The Best Year --Ever

When was your best school year?  Was it your kindergarten year?  Your senior year?  Maybe you had an extraordinary learning experience in middle school, high school, or elementary school?  Some people recall not fully "getting it" until they were in college.

As a teacher I have had years that are more memorable than others.  Every educator remembers his/her first year of teaching, but some teachers remember the years they were teamed with different colleagues.  I can remember getting new computers or working  in new buildings with different roles.

It's  only fair to say that all of us have memories of years that were more challenging than others.  Some of those challenges were due to personal issues, but sometime we have relationships that are just not  as positive as they should be.  But sometimes our favorite years are due to making new and  long-lasting friends.

Then there are the "glory" years.  What about when you and your team won a championship or a prestigious award.  Is that your favorite year?  

There are, of course, many reasons to have a year being a "favorite" year in our memories.  My hope, however, is that the school year ahead of us is your favorite year...is our favorite year.  It doesn't matter if you're just starting school as a kindergarten student, if you are in your 35th year of teaching, or if you are a senior citizen anticipating your great grandchildren going to school, the expectation of this year being  the favorite and best-school-year-ever is critical.

The power of expectations has been studied for some time.  Much of this work is classified under the "Pygmalion Effect" which states higher expectations lead to an increase in performance.

“When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.” (Rosenthal and Babad, 1985)

I have a list of "expectations" I share with staff each year.  Most of what I ask are reminders about building-specific processes.  The final expectation, however, is from a teacher in our building, and it is the most important:

"Treasure our students and have fun!  When we have fun learning, our students will have fun - and learn!"

As we start a new school year--any school year, let's have  high expectations!