Module 4: Unit 2: Activity 4: Reflections on High Expectations

One of the things I've noticed with dealing with young students it that whether the teacher has either high or low expectations they tend to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When teachers believe in their students and place high expectations on them it can be an incredibly motivating factor in the students putting in effort to succeed. Likewise the teacher will also feel a sense of responsibility and motivation themselves if they are identify students as being capable of  lofty goals. This has sometimes been referred to as the 'Pygmalion effect' Conversely, the 'Golem effect' refers to the opposite in which students who are not expected to succeed often fail and are brushed aside for those who are seen to be more worthy of attention. Many studies have been done on this topic and there is real world evidence to support it.

So what can be done to promote high expectations among students? What do high expectations look like? Some schools that have success with reforming have provided some strategies:

1. Developing, communicating, and implementing plans for motivation and management in every classroom. Everyone has to be on the same page.
2. Implementing instructional plans for bell-to-bell teaching. Students will reflect what they see around them, if the teacher is sitting at their desk ignoring the class and some students are goofing off chances are they will too. Filling class time with meaningful lessons and activities should be a priority.
3. Organizing and arranging classrooms to spur productivity. The environment the students spend their day in should be a place that is inviting and can inspire creativity.
4. Establishing high academic standards. For the most part, the reason the students are in school is to obtain knowledge and the skills to understand that knowledge. Educators should expect a lot from them.
5. Communicating expectations to students and their families. Along with the school, parents and the students themselves should be on board and understand the expectations being placed on the student.
6. Actively engaging each student in instructional tasks. As we mentioned in the last unit it is important for the teacher to be aware of the way he/she interacts with each student. Personal encouragement can go a long way in motivating a student.
7. Keeping students on target by using tasks that are of interest and of high value. Differentiating the lesson to cater to the needs and interests of the class will help the students maintain interest. It is important that the teacher doesn't completely recycle lessons from past years.
8. Providing timely feedback about progress to students to encourage their continued success. Being specific in the comments to will help the students and parents be aware of their progression.
9. Adopting grading practices that communicate high expectations and reduce frustration. Clarity and meaningfully grades are important to facilitate self improvement.
10. Dealing with severe behavior immediately. Students, especially those at younger ages will try to push the limits of the rules (and teacher) establishing clear rules is very important for classroom order.



For Activity 3 our group chose talk about high expectation for three  levels, kindergarten, middle school, and university students. My group members, Emily and Aga were both very involved in the project from the beginning. Aga set up a Google Doc for us to share our ideas on the project and we frequently communicated about the project through messaging. We came up with this list of standards that we expect from out students:

• Academic achievement
• Behavior
• Affective Domain
• Pride in work
• No plagiarism
• Having students take a role in the learning process 

Our collaborative efforts can be founds here: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/2429650-tnm4u2a3

Sources:

http://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/expectations-and-student-outcomes.pdf

http://gearup.ous.edu/sites/default/files/Research-Briefs/ResearchBriefHighExpectations.pdf

http://www.connectionsproject.ilstu.edu/HSTWresources/04-ia-highexp.pdf