Great Expectations

"Our children can achieve great things when we set high expectations for them."

Jeb Bush

I never thought I'd find myself quoting Jeb Bush, or any of the Bush clan for that matter, but ol' Jeb is absolutely right here. High expectations are the key to success in the classroom. Students actually thrive on it. Maybe it's because some of them don't have any sort of expectations to live up to at home, maybe it's just because secretly, deep down, we all want to live up to other people's expectations of us. Either way, I have found that by setting high expectations for my classes I have to do less in terms of behaviour management later on. Which brings me to my first real point: high expectations and behaviour management are inextricably linked. You just can't have one without the other.

The school I am currently working in has an issue with expectations; so much so that Ofsted specifically referenced it in their report two years ago. It is a large secondary school in a deprived area of the country and the students have very little, or at least believe they have very little, to aspire to. This is not easily fixed and, so far to be honest, my tactic with this issue of aspirations is to be brutally honest: "You are living in a deprived area, so you will have to work harder than everyone else". Once you get over this hurdle of aspirations, you then have to ensure that your expectations are high enough to bring out the best in your students.

The most important thing here is that age old adage - start as you mean to go on. Start at the door - "Good morning, could you tuck your shirt in please? Starter's on the board, let's get straight on with it, thank you." From there state your expectations clearly, in fact use the word "expectations" and let the students know what will happen if they don't meet your expectations (more on this later). Some ways that I have done this in the past, particularly with groups which need the point hammering home, are:

1. A "sign-up" sheet for students and their parents. E.g.

Every student is important in this room. No student is more important than anyone else. Our goal is to achieve the best education we can. To make this happen, we have to obey certain rules. This means you will have to behave in a certain way, so that everyone gets the best education possible. These are the basic rules that everyone must follow. Failure to follow these rules will result in a sanction. Success in following these rules will lead to everyone’s success.

1. The teacher is in charge of the room, and the class. Any reasonable instruction must be followed.

2. No calling out- every student must put their hand up to speak

3. If the teacher is speaking, the class must listen

4. If the teacher has asked anyone else to speak, the class must listen

5. Every student should bring their equipment to all lessons

6. At the beginning of the lesson, students should take their assigned seats, and quickly begin the work given to them.

7. All homework should be recorded in your planner; it must be handed in on time.

8. All work will be completed to the best of your ability.

9. No one is permitted to leave the room, or walk around the room, without permission.

10. All students should show manners to every other member of the class, the teacher, and to any guests in the room.

I agree to abide by these rules, and I understand what I must do in order to uphold them.

Signed________________________________

Parent/ guardian signature _______________________________

Teacher signature _____________________________________

2. "Show me" Cards...Hand these to students as the enter and don't let them leave until they've met your expectations!

Front of the card

Back of the card

3. Use ClassDojo to make it very clear what your expectations are.

Obviously most schools have their own behaviour systems in place, but these examples can be used to reinforce those systems and make your expectations completely explicit. A lot of students don't know what is "right" and "wrong" behaviour, or pretend that they don't know, so making it completely clear will save you a lot of work in the future. 

High expectations is a bit of a cornerstone for me; it is the starting point for all good practice. Do not accept students shouting out or slacking off from their work; reward those students who complete the work, help you out in some way, or go beyond the "norm". As I've already said: hard work early on leads to a much more productive classroom down the line. Much like what Dickens said...

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.”

― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Just Keep Swimming

"When life gets you down, do you wanna know what you've gotta do? Just keep swimming."

Dori, Finding Nemo

It's usually around this time of year that I start to feel a bit wobbly and wonder whether I am really doing the right thing slogging my guts out day in, day out in this seemingly thankless profession. We all have moments like this. Some people don't like Mondays, many others (for reasons I can't fully grasp) hate Tuesdays. Me? I hate going back to school after any time away. It is probably because I realise in that brief respite from the chaos of lessons, children, and tasks that there is such thing as life. 

So, on Sunday, the day on which I have inwardly agreed with myself to blog, with the spectre of returning to school after a week off looming, I decided to forgo anything which reminded me of school. This blog was one of those things which reminded me of school, so it therefore fell victim and no new post was penned. Monday (yesterday) was not an enjoyable day. Not even an outstanding lesson observation from a respected colleague was able to shift me out of my funk. And today, after an unsettled night's sleep, I thought about "accidentally" flinging myself around an icy corner on my bike on the way to work, in the desperate hope of a day off.

