I think that expectations play a huge role in a student’s
motivation. If a teacher’s expectations are high for a student than he is more
likely to push himself to meet those expectations; however, if expectations are
low, than a student does not feel the need to challenge himself. In one class,
I kept encouraging one student to turn in her missing homework. I explained to
her that I knew she could be successful in this class and doing and turning in
homework is an important part of the class. I kept reminding her for a couple
days in a row. On Friday, she came up to me with a big smile on her face and
presented me a stack of homework that was missing. I told her how excited I was
that she turned it in and I could tell she felt proud of herself for living up
to expectations.
On the other hand, my mentor teacher teaches a “Bridge Math”
class. This is basically the lowest class that seniors can take. The
expectations for the class are very low and seniors whose only goal is to
graduate can easily pass. It is obvious that many of the students could easily
be in a more strenuous class but their past math class habits have kept their
grades low enough to put them in this class. Most of the seniors completely
goof off and just do enough work to get by. It is clear that because the
expectations for the class are so obviously low many of the students in the
class have little motivation to actually try.
You make some great poinst in this post. I agree with you about expectations and it is really hard I think to find the right balance.
ReplyDeleteI love the view point of expectations and self-fulfilling prophecy. If a student thinks they're not going to do well, then they probably won't. Keep pushing your students!
ReplyDeleteMaybe your mentor should step up the expectations for the Bridge class! :)
ReplyDeleteI also thought about expectations while on writing on the topic of motivation! The expectations the teacher has for the students and for the entire class play a big part in setting up and maintaining a productive classroom atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteAnd as Kim said, the expectations for bridge math should be re-evaluated!
I know how you feel with this class. I have a class like this. It is so sad that the expectations are so low. When these students get to college, they will not be prepared.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this contrast in two classes. It sounds like the students in the Bridge class have a lot of history of not doing well academically. As a teacher you certainly cannot undo all that has come before, but what can you do in the space of one class? I think that's the question. It is okay for students to choose to fail, in spite of expectations that you have for them?
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the Bridge class is that many of the students should not be in the class. If they choose to fail because of not doing work, I think it needs to be in an appropriate level class. Some students really need to be in that class because that is the level of math they can do; however, it is the other students who are not motivated at all because they can easily accomplish the requirements for the class. I think that the administration needs to reevaluate who gets placed in this class.
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