Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Power of the Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Teachers sometimes joke, "I had a great class last year, so I guess this is my year to have the class from you know where." Everyone laughs, but how might those subconscious beliefs affect a teacher's actions . . . and maybe their entire school year?

Think about the yearly "roster ritual" - that defining moment when an administrator hands us our new rosters and we quickly scan them to see who's in our class. We see names that we recognize, and we frantically try to remember what we've heard about these students. "Oh no . . . Johnny's the one who was always clowning around in Mr. C's class" or "Tameka is that nice quiet girl who helps Mrs. D after school." We've already begun to make judgments about students we haven't even met!

What if statements like these are no more than self-fulfilling prophecies? It that's true, then perhaps we have far more impact on the type of class we get than we ever imagined!

Every year I say the same thing on the first day, "Class, I have to tell you that I had a really awesome group last year, and I'll miss them. But the amazing thing is that every year, my new class is even better than the one before! I don't know how it's possible, but it's true. I can't even begin to imagine how amazing this class is going to be! I know we are going to have a great year together!" I say this with absolute sincerity because it's true! Maybe I just keep getting more effective as a teacher, or maybe this statement makes them want to be the best class ever, but it works!

My friend and colleague Pat Calfee used to say something similar to her students every year. Her statement was something to the effect that she's not sure how it happens, but every year the principal seems to put the smartest and best students in her class. Of course they sit a little taller when they hear this . . . and they act like the smartest and best kids in the school!

What do you think about your new students when you see their names on your roster? What do you tell your class on the first day of school? What subtle messages do you convey about their worth and their future success in your classroom?

When you scan your roster, be encouraged by the thought that another teacher's "problem child" may turn out to be one whom you cherish the most!  That quirky sense of humor or that restless, inquisitive spirit is finally appreciated and the student just blossoms under your attention.

If the self-fulfilling prophecy is really at work in the universe, let's make sure it's working in our favor! Tell your students that you know they are going to be the most amazing class ever, and that's exactly what they'll become!

22 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more, Laura. The things we tell ourselves about our kids are more important than almost anything else in determining their success in our classroom. My son had a teacher that believed since he was ADHD in 1st grade, that he wouldn't learn how to read. She actually told me that. "You know what they say about boys, especially boys with ADHD. They just aren't going to be good readers" Needless to say, he didn't grow or thrive in her classroom. We switched schools for 2nd grade, and he got a wonderful team of teachers who believed in him, encouraged him, and convinced him he could learn. He took off, and a year later was reading Harry Potter for fun at the beginning of 3rd grade.

    The same works for groups of kids. If we tell ourselves we are in for a hard year, we will be. I am going into the second year of a loop with the best group of kids. I can't wait to see how far they will grow this year!!

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  2. Honest posting Laura! I think it is in our nature to think all the students are going to value what I value. Not so! I've really worked to refine negative labels out of my vocabulary. Like lazy. I honestly don't believe anyone is lazy. Value a different payoff? Yes. Disability which makes the work impossible? Maybe. Your posting is a good reminder about a habit I can fall into easily if I don't catch myself. This is a great time to hold up a mirror to me, take stock, and make a new beginning. Thanks for challenging me to be better.

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  3. I have an amazing story to tell about the Social Studies teacher on my team. On the first day of school, not knowing anything about many of her students, she asked a young 7th grader in her homeroom to deliver a message to the secretary's office. His response: "Miss, you're going to trust ME to do that?"

    When she asked "Why wouldn't I?", he answered "Because last year I was BAD!"

    God bless her, she had the perfect answer, which I believe made ALL the difference in the way that young man conducted himself that year! She told him "Richard, I don't know you yet, or anything about what you've done in the past. But, I will trust you until you do something that makes me lose my trust in you!"

    I won't lie and say he was a perfect angel all year long, but he was a student who wanted to learn and was respectful and dependable! I wonder how he would have acted if his marvelous teacher had said "Forget it -- I'll send someone else!" That young man saw himself as worthy and trustworthy, and he lived up to his teachers' expectations!

