Developing High Academic Expectations for All Students: The Key to Achieving High Expectations is...

1. Affective Tone

1.1. What it is: the extent to which the teacher establishes positive emotions in the classroom. How to Achieve it: smile more, look students in the eye more, lean toward students more, and generally behave in a more friendly and supportive manner.

2. Technique 1- No Opt Out

2.1. • Format 1: You provide the answer; the student repeats the answer. • Format 2: Another student provides the answer; the initial student repeats. •Format 3: You provide a cue; your student uses it to find the answer. • Format 4: Another student provides a cue; the initial student uses it to find the answer

3. Technique 2- Right is Right: Set and Defend a High Standard of Correctness in your Classroom

3.1. 1. Right is Right in Action-Hold out for all the way:

3.1.1. Examples: • “I like what you’ve done. Can you get us the rest of the way?” • “We’re almost there. Can you find the last piece?” • “I like most of that . . . ” • “Can you develop that further?” • “Okay, but, there’s a bit more to it than that.” • “Kim just knocked a base hit. Who can bring her home?”

3.2. 2. Right is Right in Action- Answer the question.

3.2.1. • Dissuade students from answering a question other than the one you asked; even if they have salient points. Clarify your question: “Kim, that’s an example. I want the definition.”

3.3. 3. Right is Right in Action- Right answer, right time.

3.3.1. • Accept answers in sequence, even when students want to show you how smart they are by getting ahead of your questions.

3.4. 4. Right is Right in Action- Use technical vocabulary.

3.4.1. • Using precise technical vocabulary from lessons that have been taught expands student vocabularies and builds comfort with the terms students will need when they compete in college.

4. Technique 3- Stretch It: The sequence of learning does not end with a right answer; reward right answers with follow-up questions that extend knowledge and test for reliability. This technique is especially important for differentiating instruction.

4.1. • Stretch it in Action- Ask how or why. The best test of whether students can get answers right consistently is whether they can explain how they got the answer.

4.2. • Stretch it in Action-Ask for another way to answer. Often there are multiple ways to answer a question. When a student solves it one way, it’s a great opportunity to make sure they can use all available methods.

4.3. • Stretch it in Action- Ask for a better word. Take opportunities to reinforce new & previously learned vocabulary.

4.4. • Stretch it in Action- Ask for evidence. Have a student support their case by providing proof for their answer.

4.5. • Stretch it in Action- Ask students to integrate a related skill. Ex: provide details/an adjective; make the answer have a compound subject, change sentence tense…

4.6. • Stretch it in Action- Ask students to apply the same skill in a new setting. Ex: Challenge students’ concepts of place and time in a story, and how they arrived at those conclusions.

5. Additional Strategies:

5.1. -Strategy: A home visit prior to the start of the school year

5.2. -Strategy: A life skills curriculum incorporated into student learning

5.3. -Strategy: Peer-to-peer reading (older students to younger students)

6. References:

6.1. Ellis, K. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2015, from Edutopia.org: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=derUjqnlEzs Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Manzano, R. J. (2007). The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

7. Action Step 2: Identify Differential Treatment of Low-Expectancy Students

7.1. Am I… •Making less eye contact • Smiling less • Making less physical contact or maintaining less proximity • Engaging in less playful or light dialogue • Calling on them less • Asking them less challenging questions • Not delving into their answers as deeply • Rewarding them for less rigorous responses

8. Action Step 1: Identify Your Expectation Levels for Students

8.1. -make a mental scan of your students, identifying those for whom you have high, medium, and low expectations. -determine if you have any systematic bias regarding low-expectancy students. Specifically, the teacher notes if he has any generalized low expectations for students because of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and the like. -Simply recognizing this tendency can provide some power over such patterns of thought.

9. Action Step 3: Make Sure Low-Expectancy Students Receive Verbal and Nonverbal Indications That They Are Valued and Respected

9.1. • Make eye contact with target students frequently. • Smile at the target students at appropriate times. • On occasion, make appropriate physical contact, such as putting a hand on the target student’s shoulder. • Maintain a proximity to target students that communicates interest but does not violate personal space. • When appropriate, engage in playful dialogue with the target students.

10. Action Step 4: Ask Questions of Low-Expectancy Students

10.1. -When low-expectancy students raise their hand with their own questions, acknowledge the usefulness and desirability of these questions by making approving comments about the quality of the question. -Teachers can create a formal system of how they call on students with questions (a check-mark system with students’ names/ frequency of calling on them or a more randomized method), that way, students have a sense that they can be called on at any time, even if they do not volunteer.

11. Action Step 5: When Low-Expectancy Students Do Not Answer a Question Correctly or Completely, Stay with Them

11.1. -Draw the student out in a discussion about their answer, and comment on what is correct about that thinking and what is incorrect about it. -These types of interactions allow the teacher to acknowledge what the student knows and delve more deeply into what the student does not understand. -Such interactions communicate to the student that her thinking is valued. - Demonstrate gratitude for students’ responses: “Thanks for your responses today. It was a great class. You were engaged. You worked hard and took on some tough questions I asked.” -Do not allow negative comments from other students. - Point out what is correct and incorrect about students’ responses. -Restate the question. -Provide ways to temporarily let students off the hook: “I’ll come back to you”.