Reflection

See Calendar for due dates

Estimated Time: 30-45 min

Expectations

Along with the one-liners you will be asked to reflect more deeply on one or two of the principles that were most meaningful to you each week. Deep reflections occur as you take time to think about what you have learned and its value in your personal and professional life. From your list of one-liners, reflect more deeply (500-600 words) on one or two concepts then document your insights. The reflection should:

You will be graded on the following criteria:

Example of a well-written reflection (572 words)

Expectations are such tricky things. In some cases, lowering an expectation or offering a way out can unintentionally tell a child that we don’t believe they can do that hard thing.

I have always had the mentality that allowing someone to stop doing something when it gets too hard or not asking them to do a task that might be too hard for them was doing the student a favor. I would never want to put someone on the spot or make them feel embarrassed, so I usually try helping them avoid such situations. The more I understand about expectations, though, the more I realize that our expectations send a message to students very clearly. 

If we hold the student to a high standard of quality or performance, we are telling the student that we feel he or she is capable of completing that assignment successfully. On the other hand, though, if we consistently avoid having students answer questions in class or allow them to stop doing their work when it gets hard, we are expressing to the student that we don’t actually believe that he or she can do the work. 

The truthfulness of this concept has become very evident to me this semester as I have not only worked with students but as I have been held to high standards myself. I realized early on in the semester that there are some students who don’t feel they can succeed in school, and I realized that I would just keep unintentionally validating that idea for them. I didn’t call on these students because I didn’t want to embarrass them. Since learning about the concept of high expectations and what exactly that entails, I have made a concerted effort to raise my own expectations for those students. I now call on every student during my direct instruction. If they don’t know the answer, I will wait until they can come up with an answer. This, in effect, tells the students that I know they can come up with the answer. I give everyone the assignment we are working on, even if the classroom teacher tells me that he normally does not expect them to do the work. Holding students to a high standard doesn’t just work for students who have lower-achievement levels. Those students who do well academically should also be held to a higher level. Sometimes we settle for the “right” answer, but those students always get the right answer. We need to strive to challenge them to think at a higher-level by giving challenge problems or asking them why they feel the answer is the answer.

This idea is perfect for the profession of teaching because it has shown me that I need to hold myself to a high standard in order to succeed as a teacher. There are so many factors working against teachers these days, but I have found that if I expect myself to be a teacher who brings about change in the lives of her students, I will be able to do just that. If I feel that I can make my lessons fun and engaging despite the fact that the school has a very small budget, I will be able to. Holding my students to a high standard is important, but I feel that I will bring about more good in the field of education if I insist on holding myself to a high standard.

Here is the same reflection with the sections labeled:

One-liner: Expectations are such tricky things. In some cases, lowering an expectation or offering a way out can unintentionally tell a child that we don’t believe they can do that hard thing.

"Why are these target concepts important to me?"

I have always had the mentality that allowing someone to stop doing something when it gets too hard or not asking them to do a task that might be too hard for them was doing the student a favor. I would never want to put someone on the spot or make them feel embarrassed, so I usually try helping them avoid such situations. The more I understand about expectations, though, the more I realize that our expectations send a message to students very clearly. 

Illustrate logical reasoning for the concepts' consideration

If we hold the student to a high standard of quality or performance, we are telling the student that we feel he or she is capable of completing that assignment successfully. On the other hand, though, if we consistently avoid having students answer questions in class or allow them to stop doing their work when it gets hard, we are expressing to the student that we don’t actually believe that he or she can do the work. 

Explain how these concepts relate to things you have already experienced

The truthfulness of this concept has become very evident to me this semester as I have not only worked with students but as I have been held to high standards myself. I realized early on in the semester that there are some students who don’t feel they can succeed in school, and I realized that I would just keep unintentionally validating that idea for them. I didn’t call on these students because I didn’t want to embarrass them. Since learning about the concept of high expectations and what exactly that entails, I have made a concerted effort to raise my own expectations for those students. I now call on every student during my direct instruction. If they don’t know the answer, I will wait until they can come up with an answer. This, in effect, tells the students that I know they can come up with the answer. I give everyone the assignment we are working on, even if the classroom teacher tells me that he normally does not expect them to do the work. Holding students to a high standard doesn’t just work for students who have lower-achievement levels. Those students who do well academically should also be held to a higher level. Sometimes we settle for the “right” answer, but those students always get the right answer. We need to strive to challenge them to think at a higher-level by giving challenge problems or asking them why they feel the answer is the answer.

Illustrate how you will apply these concepts in the future as a teacher, parent, or citizen

This idea is perfect for the profession of teaching because it has shown me that I need to hold myself to a high standard in order to succeed as a teacher. There are so many factors working against teachers these days, but I have found that if I expect myself to be a teacher who brings about change in the lives of her students, I will be able to do just that. If I feel that I can make my lessons fun and engaging despite the fact that the school has a very small budget, I will be able to. Holding my students to a high standard is important, but I feel that I will bring about more good in the field of education if I insist on holding myself to a high standard.