5 Tips for Maintaining High Expectations in Your Classroom

Eric GuiseGot TechED Podcast

GotTechED the Podcast    

Episode #142: 5 Tips for Maintaining High Expectations in Your Classroom

Welcome back to GotTechED the podcast this is Episode 142 called “5 Tips for Maintaining High Expectations in Your Classroom”. In this episode, we’ll share 5 tips that will get you thinking about high expectations and the best ways to keep them elevated, in a sustainable way. This is another episode you don’t want to miss, check it out.

Segment 1: Updates

  • Happy summer break!
  • Prepping for Canva training with secretaries and admin

Segment 2: High Classroom Expectations

In this episode called 5 Tips for Maintaining High Expectations in Your Classroom, we talk about some of the best ways to keep expectations elevated in the classroom! #teacherlife Click To Tweet

Recent teacher conversations about degradation of expectations in class and grade inflation

An IG post from @teachergoals that listed what high expectations should not be and what they should be

Should Not Be:

  • No mistakes
  • No second chances
  • Moving fast

Should Be:

  • Doing Challenging Things
  • Doing It Until You Get It Right
  • Working Hard
  • Asking for Help
  • Our own addition:  Must Show Growth

Specific Tips:

  • Doing Challenging Things
    • Elevate your assessment style.  Rather than asking “who was the 5th president of the US and what was his major accomplishment?”, ask “James Monroe was the 5th president and is credited by many for the Missouri compromise.  Explain this compromise and give 3 examples of how it impacted the United States over the next 50 years.”
    • Challenging rubrics (not a checklist)
    • EdTech:  Use ChatGPT for this to help get started.
  • Doing It Until You Get It Right
    • Don’t accept sub-par work.  Nick talk about the comic strip story.
    • Develop a second chance policy that works for you.  Multiple versions of assessments are not as time consuming with ChatGPT.
    • EdTech: This also requires monitoring student progress and feedback. Mote, GotFeedback, and Kaizena are two awesome audio recording tools that make this fast and easy.  
    • EdTech: Digital whiteboard spaces like Miro, Jamboard, and Canva allow for real time check-ins a students drag and drop.
    • Video:  Why Canva is my New Jamboard
  • Working Hard
    • This is vague and tough to monitor
    • For me, this comes down to using class time effectively, monitored with a points system.  Gamify it and reward those students who consistently use class time.  Don’t punish students who don’t, but share with them that this may restrict them from other things, like using a second chance learning attempt.
    • Edtech:  Google Sheets or Flippity for leaderboard style tracking
    • Edtech:  Gamify your class.  Digital stickers or badges with Canva or the noun project, freeimages.com, 
  • Asking for Help
    • Encourage students to ask each other, ask online, and ask the teacher often.
    • EdTech: Khanmigo: Say hello to Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s AI-powered guide. Tutor for learners. Assistant for teachers.
  • Showing Growth
    • This could be a whole podcast unto itself.  Simply though … Pre-assess and post-asses.  On one end, you can totally rebuild your classroom grading scheme around this and go standards-based.
    • Edtech: Easiest way is to take advantage of your LMS.  Popular tools for digital portfolios include Evernote, Seesaw, and website builders like Google Sites or Canva Websites.
    • EdTech: Bookwidgets – BookWidgets quizzes and worksheets have various evaluation options and over 35 different question types. Questions get auto-graded, so students can learn on …ScreenPal… Allows you to ask questions during your screencasts.

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Need a Presenter?

As experienced presenters and content creators, you can contact Nick and Guise to speak at your school, event, or conference. They can customize a workshop that meets your organization’s unique time and content needs. While no topic is out of bounds, GotTechED is best known for sessions on:

  • AI For Teachers, Admin, and Parents
  • 1:1 Chromebook Integration
  • EdTech Throwdown
  • TargetED Learning
  • Gamification (Badge Systems)
  • Game-Based Learning (Escape Rooms, Amazing Race, and more)
  • Google apps and extensions
  • Personalized learning and Choice Boards
  • Teacher productivity (Lesson Planning, Online Grading. and Feedback)
  • Digital content creation
  • Student Podcasting
  • Screencasting
  • Flipped Classroom
  • Student-Centered Learning