To start the year, Brad spends part of his class on building a set of classroom expectations with feedback from the students. Brad requested feedback from students on expectations they have for each other and expectations they have for the instructors. I really like this method for beginning the school year, because it sets the tone that the students and the instructors are each responsible for how the school year will unfold. Brad has also repeatedly commented on the importance of committing to the established expectations, so he does not establish expectations and then subsequently ignore them.
‘What happens when expectations are not met’ is a great question because I am not exactly sure how to answer it with regards to my own classroom experience with Brad. I have never seen a student openly defy expectations, so I have not seen a ‘nuclear option’ from Brad. Students have always complied with Brad’s requests, and I am curious to know how Brad would act if a student acted disrespectfully towards the expectations established by the community around them. I can recall one instance where a student asked Brad if ‘this [math concept] is something he is pricky about’. Yes, this student asked if Brad was pricky about something. Brad immediately stopped (the room grew quiet awfully quickly) and Brad demanded that this student rephrase his question. Brad did not make his demand angrily, but his tone of voice conveyed annoyance and that his request for rephrasing was not optional. The student found other words to voice his question. This is the only instance where I can remember an exchange between instructor and student that warranted some form of (minor) discipline. Brad never lost his cool or reacted emotionally to the vulgar choice of words, and this is likely due to the innocence of the student who posed the question. This student genuinely seemed to be unaware of the meaning of the word ‘pricky’, so Brad seemed to take that into account in his response, which was measured, controlled, but also conveyed the inappropriateness of the student’s word choice. Brad teaches algebra 2 and calculus, and he believes that these courses are upper level math courses and that his expectations for these classes should resemble expectations that colleges will have for these students. Consequently, Brad does not have a bathroom policy nor a cell phone policy. He implores students to be responsible for how they spend their time in class. This is a huge level of trust that Brad places on his students, and I am sure that if I had these policies I would get demolished by students. Brad however gets his students to follow these expectations responsibly. Students do not abuse their privileges. It is astounding to see. Brad wants his students to manage themselves (and each other), so these policies (or lack of policies) reinforce his desire to prepare students for college (and the world after college where students will need to have self-discipline).
1 Comment
Sarah Poncz
9/26/2017 01:23:09 pm
Has Brad posted the classroom expectations, to which he can always refer?
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Alex KoroljowStudent teacher at SLA @ Center City, Philadelphia. Archives
January 2018
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