What are your Expectations?

I usually blog on nuggets of wisdom that I encounter during the week or month.  Today’s topic seems to be right on target with what is happening in and around us during this time.  My Sunday sermon referenced expecting things of God, but I would like to discuss what we expect of ourselves during this very uncertain time.

Teachers have been the topic of so much conversation over the last few months.  As boards and governing bodies discuss the opening of schools across the country, the expectation is that student learning will be negatively impacted by distance learning. 

The Rosenthal-Jacobson Study argues that:  High expectations lead to improved performance.  I have never heard the scientific term for what we in education have normalized as “high expectations lead to greater outcomes and low expectations lead to lower outcomes”.  This term is a mainstay in an educator’s toolbox.  For these reasons, we are drawn to the idea that we must expect so much more from our students so they can produce amazing results.  However, what expectations do we have for ourselves?

Many districts are battling with having educators come into the building to teach instead of working from home.  This method is lauded as the most effective way to increase productivity.  The expectation is that educators can/will be more productive within the walls of the school. However, following the guise of the R-J Study, shouldn’t the expectations be that wherever we are, we will rise to the challenge of educating our children with the same level of excellence? 

Years from now, we will dissect these moments and hopefully, they will be some of the most innovative of our careers. However, while we are in the midst of this challenging landscape called education, I encourage you to expect excellent outcomes daily.  When we expect them from ourselves, we will surely receive them from our students.  Enjoy this school year and make it one for the history books, as it surely will be.