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  4. I agree wholeheartedly with these comments! Every year I tell my children that they have landed in the best class. We tuck in our shirts and walk in line quietly because we want to show everyone that we are the best class. When we sit somewhere .....this is how the best class behaves and the children buy into it and glare at other children in other teacher's classes who don't know how to behave! My children love working together because of the support system I set up for them. I teach and model how to praise another's efforts and the worst punishment is being put out of your group because you are being "rude"!

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  5. I have been told over and over by the other teachers and administration what a tough class I'm going to have this year. This post was a strong reminder to me to keep my eyes and heart open and see what happens! It's true that every class has their own amazing chemistry and I just have to watch and see how this one will show itself!

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  6. I had a great experience with this last year. I was told one of the boys was very difficult, and he started out the year trying to prove that was the case. His mother had been told to expect to have problems with his teacher because I expect my students to behave. I had a great conversation with her explaining that I could see so much potential in her son and that I wouldn't let him slip through the cracks but that he would be expected to do what we both knew he could do. I explained to her that if we worked together he would shine. She supported me, and I supported her, and together, we saw that sweet boy blossom. He became the best student, the most caring and thoughtful of all, the most helpful. I truly loved having him in my classroom. The other students saw him changing and they responded positively because they didn't want him to be better than themselves. It was a wonderful year. Students will do exactly what you think they will do, exactly what you tell them they can do if you treat them like they can.

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  7. This post was great, Laura. I especially liked Grandma Labrum's comments.

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  8. So true! I feel really lucky that I will have a group of kids for grade 4 this year, after having them in grade 2. They really are great kids, quirks and all. Really what would it be without the quirks? That's what keeps it interesting!

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  9. I totally agree 100%!!! I can't tell you all what I say to my class because then the secret is out all over the world!!! LOL! I tell my students, "Shhhh, I have a huge secret to tell you. But if you can't keep the secret, everyone will be moved to different classrooms. The secret is that I am the best teacher in the world, and they only put the best students in my classroom. If anyone finds out, you will be moved. So don't tell and remember to act like the best students or the principal will think she's made a mistake!" It works!!

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  10. I couldn't have read this articld at a better time! All week I've been worried about having too many boys in my class, low std. test scores, not a lot of mixing groups, et., etc., and then..you come along, just like many other times. Thank you!

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  11. So true! Our words are powerful! They are containers that can be positive or negative. I think of the words that can affect you years down the road. My husband had a teacher who told him that he couldn't sing. I was standing beside him at church and he wasn't singing at all. I asked him why and he told me that he didn't have a good voice. I said who told you that? He responded a teacher. We need to know how powerful our words can be and how they can affect students and their future. As teachers we have more of an impact on the future of children then we know. Let's make our words uplifting and frame our thoughts with good things. I hope all my collegues have a fantastic year! We do good work! God bless!

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  12. (Goosebumps) I think you have hit a nerve.... Close to the heart! Wonderful post.

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  13. It has taken me over thirty years to finally become convinced that I am, in fact, good in math as a result of a 10th grade Geometry teacher (gifted class) who treated me like an idiot every time I asked for clarification (which he could not or would not give!) As a teacher myself, I now know who was behaving like an idiot. Across my generation, especially with the girls, everyone has a story about a teacher who gave up on them or made them feel stupid (some even SAID so!) in math or science because of their gender. Teacher attitudes and comments have far-reaching impact, for good and ill.

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  14. I am so glad you posted this and that there are so many positive comments to read. I just finished grading my first big assignment this week. I told my husband how impressed I am with my students effort and insight into their work. This post reminds me to tell THEM how wonderful they are and praise them all through the school year. It amazes me to think about the impact that our words have on our students and our classroom. Great post!!!! Thank you!!!

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  15. To Fanab- I too have more boys than girls this year (11b, 5g) but when I realized, I simply thought" I'll just have to teach in a different way to make sure I reach them". They are a good group anyways. I also had a student last year that the first grade teacher said was a bad kid, mean, didn't care, etc. Guess what? He did care. He was very bright and wanted to be noticed and a leader. He just chose the wrong way to lead so I changed that. I worked with mom a lot. I told her what a good child he was and that she was doing a good job. I always talked with him each day and told him what he did right. He already knew what he'd done wrong. It made a difference. He wasn't my perfect student but he grew in my class and isn't that our mission?!!

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  16. Very true! A few years ago I was teaching grade 4 and one of my students was a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. He'd had a lot of trouble during the first few years of school, and the principal had even suggested to his parents that he be removed and enrolled at a school for autistic kids. I remember when I was first given my class list and the reaction around the staffroom was first sympathetic and then just negative. Some of the comments made suggested that I was about to have the year from hell. One of his grade 3 teachers (it was a share grade) told me that there was no way that I could ever hope to "control" him, so I'd better get ready to "defend" myself against him. Granted, there had been some fairly explosive instances that this boy had been involved in. There were fights in the playground, screaming matches in the classroom, and he had hit and kicked teachers before. However, I like to approach each year and each student as a blank slate. I started the year off in a positive manner with him, using a lot of humour (and some sarcasm - he was very intelligent and quite witty) and focusing on the positives. There were some moments when he would push me to see how I'd react, and I firmly believe that because I didn't treat him as "bad kid", he wasn't. He helped me to grow as a teacher, and I know that I had a positive impact upon him. His parents cried when I told them I was leaving the school, and even now, almost 5 years later, he and his family have remained friends of mine. Every time I encounter a "difficult" student or one who is known by every member of staff, I think of Lachie and choose to give them a new start.

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  17. "We get what we expect" I read that somewhere - either Marzano or Whitaker - anyway I believe it to be true. One thing I do at the beginning of school is when I take my students to a special class I introduce the teacher to my students as the best class in the elementary. It helps to boost the students' self-esteem and I have even had more than one of the special class teachers say that I had the best class. :)

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  18. Laura - so true, so true. It's nice to be reminded of those examples and it's helps me to remember the kids that I've had in the past that were 'terrible' for other teachers but that I wound up connecting with and enjoying. Keep up the good work!

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  19. I totally agree with what you have written. A positive word and a little praise can go a long way. Especially on the first day of school it can set the tone and set everyone up for success!

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  20. I love this post!!!! It is so true! I have experienced this many times. In one class I had a boy in gr.2 tell me "I am bad, I have always been bad, and will be bad for a thousand years!" Part of me wanted to cry for this poor boy's self image. I explained that I do not believe that children are bad, that they just haven't been taught how to make the right choices. He had ADHD, and no one had ever given him the tools or the power to help himself. Together we worked on recognizing when he couldn't manage a situation, and I provided him with the power to come to me and tell me when he needed a break. At these times he could find a quiet area in the class to be by himself, leave the classroom and go for a walk in the hall if he had "ants in his pants", or just come and talk to me if he needed help figuring out what was bothering him.
    I was in that class for a mere 2 weeks, covering for a colleague out on a seminar. When he returned to his class he could not believe the change in this young boy. All he needed was to change his own self image and have someone help him find the tools to be a success. I still get updates from this young boy thanks to FB, and he is now a young man ready to meet the challenges of his final year in the most prestigious IB school in Hong Kong.

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  21. A few years ago I had a group that came to me in third grade with a terrible reputation they owned since kindergarten. It was very active class of 17 boys and 5 girls with a wide array of emotional and social disabilities. The first few days were exhausting and other teachers would always ask how I was doing with "that class". I decided after the first dozen or so times I heard that question that I would always answer as positively as possible, no matter what. I called it my PMA (positive mental attitude). I immediately started telling everybody that my class was fantastic and my days were wonderful, and I had no idea why they had such a bad reputation. I soon found myself less exhausted, more enegenic,and much more patient. It was a joy to come to school each day and I had one of the best years of my long teaching career. Although we aren't suppose to have favorites, that class remains one of my favorites and I think a great deal of it was due to my PMA that year.

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  22. When I was in first grade in 1937-38 I had one childhood illness after another (this was before immunizations) so that I was absent MANY days from school. Near the end of the school term, the principal came to the front of the classroom to talk with the teacher about me. She told him in her soft, flowing beautifully Southern accent that I had been absent too many days to be promoted, but that "she is reading at fifth grade level but in numbers she is not doing that well.) I didn't understand their discussion. I was promoted but I believed until adulthood that I could not do numbers (math). I wasted many a precious hour looking at the math work and hearing, "but in her numbers she is not doing that well." Consequently math was VERY hard for me.

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