September 8, 2010

As an art teacher, it is assumed that our lessons will deal primarily with art. Our ideas, our motivations, our experiences and our challenges are to be devised around the promotion of art in the lives of our students. In order to attain a quality of control and reciprocity between student and teacher, a high degree of expectations need to be established from the beginning. I greatest fear as a teacher is not being able to provide high enough expectations for students. I know what I must do, and I know I will be able to do it, but I also can see the importance of maintaining expectations. It's not enough to merely set expectations. Students must hold and continue to hold a degree of accountability in the classroom.

When I reflect on influential classes I have taken, one teacher stands out above the rest for setting high expectations. That teacher was my piano instructor. I remember the first day I met her. We had a preliminary lesson where my brother and I played songs we already knew. The lesson posed as an interview. We were either good enough, not good enough or showed potential. Initially, my piano playing techniques were mediocre at best. She was unsure whether I was at the level needed for her teaching. She dealt mostly with students who received honorable mentions or won statewide competitions. I felt deceived, cheated, but mostly, challenged. I knew where I needed to be, and I was not about to let someone tell me I couldn't do something. So I practiced. And practiced. And practiced. And practiced. I knew what my expectations were. I knew what Anita wanted from me. I knew what I could become. Although I was able to succeed against her uncertainty, I realize this technique of establishing expectations will not work for every student. In order to make this technique a success, there must be a certain amount of confidence already in a student. They must know who they are and rise to challenges. Working with students who have a low confidence and who never rise to the expectations that are set will be the most difficult and the most rewarding. Once a student's confidence is built, expectations can be met.

I find the classroom community established in my current placement is one that encourages creativity, cooperation, confidence and security. It is built with rules that don't inhibit a student's ability to create, but acknowledges the expectations that are intrinsic throughout the school. Students know how they are to behave, and they understand the consequences when they don't. Students seem to want to do their best, and my cooperating teacher is equipped with techniques that build a student's confidence, that challenges a student's actions and abilities, and that manages a classroom efficiently.