On Expectations

Kids should feel ready to succeed in school. They need to feel competent, confident, and they need to expect to feel like winners. Kids on winning streaks are prepared for challenges, even excited by them. What about the rest? Those at-risk youth? Unfortunately, we are too quick to lower expectations of certain kids and groups of people every day. Think about anyone you know who is on a losing streak—what does their support system look like? Are the people around them expecting them to succeed, or are they expecting them to fail? Maintaining high expectations is a teachable skill requiring grit and patience. I’ve been making a great effort to live this in my work, and, while my strategies are a work in progress, Ihave seen glimpses of light in my kids stuck in losing streaks.

It is a Monday at the Club. On Mondays, we announce all the kids who had a perfect week of “Word of the Day” participation. I announced the kids who had a perfect week, and also recognized students who tried the program for the first time. As I spoke, I scanned the kids in the audience and noticed Jack was listening intently. Jack is a classic example of a kid on a losing streak: he has a lot of negativity at home and carries that negativity with him at the Club. He often complains about the programs offered and has a hard time just being around many of the other members. He had never ever participated in the “Word of the Day Program,” but I said his name during the announcements, thanking him for trying the program out. He perked up, confused. He knew he had not participated but still seemed to enjoy the positive recognition. That very day, only after announcements, he submitted his first entry in the Word of the Day.

This is a lesson for all those who work with kids, and extends to anyone who works with anyone! Do you believe in the ability and potential of your students? They may let you down day after day, but you are the adult, the professional. If you start believing they are failures, they will certainly be. If you believe that any kid can turn it around and end up on a winning streak, you might just be the reason they do.