students will do their best. They will give it their best effort.

When I first started teaching, I had many students tell me that they were too dumb to learn. Didn’t I know any better? It took many months for me to convince them that everyone can learn but people learn at different rates. This difference in the way we learn is normal for everyone. It depends on what we are learning, how we are learning, and why we are learning.

I confess that when I first started teaching students with down’s syndrome, I had low expectations. These students were so happy and filled with love that I didn’t want them to feel frustrated or unhappy. Thank goodness I had their parents who were willing to help me raise my expectations and have the students work harder at achieving more.

I learned if I don’t expect enough, all students will only work hard enough to meet my expectations. How can I expect my students to grow and work to better themselves if I don’t believe in them? And if I don’t believe in them, students knew it and acted accordingly.

Once I changed my mindset and believed in my students, it was amazing at the things they could do. I was amazed at the things they were willing to try and even face obstacles. Once they believed that I would be there with them facing these obstacles and willing to help them succeed, students tried harder. The more success they faced, the more they were willing to grow academically and even personally.

As a teacher, I needed to learn to change my own expectations before I could help students change their expectations.

Have you ever had to do this? Please share.

Photo by Yasin Yusuf on Unsplash

Setting Limits

In The things we go back to from Seth Godin's Blog from Seth Godin states,

“Credit card companies have discovered that if a person carries $2,000 in debt with a $3,000 credit limit, they’ll probably have $4,000 in debt if the credit limit gets raised to $5,000.”

Most people like boundaries. In fact, I believe we need boundaries.

Imagine a world without speed limits or laws. They are essential for our community to work. Imagine our society without any laws!

My students need boundaries. They want to know the limits that a teacher sets. Yes, of course, they will push those boundaries and limits because they want to know if they are real. Will they be enforced? Does the teacher truly mean them or are they just lip service to administration?

When I was young, my parents explained they had rules for me because they loved me. If they didn’t have rules, I would believe they didn’t care and doubt that they loved me.

I believe my students feel the same way.

My classroom rules demonstrate that I care. I want all my students to have a productive learning environment that is safe to make mistakes. I want my students to feel that I will be fair and make all of them follow the same rules and the consequences will be fair for all. They need to know that I care enough about them to enforce the rules.

Without rules, my class would be chaotic. Students would feel they could do anything and not suffer consequences, and it would not feel like a safe learning environment for them. Students would be afraid of making a mistake and being ridiculed by others. Learning would be more difficult.

Students need someone to take a leadership role. If the teacher doesn't establish rules and doesn't establish the role of leader, one of the stronger students will. If this student is not the best-behaved student, the student will encourage disruption and bad behavior.

If I ask my students to write an essay, almost all of them want to know how long it should be. They want to know how many words, or paragraphs, or pages it should be. They want to know what my limits are. I know I felt the same way as a student and I felt very anxious when a teacher responded, “Write enough to answer the question.”

Do you establish limits in your class? Please share.

Photo by Ludovic Charlet on Unsplash

Setting Expectations and Consequences

In Three strikes and you’re out . . . of the stroller from Roman Reboot, Melissa shares,

“Before we set out, I outlined our “zero tolerance” strategy.  I let them know that we would be not touching each other in the stroller today.  Period.

This would involve a three strike system.  If you touch your sibling, it will result in:

1) A verbal warning,

2) Being buckled in, and finally

3) Ejection from the stroller.

…We reminded them about the system, every time they got in the stroller, and it somehow worked.”

Then she asks,

“Have you had success on a plan like this?  Do your kids rise to meet expectations or is it just too frustrating to try?”

I think it is so important to think about the specific behavior we want our kids to show. Just saying I want them to behave is not specific enough. I think I need to say what actions will show me that they are behaving.

I may need to find out what one thing they do that bugs me the most and focus on that. I need to work on one behavior at a time so that they can learn the appropriate behavior that is acceptable. Once they learn that, I can move on to another behavior. I believe that is what Melissa did in her plan.

I think it is also important to be consistent and firm. If I am going to spell out consequences, then it is important that I follow through. It doesn’t mean anything if I threaten consequences and don’t enforce them. What a child learns is that I don’t mean what I say. My mother was really good at saying things and meaning them so when she told me what would happen if I did something I shouldn’t, I had no doubt that it would happen.

I also believe that patience is important. Sometimes the kids won’t learn the first time and need to suffer the consequences even if we hate doing this. The kids might act out worse before it gets better but I believe that is just a test to see if I’m going to follow through. This is especially true if I haven’t done this well in the past. I need to keep applying the consequences every time the kid does not do what is expected.

I think as long as my expectations are reasonable for the child’s age, it is important to teach them socially acceptable behaviors. I know it would be easier to let them do what they want but in the long run it will do nothing but give me a great big headache.

What do you do to set expectations and consequences? Please share.

You Can Do Better

In The Danger of “Good Enough” from Bud the Teacher  Bud Hunt asks,

“And I wonder what it is that pushes you, me, or anyone to move beyond good enough.  What are the factors and forces, aside from sheer will and determination and downright stubbornness, that will move a person or a group past “good enough” and towards “better than ever” or “continuous improvement” or “let’s nuke this whole thing and start over?”  How do we move organizations, and ourselves, beyond “good enough” in the places and situations where that matters most?”

This reminds me of growing up in a house where it was expected that everyone should do their best. If I came home with a B, my parents wanted to know why I didn’t do enough to get an A. When I got an A-, my parents wanted to know why I didn’t get an A or A+. It was never good enough. If I finally got an A+, I expected lavish praise and instead was told that it was good and expected. It frustrated me a lot when I was in school but now as an adult and a parent, I can see it from my parent’s perspective. They wanted me to do better. They wanted me to do my best and they knew that I was capable of better work and would get lazy. Many times I did work that was just good enough.

Maybe I need to raise my expectations in the classroom. I need to expect my students to do their best and shouldn’t let them get by with just doing what is good enough. But, as a teacher, I get lazy and tired of pushing and shoving my students in the right direction. Yet, isn’t that my job? If I don’t, am I doing my best? It is so much nicer taking the easy road and letting students get by with good enough. Everyone seems happy. The parents are happy their child is passing and the student is happy with getting a passing grade. But is the student living up to their potential? Am I showing the student how much better they can be?

Learning what constitutes good enough or my best was an important lesson for me. I know when I’m giving something my all without anyone judging me. In my heart, I judge myself. I want my students to be able to judge themselves in the same way.

I see this same attitude in teachers. Many teachers just want to do what is good enough and collect their pay check. You know who they are and they know who they are. Even the students know who they are. But the system can’t do anything about them because they aren’t doing anything wrong. They are doing the bare minimum of what is expected. Then maybe it is time to expect more of these teachers. The hard working committed teachers are the ones giving 200% and dread the thought of the system expecting more. But maybe if the system expected more, the work load would be more evenly distributed and the best teachers wouldn’t be giving 200% and getting burned out!

So, in answer to Bud’s question, I am a pretty self-motivated person. I know when I’m not doing my best and it really motivates me to do better. I guess my parents did a good job raising me!

What motivates you to do better? Please share.

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Raise the Bar

In Expect More from Actualization, Walter shares, 

“Are there letdowns? Of course. Disappointment is just the difference between where you set the bar and where you find your footing. It’s necessary…a gut check that helps you reassess and recommit to do better. It’s not based on what anyone else does…it’s defined by you and the standards to which you hold yourself. If you’re never disappointed, you’re not expecting enough.”

Many times I would have to show tough love to my students with special needs. Yes, I felt bad that they had disabilities but unless I helped them cope with them and figure out a way to navigate the world, they would never rise to their potential.

I’ve been in IEP meetings where I was told that I expect too much from my students. But I believe there are some basic things that all students can learn regardless of having a disability or not. I think that all students can learn to respect others, be honest, and do the best that they can.

If I keep telling students that they can’t do better because they have a disability, then they may never know their full potential. I need to expect more and help my students achieve more.

Maybe that means I need to expect more from myself. I need to do more than just the bare minimum. I need to expect to give my best to help others give their best.

I’m always reminded of a general education teacher who had two of my low functioning students assigned to her Broadcast Journalism class. When she found out, she rushed to my room and insisted that they be removed because they couldn’t do the things in her class. As my students’ advocate, I insisted that they stay in the class and that we work together to find things for them to do that were possible. Thankfully, this teacher was willing to work with me and make this a positive experience for our students. We were both amazed how much they could actually do and do well. One boy was on the school TV network and gave the weather each morning on the news show. The other boy worked the camera and organized equipment. The rest of the students responded well to them because of the teacher’s attitude and it was a fabulous year for all of the students. In fact, it went so well that the teacher requested these students for the Advanced Broadcast Journalism class the next year.

Since we raised the bar and expected more of these students, they rose to the occasion. They tried things that they never would have attempted before. The more they did successfully, the more we asked of them. If you could only see the happiness that was reflected on their faces. For once, people didn’t focus on what they couldn’t do but rather helped them learn the things they could do!

I think the bar was raised for the students and also for the teachers and students. It was a great lesson for everyone to expect more of ourselves and others.

Have you raised the bar on something and had it turn out well? Please share.

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My Expectations This Year

In What are your expectations for the year? From Blogush, Paul Bogush  shares,

“Each year at the end of the first class of the year I ask the kids a simple question…What do you expect this year??”

I experienced this from my trip to Canada last week. I expected to do lots of different things and taste lots of interesting foods. My expectations were high! But after a week, I learned that even though the scenery was stunning, there wasn’t really a lot of things to do. Many shops were closed for the season so we spent a lot of time driving around and just looking at the scenery. The food was much different than I expected. Everything tasted pretty bland. The mashed potatoes I was served in several places was just a potato mashed up with no seasoning, butter, or milk. Many restaurants were closed for the season. It wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t a bad trip but different from my expectations.

When talking to a group, whether students or adults, I think asking this question is important. Their expectations for the session, class, or year can have an impact on how they feel about the outcome.

It may help me better structure what I say if I know what the expectations are. Or, I may be able to let everyone know what I plan to do and state up front that I won’t meet their expectations. This gives them a chance to leave (without any hard feelings) or adjust their expectations.

I think of a person’s expectations are vastly different from the teacher’s objectives, this leaves to a lot of discontent on both sides.

If I am not meeting someone’s expectations, then they feel that I have wasted their time.

If they are not meeting my objectives because their expectations are different, then I feel frustrated and might even feel a lack of respect. I want them to understand and achieve my objectives but it isn’t a priority to them.

I think the best way for me to teach is to talk about expectations right from the beginning. I need to share my expectations and then listen to their expectations. If they are vastly different, maybe we can work out a solution in the beginning in order for all of us to adjust our expectations and meet somewhere in the middle. I’m not saying we have to lower the quality or value of the lesson but try to meet each other’s needs.

I might need to add some things to my lesson in order to meet expectations. I also might need to skip some things that aren’t necessary to meet my students expectations. Some things may be required and neither of us may change that. But once all of the expectations are out in the open, it helps the students or adults and myself have an open mind. It makes us all active participants in the lesson.

How do you deal with expectations? Please share.

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Setting Up Expectations

In I do not embrace failure… from Blogush, Paul Bogush shares,

“My first words out of my mouth on the first day of class are ‘this will be the most amazing class you have ever been in.’ My last words at the end of the class are ‘prepare to change the world.’”

Most of the time my students are very aware of my attitude before they begin an assignment.

Over the years I’ve learned:

· If I’m excited about a lesson, they will be more engaged and interested in the lesson.

· If I let them know that it is not the most exciting lesson but I have to teach the concept, they will not stay focused and have some trouble with the lesson.

· If I tell them it is a complicated lesson that they might get confused so they really need to pay attention, then they have a lot of problems.

Once I saw what a difference my beginning attitude made, I changed the way I introduced my lessons.

If it wasn’t the most exciting lesson, then I needed to find ways to make it exciting. It was my job to make it worth learning. If it wasn’t worth learning, I needed to think about the reason that I was teaching it.

If it was a complicated and confusing lesson, then I needed find ways to break the lesson down into manageable tasks. I needed to make it less complicated and confusing. Maybe I needed to break it down into smaller lessons.

I learned that if I told them that the lesson would be fun, they looked forward to the learning. I know I would feel this way too. If it wasn’t worth the time for the teacher to make the lesson worth learning, why should a student bother learning?

Students learn from the cues they pick up from their teachers. Tone of voice and body language is so important. Presentation is part of the lesson and needs to be included in the lesson planning.

How do you set up expectations? Please share.

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Getting the Dream Job

In On booby prizes and new horizons from Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson shares that he is moving to a new position but reflects on how he got his current position and his feelings when he didn’t get his “dream” job 25 years ago. He says,

“Don't mistake the edge of a rut for the horizon. 
~ James Patterson”

and

“On retrospect the booby prize turned out to be the grand prize.”

Years ago, when I decided to leave a school that I had been at for 11 years even though it was a 45 minute drive from my house, I applied to a school nearest to my home. I knew it would be perfect for me because years ago I had lived near the school I taught at and I loved it. I loved being part of the community. I loved being close enough to go to many of the after school activities. I knew that this would be my dream job. Even though it was a drop in pay, I would save so much in gas and time so it would be worth it.

When I decided to interview for the special ed position, my friend who works for the district talked me into applying to another school a little further away (15 minutes from my home). I didn’t want to interview but my husband told me that it would be a good experience to practice my interview skills so I went to both interviews.

My dream job interview was okay but the principal told me that he already promised the job to someone else and was waiting to hear from him. He also said that if the other man didn’t take the job that he would give me a call.

My second interview (remember the one that I didn’t really want to go to?) was an amazing interview. The administrators spent the time actually trying to convince me to come to their school rather than the other way around. As we walked around the school, I heard teachers laughing and sounding like they enjoyed being there. Students were smiling and greeting the administrators as we walked through the halls. Any of my concerns (size of the classroom, number of students, optimal teaching schedule) were all addressed to my satisfaction. Within days I was offered the job.

Needless to say, I was disappointed that I didn’t get my “dream job” but I decided to take the second job because they made me feel so good about myself. They acted like they really wanted me and that was a good feeling!

I spent the next 7 years at this school and I never regretted this decision. I had the most amazing colleagues and even though it was a huge school (2300 students), we all worked well together. My principal decided I had leadership abilities and made me the head of the department. This belief helped me grow so much professionally and I ended up being chosen Teacher of the Year. In fact, I was a top 10 finalist out of the 5000 teachers in the district! I don’t think this would have happened if I hadn’t come to this school.

So, I believe that things happen because they are meant to happen. I may not have gotten what I had thought was my “dream job” but I actually got the job of my dreams!

Have you ever not gotten your dream job but it turned out better than you thought it would? Please share.

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Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover

Or a student or class either.

As our summer program began, I assigned some teachers to a class that may have been out of their comfort zone. After reading their blog posts, I learned how apprehensive some of them were.

Yet, they stiffened their shoulders and jumped right into their assignments. They didn’t whine and groan about how they didn’t want to be there. Instead they tried to make the best of a situation they weren’t thrilled about.

Over the past week, I have seen their students blossom and thrive. I have also seen the teachers blossom too. They have reached beyond what they thought they could do and really seem to be enjoying themselves. They have gotten past their anxieties and now actually feeling the thrill of it all.

These teachers were able to assess the student’s needs and developing goals for the students to work on during our program. With a direction in mind, the teachers are creating activities that meet each student’s needs. I love when I see the whole class engaged in an exciting lesson and especially love when the students come to show off their work.

How many times do I do this in my own life – professional and personal? I need to keep an open mind and be willing to try new challenges. I need to keep an open mind because without new challenges, I become stale and boring. With each new challenge I am also growing to be a better person.

Do you judge first or are you willing to face up to the challenge? Please share.

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High Expectations vs. Realistic Expectations

In Adrien:  Who our students are vs. who we want them to be from Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers by CEC, Adrien talks about how she struggles with her high expectations in addition to being realistic about their abilities.

“Bottom line, my students are each wonderfully unique and I cherish each of them. I want and expect the very best for each of them. But how do I balance who they really are with what society and I want them to be? Do I just accept that Student #1 will always be loud? Do I accept that Student #2 will always require special handling for his choices and actions? Do I accept that Student #3 will always just say what she thinks and hope she’s surrounded with people who understand? Or do I stick to my guns with expectations of propriety and maturity?”

I think it is important that we challenge our students to expand their horizons and try to grow. Without taking risks and trying harder tasks, we will never be able to learn what we could do. I need to give my students a safe place to take risks and know that I am there for support. I want them to know that failure is not the worst thing but not trying is the worst thing.

Adrien mentions student #1 who is very loud. I need to look at the student’s weaknesses and seeing how they can be used as a strength. If the student is loud, I need to help the student learn what situations are appropriate for loudness and which aren’t. Yet, there are times that I might need to use this loudness to get the class attention. By looking at this as a strength, it can change how I perceive this student’s weakness.

Adrien also mentions student #2 who has trouble taking criticism. I feel using a rubric with very specific descriptions can help the student check their own work. I would have the student review their own work and fill out the rubric. This might help the student be more prepared for what needs to be done and it may seem more objective than subjective.

Student #3 that Adrien mentions is a student who says inappropriate things or things at inappropriate times. I would come up with a frequency chart that can be filled out on this student. Either the student would carry this with them or it can be taped to the desk. Every time the student says something that isn’t “filtered,” I would mark it on the chart. At the end of the day, I would keep a record of how many marks were made. At the end of the week I would make a graph to show the student and challenge them to have a lower frequency the next week etc. At the end of the month, graph the results to show progress. Many students respond well to the graphs that are a visual representation of their behavior.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with having high expectations for my students as long as they are realistic. We need to help our students grow into what they can be and not hold them to just what they are.

What do you think about high expectations? Please share.

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