So I interviewed two students from a field biology class which had 8 IEP students and 13 honors students. I was able to find an honor student who was female that would talk to me about teacher expectations. She told me that she felt like her teacher thought she was very smart. Probably in part because of her “honors” title. She also thought that her teacher would think she would be “some nerdy” biologist. She said that she really liked the field biology class, but it wasn’t necessarily her “thing”. She didn’t think that her teacher knew she was more interested in architecture and engineering.
The second student I interviewed was an African American student who started on the varsity football team. He had been spending most of the class causing disruptions and interrupting his teacher. When I asked him what his teacher thought he would be when he grew up he said sarcastically, “Playing professional football.” He also thought that his teacher thinks he is “having difficulty” and “is dumb”. He said he thinks that because he never really trys hard during the assignments. “Its just an elective”.
Interestingly enough, when I asked what my teacher thought both of the students would be doing when they grow up he replied that both would be successful in their own ways. He thought that both would probably go on to college and get a post-secondary education. He did however; agree with both students personal assessments of their academic potential in class. He agreed that the first student was very smart and understood the concepts in class. He also agreed that the second student was having difficulty and brought up several examples of disruptive behavior. I think its great that even though the teacher was frustrated with the second students behavior and felt like academically he was having quite a bit of difficulty, that he still genuinely felt that he would succeed in life.
I think it's interesting that the first student thought the teacher expected her to become a biologist, when actually she's more interested in architecture and engineering. A lot of times, kids think their teachers want them to follow in their footsteps and sometimes they feel a lot of pressure when they're really interested in something else.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers have --generally-- a lot more confidence in kids than the kids think they do. The boy who was disruptive may think he's"not trying" when really he's not getting it.
What I wonder is, can the teacher communicate to the students that he thinks they will both be successful?
ReplyDeleteOften I wonder if students don't try in the classroom because they think the teacher doesn't believe in them? If they found out the teacher thought differently, would they put in more effort into their work? It could be that they do not understand material, would they take the time to seek help?
As we learned in class, teens misinterpret nonverbal communication a lot, so how can the teacher help them understand how he feels? Should he even need to?
I appreciate Meagan's comment here. In what ways do we communicate messages to students? We may be communicating things we don't intend...such as not thinking very highly of that student who is disruptive. What kinds of things can we do as teachers to communicate high expectations and that we "believe" in the potential success of our students? As Meagan mentioned, we know from brain research that teens are not necessarily good at reading non-verbal communication. Can we overcome that?
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