Expectations

N's report card came home yesterday. R's seems to have gotten lost, or maybe they held it back it was so shocking or something. Better that way I think. Have a few days between so that not too much comparison goes on.
I didn't want to give it too much prominence anyway. So I glanced through it with her, naturally all 3's and 4's (meeting or exceeding expectations). She asked me about the column "learning attitude" and I said to her it was how enthusiastic she was about learning and how hard she tried. With R in ready earshot, I also emphasized how I thought that was the most important mark. Even if they were to have 1's and 2's for everything in every subject, if they had 4's for attitude I was happy.

I've been thinking about expectations as my next Chinese test looms. Certainly the expectations for my class (the asian stream) is different for that of the other class. Our exams are also more difficult and the approach to teaching us is less structured and more varied. At times I feel freaked out. But then I remind myself of the expectations of the course aka standard text book and spend the time I have meeting the official requirements. And then when I'm feeling lazy about learning to write or read a particularly tricky or obscure character I have to give myself a mental shove and tell myself that it's just NOT about the official expectations, it's about becoming literate and conversant in a language, so get on with it.

I wonder too about how the kids are assessed in terms of expectations. Are their 'global' expectations for the grade? Or does a teacher look at each child and assess them in terms of their capabilities? The latter would be natural, but of course limiting the children who are capable of doing more. I firmly believe that people rise or fall to what is expected of them.