If students understand that it's okay to do something differently, they will have more incentive to learn, they will even move beyond what I expect of them. One teacher fights the paradigm that students cannot handle difficult writing assignments. Working with students not expected to be able to handle research and complex writing, he entices them into thinking about research strategies by asking them to analyze favorite cartoons. Good teachers, however, know the difference between being a coach and being a buddy. One veteran teacher present, with 33 years of teaching experience, believes in using classroom rules and structure to help students deal with the world beyond the classroom.
High expectations means getting rid of labels.
I don't care. I don't want them to be limited. She would pretend a group of scholars was sitting at the back of the room, listening to her teach. Now, she is actually working with scholars to develop standards for the history curriculum, and never again will new teachers lack a yardstick for achievement, she predicted. The content standards are outcomes, explained Gloria Sesso, a high school history teacher from New York.