Mayra Diaz, San Francisco Bay Area

A s part of the Chalk it Up to Teachers campaign, Teach for America and Experience Project bring you this teacher's story.

Mayra Diaz, 9th and 10th grade Biology, San Francisco Bay Area

On the first day of school, I revealed our “Big Goal”: all of my 9th and 10th grade students would achieve 80 percent mastery of the biology content covered in my class. I made it very clear that I would hold all of my students to high expectations, but engaging Steve Nunez proved to be a challenge. From day one, he consistently refused to participate in classroom activities. He would act defiantly and then ask to be sent to the office with a referral. For eight weeks I would encourage him to challenge himself to master the biology content, “At least 80 percent, Steve!” And for eight weeks he would reply, “Don’t expect anything above a D from me.”

Week nine arrived, and Steve was oddly absent from class because he was accused of theft. Steve had nothing to do with the incident, but due to his bad reputation, he was punished for actions he did not commit. He visited me after class that same day and we discussed how misrepresented he was at school. He said that his teachers and peers made assumptions about him and underestimated his capabilities to succeed in the classroom. He shared his goal of becoming an engineer, but that he was doubtful he could achieve such success because no one in his household had graduated from high school. I persuaded him to think differently and reminded him that I not only believed he could achieve success in my classroom, but that he could achieve success in life. I urged him not to let others’ low expectations keep him down.

I shared with Steve my own experience in education—my battle against the low expectations people had of me because I attended schools that were in low-income communities. I shared with him the path I took to get to college, and I told him I would help him find his own. The expression on Steve’s face was one of disbelief. He was shocked that I was able to overcome obstacles similar to those he faced in his own community.

Week ten arrived and I returned Steve his mastery results for that week’s quiz: 100 percent! I showed him the results and his eyes glimmered. He smiled and said, “Ms. Diaz, don’t expect anything less than an 80 percent from me.” I smiled back and replied, “I never have.”

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