Chapter 6 - Accountability for High Standards

I liked a point that the beginning of this chapter made about classroom needing models of high success for students to see in order for them to be able to accountable for great success. I think this is really important. Students need to see exemplary examples of what I am asking them to do before they start doing their task. I want students to know what success looks like so that they are not lost in the dark and they have a firm understanding of what I am expecting their finished products to resemble. I also hope that having great models of students work around the room will spark creativity and motivation in my students to become excited as they see what other students have done and they have a positive outlook on the project as they begin doing it.
As much as I believe in holding students accountable and pushing student to take risks and go past their comfort zone, I feel the example given in the book is not quite as risky as I would dare to go. The story of the boy with Tourette’s syndrome performing major role from Romeo and Juliet in front of a large audience seems to be going above having kids step out of their comfort zone. As that teacher, I would be concerned of hurting this kid more then helping him. What if he messed up on stage, got scared or stumbled his way through the liens, forgetting some, making a fool of himself in front of everybody and getting teased or laughed at? I would feel that the boy could potentially move backwards and begin to really hate school or himself due to my decision to have him go out of his comfort zone. This is definitely a risk, yet in this instance the boy passed with flying colors and I feel that it really showed him that he can do anything he wants when he puts his mind to it. If he had come to me and asked me to perform in front of everyone, I would have given him that chance, but if I had approached him with this assignment, I would have asked him to perform it in front of the school with perhaps a character that didn’t have such a big part in the paly. I would scaffold my way up to the big role in front of a big audience so that I could see how well he does in the room first and then help him move up from there. Yet perhaps he would not have achieved such fantastic results in this case if he had not had that huge audience and role to motivate himself with. I think risk taking is a hard thing for teachers to decided when and when not to do it and how much to do. It is a very tricky line, but I hope I get to have experiences where I see it pay off, just as it did for the boy in this chapter.