Expectations

Expectations describe suggested behavior that occurs in unique, individual activities or transitions. High-impact expectations teach students how to act, talk, and move during all activities and transitions. These are different than norms or rules, which describe behavior that should occur in all situations. Expectations may be written about any behaviors, but three areas seem especially important:

1. Act. Explaining the activity and what students have to do.

2. Talk. Explaining what kind of talking, if any, can take place.

3. Move. Explaining what kind of movement can and cannot take place in a classroom.

Writing up and teaching expectations is one of the most important strategies teachers can employ if they want to build positive learning communities. Teachers who have not developed expectations for all activities and transitions are forced to make a multitude of decisions every day. Every few minutes of every day, they must decide whether students are talking too loudly, distracting others, moving for a good reason, or moving to get attention.

Having so many decisions is mentally taxing and wears some teachers out. Writing down and disseminating expectations makes it easier to reinforce or correct the behaviors teachers want from their students. Clear expectations provide a solid foundation for teacher interactions with students around behaviors.

Expectations can be taught all at once or for one activity or transition at a time. Students may be more committed to expectations if they are involved in creating them. Here are some ideas for establishing expectations:

1. Ask students for their suggestions for expectations.

2. Use informal assessments like checks for understanding to gauge whether or not students have learned the expectations.

3. Give students brief surveys throughout the year to get their opinions on how well classroom expectations help them learn from and enjoy all activities.

4. During activities, ask students to tell you what the expectations are to check for their understanding.

5. Ask students to assess how well they did with respect to acting consistently with expectations.