As the school year begins with an exciting whirlwind of new experiences and adjusting to the new environment, ETA Angela Zhu starts to teach her 10th-grade classes. Setting expectations became the focus of this lesson. Angela set the first three expectations, “Try your best!”, “Making mistakes is fine!”, and “Raise your hand.”

When forming expectations, students’ voices were important to Angela. To allow the incorporation of students’ thoughts in setting expectations, groups of four were formed. Students were told to think of three things that “make a good student” and post their thoughts onto the poster.

After compiling and making a list, as a class, the students would come to a consensus as to their top rules in the class. Every class had a slightly different variation of their expectations within the classroom. Angela hopes to be able to refer back to these throughout the year to see that the expectations have been met and if the students have any changes they want to make.

Angela Zhu is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi