High expectations. It is so necessary for teachers to ensure that they are not lowering their expectations when it comes to student achievement. I know how easy it can be to tell a student that mediocrity is good enough especially when the student causes problems in the classroom. I have a student who left the entire state assessment blank when it came to the written responses (constructed responses) because he felt that he could not do it. I told the student he could do it. The principal told the student he could do it. A district coach talked with the student. Even the student's parent sat in the room while the class took the state assessment. Therefore, the student even told me that he knew he could do it, but he chose not to do it. How can I change the student's mind if this situation ever arises again?
Does it all come down to expectations? Does it all come back to building that relationship at the beginning of the year? The student knew that I cared for him, that I thought he was smart, and that he could do anything he set his mind to, so what was it about him refusing to work?
My other students do try their very best. I know that not all of them are going to be fantastic writers, but they know that the number one expectation in my room is TO TRY! If students do not even try, then I cannot help them to grow as readers and writers. I can give them all the tools, set high expectations, and model, teach, direct, and scaffold until I am blue in the face, but my students know that one of my biggest expectations is that they try their very best, and we work from there.
 |
| Taken from Microsoft Word Clip-Art |
I feel your frustration. Your story reminded of when I was teaching kindergarten and I had a child who was labeled "behavior disordered" - his first 4 years had been very traumatic and he'd been recently adopted, so all he knew was upheaval. My heart went out to him and I tried to be very consistent and give him lots of notice for upcoming transitions. Once I gave him the heads up we'd be going to music in 5 minutes and we'd all set aside what we were working on and come back to it later. Not what he wanted to do, to say the least. We lined up on schedule and he scowled at me from his seat and I beamed at him and told him I expected him to line up with his friends go to music. I then pointedly ignored him as we bustled to get ready to go and started down the hall. I stole a glance and there he was, last in line but in line! About half way down the hall I heard a bloodcurdling shriek: "Mrs. Sutton, I don't like you anymore!" I told him I understood, and that I was proud of him for doing the right thing and coming along with us when he didn't want to. He made a lot of progress that year!
ReplyDeleteComments by: Jacinda
ReplyDeleteI can’t imagine how it felt to have a student not complete an assessment just because he didn’t want to. I know this chapter talked about having high expectations and keeping them high, but I don’t know what I would have done in your situation. The child trusted you, you did everything! I always let my students know that I can never expect more than them to try their best. I hope you never run into that problem again.