Mateo – unconscious assumptions bare fruit
Mateo, was quite a gift from God to me. He rapidly became “my favorite student” when I took over teaching a first/second split in a private school. He was a spunky first grade guy with a quirky, nerdy sense of humor. I liked EVERY student in that class exceedingly, so I doubt that anyone realized that he was slightly more favored, but I remember him as if he had been in a class by himself.
Health challenges kept him from consistent attendance
Mateo had significant challenges primarily with allergies to pollen, dust and chalk dust, but particularly the spring. Our school was located so that the wind blew through the hallways and in the springtime the pollen also wafted up and down the hallways, leaving a yellow film on everything. He had to be home a number of days each spring in order to be in an air filtered environment and using a nebulizer. Thus, Mateo missed key first grade instruction and was quite a distance behind on his work. I took over this class mid-year and thus I met with his parents and the team of teachers who helped me understand that he might have to repeat the first grade at the end of the year. I also learned from our meeting that both his parents had higher education degrees and that his father worked in a high tech industry as an engineer.
What a teacher assumes, unconsciously, is of supreme importance
Both parents were brilliant! I assumed that Mateo was just as smart as they were, just missing some academic content.
We did decide to have Mateo repeat first grade, but I asked him to sit on the front row beside my desk. I gave him a signal so that he could let me know politely if he thought I could use his help in teaching the rest of the class the many things they were learning that he already knew. He was SUPER respectful! He never took advantage of this offer, but sometimes tutored a peer at their desk on something they didn’t understand the first time. He did give me good ideas of ways to explain some things that the group didn’t catch on the first explanation.
After our spring achievement test results came back, someone who had been at the school longer than I had looked at my class’s test scores with me and marveled at Mateo’s scores. I was not surprised. He scored mid-year third grade level at the end of first grade. I always “knew he was a genius”! She said that the teacher who preceded me assumed that little Mateo was cognitively delayed and he was acting the part and learning very slowly under the preceding teacher. In the middle of the following year, his mother, Eva, called me from the new town to which they had moved and said they missed me, but she especially missed the way I looked at her son. The new teachers in their new community seemed to think he had a disability. He was performing according to their expectations.
I find this tragic, but it also proves something I was taught in my undergraduate degree – that teacher expectations are extremely powerful in terms of helping shape student achievement. A student only exceeds teacher expectations with great fortitude and conscious effort. I may have taught Mateo in the ways that were suited for his learning style, but mostly, I assumed him brilliant and he learned like a brilliant guy. When others assumed him developmentally delayed, he began to fall behind and struggle. This was a career shaping experience for me. It has been quite instrumental in helping me set expectations for the students I consult or teach.
If you’re a homeschooling parent or an educator feeling overwhelmed, here are a few lessons from Mateo’s journey:
- Holding high expectations is really important to student success
- Customizing instruction to how a student is “wired” will make everyone’s learning experience more smooth
- If there are health challenges, the home setting is an easier place to meet these needs and still continue working on academic tasks.
If you are teaching a child at home, please set your expectations for him or her to be “smart” – even if you already know that his or her development is off “schedule” from a person in authority, such as your doctor or educator who is coaching you. He or she will thank you later! And if you need coaching or assistance, I am happy to join your team.
971-515-9760
homeschoolspecialed.pm@gmail.com