Concerning Excellence:

This quote stresses why we should nurture the value of excellence within students.  It calls to mind some of the things I've been reading about rigor and high standards in the classroom:

"Excellence requires hard work, disciplined application, but above all an attitudinal disposition that implies one will put forth sufficient effort to do any work at the highest level possible of which one is capable at a given time.

Frequently there is a misconception about what promotes excellence in an endeavor. Excellence is often perceived as achieving technical mastery in some area, where there is evidence that high level skills have become automatic. Yet excellence implies pushing the envelope of technical mastery to another level, of finding ways to improve on past performance as opposed to merely replicating it. The child, who gets a perfect paper and equates that with excellence, even though the work was very easy, has a misplaced conception of excellence… To be concerned with excellence means a willingness to strive for the highest levels of achievement for all students. Thus, maximum, not minimum, competence becomes the performance goal."

-- Joyce VanTassel Baska

Roeper Review

1997

The Rigorous Classroom

A couple of weeks ago, I made a post about "challenging students mentally."  It turns out that there is a lot of literature out there about this exact concept, more commonly referred to as "rigor."  I've been doing research about rigor in the classroom, and much of it is very helpful.  It all points back to having high expectations for students, and demanding higher-level thinking and high-quality work from all of them.


As I continue to research this concept and do more thinking about it, I will give updates about valuable things I learn, or questions I have.


In the meantime, check out this quote from a book I've been perusing.  If you're thinking about what kinds of materials to use in the classroom (for lessons, instruction, assessment, activities, etc), here's something to remember:

"... The kind of learning material to look for is that which is just within but at the outer edge of students' current abilities."

-How to Plan Rigorous Instruction

With this is mind, I can remember to keep students striving for the next level in their understanding and capabilities.