25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (11 page)

If this teacher had been a competent, informed teacher, she would have expected a first grader to have accidents such as spilling glue. At that age, a child’s fine-motor skills have not fully developed. Grasping and manipulating objects is more difficult for a younger child than it is for an older child.

Knowledgeable teachers anticipate and plan for accidents. They use drop cloths or newspaper, and they have cleaning supplies handy. Good teachers are usually patient and understanding. They rarely exhibit the short-fused behavior described in the scenario. Effective teachers help their students learn and have fun in spite of the students’ developmental limitations.

SCENARIO 2.3
Putting the Squeeze On

My teacher in fourth grade was very sensitive to noise. She didn’t like it when students talked without being asked. During that year, we had three children in the class whom she had problems managing. Usually screaming, jerking them to the principal, and sending them to sit in the corner were the usual punishments. Her “favorite” way of dealing with “problem” cases was squeezing the neck to make them obey. Pain, humiliation, and usually obedience followed this act.

One time we had home economics and we were working on some projects. I missed her demand of silence and continued talking to a friend of mine.

She didn’t give me any warning, but immediately grabbed my neck. This had been the only time I’ve ever had some sort of experience like this. I still remember it because I screamed, turned bright red, and tried to get away, which made her grip harder. The other students started laughing.

Squeezing a child’s neck is a form of physical aggression that could result in serious permanent damage. Spanking is against the law in many states, so some teachers use squeezing a body part to inflict pain as a way around the law. Technically, they are not spanking. This teacher seemed to do all of the wrong things. Her default reactions of jerking and screaming and squeezing are ineffective. She needed to learn more acceptable methods of dealing with discipline problems.

Effective teachers use a variety of acceptable discipline strategies, such as eye contact, warnings, proximity, gentle reminders, nonverbal cues, and gestures, to quiet their students and to get the students to focus on their work. Novice teachers can acquire these types of teaching techniques by observing master teachers and asking for suggestions. Levin and Nolan (1996) stress reminding students of what they are expected to do. They offer several useful strategies for quick compliance.

SCENARIO 2.4
The Hair-Raiser

The teacher would not allow grooming in the classroom. One day I forgot and started to brush my hair. She came up from behind me and pulled my brush the opposite way I was brushing, to pull my hair. I saw her pull out hair from several students. Also, if your locker was not clean, she would throw everything to the floor, and she did not care what broke.

A person’s personal boundaries should be observed at all times, in the school, at work, everywhere. Parts of a person’s body and personal belongings are protected by personal boundaries. This teacher consistently violated students’ boundaries. Pulling out students’ hair can be considered assault—an offense that should never happen. Breaking students’ belongings is an illegal act in that it involves the destruction of property.

In our litigious society, “let the teacher beware.” Informed teachers are fully aware of the legal consequences of certain acts committed under the guise of discipline. They limit their discipline to effective methods that have been tested and that are backed by research. In this case, the teacher could have confiscated the hairbrush until after class if the child had been using it inappropriately; however, it is imperative that the teacher return it after class. Wise teachers keep their hands off of their students’ bodies.

SCENARIOS 2.5 and 2.6
Perils of Paddling

Reflecting back, my worst experience was really not that bad. I was in seventh grade back in the 1960s and I was in the middle of an outdoor riot at M. Junior High. I was just walking by when I was attacked by three or four black kids. They thought I was white. E. was a black friend of mine and stopped the fight. He told the other kids that I was Mexican and they all apologized to me. It was the first time I realized what racism was all about. But I wasn’t upset. I remember understanding. We all became friends. This took place before school started that cold morning. In first period I was talking about it to a student during the saluting of the flag. Mr. N. became so angry that he took me into the hallway and paddled me six times. But then he, too, apologized after class and told me I should not talk during flag salutation. I believe now that back then he knew he was wrong to paddle me six times.

I had a geography class in sixth grade. The teacher had us read aloud from the textbook. He called on the student he wanted to read next. If he called on you and you didn’t know what to read next, you got paddled. The class was so boring that, almost everyday, someone got a spanking. A few years ago, this teacher was in the news. He was being accused of child abuse/molestation.

For some teachers, paddling can become a knee-jerk reaction to anger over infractions, no matter how minor they are. One of the perils of paddling is that everything becomes punishable by paddling. Teachers that paddle do not have to think of effective alternatives. The teacher’s mood rather than the nature of the offense may dictate the number of swats that a child receives. Consequently, a child can receive excessive punishment for minor offenses, such as talking during saluting. Another peril of paddling is that boys are more often subjected to physical punishment than are girls. A danger of excessive paddling, such as in the second scenario, is that the teacher may have derived some sexual or perverted satisfaction. This is not usually the case, but the possibility exists.

Reasonable teachers manage their anger to avoid making hasty judgments and performing impulsive disciplinary acts. It is prudent to isolate the student from the activity before any disciplinary action. This allows the teacher time to regroup if he or she is angry. With a reasonable time lapse between the behavior and the action, teachers are less likely to make bad decisions.

SCENARIO 2.7
Go for It

I was to be the one in front of the line to go into lunch for second grade. I stood in front of the door waiting because I didn’t know if my teacher said to go on in. The teacher was coming out of the classroom and it seemed to me that she was waving me to go into the lunchroom. I hesitated and couldn’t tell if she was telling me to go or wait. The other kids were telling me to go, so I went. Then I heard her say stop. She was mad and she yanked me like a rag doll and told me, “I told you to wait.” She kept yanking me in front of the whole class and then I had to go to the end of the line.

Miscommunication is not equivalent to misconduct. The child in this scenario misunderstood the teacher’s commands and was punished too severely for the mistake. Excessive shaking can be dangerous for young children. Having the child go to the end of the line was adding insult to injury. Finally, the teacher was placing the burden of the miscommunication on the second grader. She did not take any ownership of the problem.

Experienced teachers know that if they give a very young child an important responsibility, the child might make a mistake. They know that if the task is that important, they should not make the child responsible. Good teachers are tolerant of students’ mistakes and encourage them to try again and to try to do it better next time. Effective teachers know the right questions to ask to help students determine what they need to do differently to be successful.

SCENARIO 2.8
Handle With Care

I pretty much had good experiences with my teachers, most of who were nuns. The worst though must have been Mrs. M., the kindergarten teacher. She would grip our arms hard enough to leave bruises. She would not let children go to the bathroom, so many had accidents. I don’t remember a particular incident with me, but I do remember others being afraid and crying.

Parents entrust their precious packages, their children, to teachers with the expectations that their children will be handled with care. Teachers have an obligation to send the children home at the end of the day in the same condition as they found them in the morning. Sending a child home with bruises is unprofessional, inexcusable, and potentially litigious.