I had stopped to chat with one of my student's from last year. I had seen (and heard) her practising for her oral presentation assessment a couple of times and I told her how impressed I had been as I walked by. She made some typical comments that students make when they have no confidence in their ability in a subject. I told her I thought she was far more capable than she thought and that she shouldn't give up. As she walked off with her friend, she looked back over her shoulder and called, "Thanks for believing in me, Miss."
I have to admit, it gave me a warm glow. I felt like I had done something good for at least one student that day. The thing is though, I really, truly believe that she is capable of achieving. What it is now making me wonder is whether or not all my students feel that I believe in them. Because I do. Yes, I know they all arrive in my class with different levels of confidence and a wide range of skills. But have I made it sufficiently explicit to each and every one of them that I know that they can achieve? And I want them to know that AND believe that. In the final week of the first term break, I realise that I don't think I have made that explicit enough, and I certainly haven't personalised it.
What can I do about that? Yes, I can continue with those blanket statements I give about expecting everybody to achieve. Yes, I can emphasise the expectation of Excellence or Merit. But now I don't think that's enough. What I want to do is going to take time, and time is always the missing ingredient. But I think I need to do it. I'm envisaging a mini-conference with each of my students where I can discuss such things as their past achievement (or otherwise), their concerns and worries, and what they think are their strengths and weaknesses. I need to make this purposeful; I don't want the students to feel it is just another tick-box process like some of the other "tracking" that occurs. It is very much an embryonic idea at this stage, but, I believe, a worthwhile idea.
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