Design Question 9: What Will I Do to Communicate High Expectations for All Students?
Module 22: Identifying High-Expectancy and Low-Expectancy Students (pgs. 271-278)
From Activity Box p. 277: "What are your patterns of thought regarding low-expectancy students? For what specific types of students do you have low expectations? Where do you think these patterns and biases come from?"
Question 9-Module 22
ReplyDeleteStudents are aware when the teacher asks easier and more difficult questions to students of higher or lower abilities. I make sure I ask more complex questions to students with lower abilities. They can answer the question if I correctly probe and coach them. When asking questions I also try to ask students that don't have their hand raised or are looking down. We even joke in class about it. If you don't want to answer a question, raise your hand!
I don't feel I have generalized low expectations due to ethnicity or socioeconomic status. I may need to adjust my questioning techniques and use my ESOL knowledge and training. Before the school year begins, I look over profile sheets and progress reports from the previous year. I mostly try to see if their attendance matches their performance. I also look at comments and CHAMPS scores from the previous teacher. I use this information to make their initial seating placement. I do make modifications to the arrangement as needed.
I'm not sure if this is a poor procedure or not. I don't want to have too much of a predetermined concept for my students.
I am currently reading a book called Mindset. It is a book that talks about a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. This fits so well with the design question. Are we challenging all of our students to have a growth mindset? Do we expect the same from every student or do we lower are expectations for some students? I think all educators want to do whatever they can so a child feels success. Sometimes to the fault of not helping them but enabling them. Granted a child in 3rd grade reading at a 1st grade level will be challenged in a different way than a child who is reading at a 4th grade level while in 3rd grade. Expectations are for all students to learn about fluency at whatever level they are in.
ReplyDeleteI definitely want my students to believe they can do it! I never want to be the reason a student feels they are a failure or are unable to be successful! I like the idea of taking time to identify my expectations for my students. Considering how I expect this student to perform will help me in my questioning and making sure I'm asking questions of all students. In our groups, often the gaps widen between students who are excelling and students who are doing ok in reading. I want to do better believing in all of my students! They come to me because they need extra help and the way I perceive their ability is powerful!
ReplyDeleteI'm a firm believer that if you have high expectations in your room, students will work their bottoms off to reach your expectations. If you lower them, then they will work at that low expectation. They want to impress and work hard for you as a teacher and will work at the expectation level that the teacher expects. I tell my students over and over again that they can do it and even some that if they get out of their own way they would succeed beyond what they think they can (ie. turning in homework, not chatting with friends during instruction, trying the problem before saying "I can't"). I believe all students can succeed if they put their mind and energy to it, it just may not be in the same time frame as others in the room. I think having high expectations can and should be differentiated just like our instruction would be. I agree with Val that students know when you ask different questions to different students. To help some of my lower students, I have them think about an answer, sometime write it down, share with a partner/group, then ask for contributions to the class. This way they have already expressed their thoughts to a smaller group and am a little more comfortable sharing with the class.
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