EDU276 S.T.E.A.M. Positive Expectations

Give an example of a time when positive expectations helped me achieve a goal.

A year and a half ago, I started teaching a young piano student, a girl, age 6. In the beginning stages, she enjoyed playing and passing off her weekly assignments. As her lessons progressively covered more difficult concepts, she would become more and more frustrated. She expected the material to come easy to her, which it was not. Moreover, she did not want to work through the more difficult concepts. She wanted to quit.

I analyzed that when her work seemed simpler, my student succeeded and seemed pleased with her own progress. I came up with a plan that would help give her that same successful feeling. I could still help her progress, albeit through very small baby steps.

First, I deliberately broke down each lesson into bite sized instruction. One week’s worth of material was now three weeks of instruction. Instead of learning new songs every week, we took three weeks to accomplish the same goal.

Equally important was maintaining my positive expectations throughout this difficult period. I deliberately acknowledged her progress at each step, with verbal praise and smiles. Throughout each lesson, I would narrate the positive and overlook the negative. For example, I’d focus on her counting correctly and ignore when she’d miss playing a sharp (until next week’s lesson).

It worked! Through smaller, more direct and specific instruction as well as positive expectations, my student was able to master harder songs, which in turn, helped her feel successful and confident. She didn’t quit and is still playing today.

What can I do to maintain positive expectations for each student in the classroom?

Here are a few ways to help maintain positive expectations for each student in the classroom. 

• Give direct and specific instruction in bite sized moves
• Give those directions with body language that implies students can do it
• Give students more time to respond to questions and assignments
• Create a classroom climate focused on individual growth and good manners
• Incorporate positive framing — a vision of a positive outcome
• Narrate the Positive - acknowledging positive behavior with thank yous and praising students on task