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Monday, January 18, 2010

Unmet expectations

I realize I'm just the teacher.

That my expectations for past students are just that...expectations... and once they leave my classroom those expectations should be forgotten.

But they aren't.

You can ask me about a previous student and I can tell you that as their third or fourth grade teacher what I expected to come of them as they got older.

I had a student my fourth year of teaching that I adored! She was the perfect student, was a great athlete, and had a wonderful family! My expectations for her were set that much higher because of the potential that I saw in her as a fourth grader. It was six years ago that I had her in class. She is now a junior in high school.

I found out today that she is pregnant.

I am crushed.
My expectations were not met.

Again, I realize that once a student leaves my classroom my expectations do not matter.
I am just a blip on the radar screen of their life.
But when a student with so much potential doesn't meet my expectations, I wonder where they could have possibly gone down the wrong path. How could they have changed so much in the last few years?!

To me, it is just so disheartening.

And yes...I have expectations for all of my students. I just hope one day all of them are met...

3 comments:

  1. It is always hard when expectations are not met, especially because of a teen pregnancy.

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  2. Because you grow attachments to all your students, as if they were your own children. I still feel the need to talk to the previous students I had in my after school class many many years ago.. they look at me like I'm crazy! We may not mean much to them after they leave the classroom, but you hold a place in your heart for all your students past & present.

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  3. That is so sad. It must feel close to heartbreak. I can only imagine how hard it is for the parents...

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