Being a thoughtful practitioner is an essential trait of an effective educator. Understanding, listening, and valuing students’ voices are all skills good professionals explore and develop.
At the beginning of the school year teachers often share with students the expectations they have. Teachers let the students know exactly what rules, procedures, routines, and the high goals s/he has set. But how often do teachers listen to the students’ expectations of them?
Sometimes it is hard to hear what students think of us as classroom leaders. I believe there is a partnership in any classroom, and that partnership should be respected and valued on both ends. I also believe in student voice, and I think it is only fair that there is a discussion about teacher AND student expectations in the classroom.
A few years ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook an image from her Pintrest. It was an image of questions and students used sticky notes to answer each question. I love back to school activities and sticky notes so this seemed like a perfect activity. continue reading below
I posted the questions, the students had a certain time in which to answer any and/or all the questions they wanted, and then we discussed. I changed some of the questions to include: What can you do to keep your Dear Teacher happy? What are your goal(s) this year? What shouldn’t students do in our classroom? What do you expect Ms. P to do to help you succeed?
It was the last question that garnered responses that surprised me the most; it also received the most responses compared to the other questions. Every time I did this activity that question was answered the most. Students gave really good answers too. Don’t get me wrong, I got obvious things like be fun, no homework, and free A’s, but most responses were surprisingly thoughtful.
I decided to do this activity with the science method students I taught at a local college. I found that my undergrads and 4th grade students both shared pretty much the exact same expectations of me as an educator. Both young and older students wanted the same thing from their teacher.
I’ve collected the data and crunched the numbers. I know what students want…