I didn't do that. I went to work, and I actually had a good day. Not perfect, not even great, but a good day. My lessons were good, I had a chuckle at one of my students because she is obsessed with "Silent Witness" and, when asked how yesterday's episode was, she looked truly downcast and mumbled that the series had finished. I talked politics with that same class, always a favourite pastime of mine, and found that there were students who not only thought about the world, but actually, actively, cared. Later in the day, I had a productive lesson with my year 11s who are traditionally...erm...a pain in the arse. I found myself buoyed in spite of myself. Sometimes it can happen that way - even if you are in the deepest, blackest mood, a day at school can actually lift you out of the gloom and leave you feeling like all is well with the world.

My fiancée holds to this "look for the positives" mentality and on the whole I do agree with her. She has to listen to me moan about school more than anyone else, so she is in the best position to give me advice; advice that I now pass on to you. She is a teacher as well and obviously has her own off days, but on the whole she manages to boundlessly maintain a sunny disposition. She is, in this way, much like Dori. Not that she's simple, or has a short-term memory, but that she is filled with an unerring optimism based on seeing positives wherever she can. I try to emulate this as often as possible. It's not always easy, but there's a lot to be said for looking for the little positives and, with that to spur you on, keep on truckin' (or swimming, as it were).

Now, I realise that I am actually in the minority of teachers who had their half term last week - which is perhaps why going back to work yesterday felt so wrong - but I think that everyone needs some inspiration at this time of year. So, without further ado, here's Dori...

Work Hard

"Working hard is very important. You're not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard."

George Lucas

It wasn't until I started teaching that I learnt the real value of hard work. I spent my days at school and university doing what I needed to in order to get by, but tried not to work any harder than I thought I had to. These days I am more likely to chastise myself for working too hard rather than for not working hard enough. My default setting is to work hard, even if it can on occasion lead to total exhaustion. This may seem at odds with what I discussed previously about "playing the game", but actually they can and should exist in parallel. It is the is a combination of working hard and working smart that brings success.  

This TED ED talk suggests that you don't have to be smart to succeed, and that the most successful people are actually not A-Grade students. I would take this with a pinch of salt, because I think you have to have a little bit about you to achieve great things, but I would have appreciated some of this advice when I was younger...

Let me give you an idea of what hard work looks like to me - I get to work at least an hour before school starts and leave about two hours after the final bell has gone. On top of that I will work most evenings, at least one day at the weekend, and a portion of each holiday. I have simply accepted this as par for the course, and to succeed in teaching you will have to accept it as well. It is not ideal, and I am sure there will be repercussions in the future (for individuals and the sector as a whole), but for the time being this is the state of things. Work hard or fail. Our very own Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, has suggested that the answer to the workload problem is to stop sending emails after 5pm. This is a noble suggestion, but doesn't actually deal with the main issues at hand which is, most importantly, that to be a successful teacher you will need to work the vast majority of hours that God (or whoever is actually in charge of time) sends.

So, if this is an undeniable truth of teaching, then how can we sustain a 50+ hour work week without going a little bit insane? The simple answer is to make any task meaningful and, as far as possible, enjoyable:

• Lesson planning should bring out the most creative elements of your character and you should look forward to teaching those lessons. If you find yourself becoming disinterested in a lesson or a series of lessons it is better to put it to one side and come back to it later.
• Marking and feedback needs to have real purpose - don't just make it an exercise in "ticking and flicking". Set questions which challenge your students and encourage some independent thought; this way you can, hopefully, take some enjoyment from their answers.
• Ensure that you approach "busy work", all that paper work and bureaucratic rubbish, only when you are feeling entirely up to it. This doesn't mean put it off indefinitely, but be aware that staring a task half-heartedly will never end well.

There are also a hundred other ways to cope with the unavoidable stresses brought on by hard work. Most of these suggestions I try to follow, albeit in a piecemeal fashion. Meditate: from time to time. Sleep well: when I can. Breathe properly: when I remember. Say no: when it's right to. 

There will always be those who actively question the value of hard work, or consider the "misappropriation of energy", but in the end it is difficult to deny that "handwork is the single greatest competitive advantage". All I know is that I would not be where I am today without hard work, or perhaps more interestingly I could be even further forward if I'd started working harder sooner. I'll leave you with another quote which links nicely to the theme of this whole blog: success in teaching is not possible without hard work.