25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (23 page)

SCENARIO 12.5
Sour Note Switch

When I was a senior in high school, I was first chair flute in the symphonic band and the marching band. I was a soloist, and the only flute player who could play a specific solo in a piece. However, I was always out of tune on the high notes and could never figure out why. What was bad about this was when the band was on a trip to a competition. My teacher waited until an hour before our performance and suddenly informed me I wasn’t going to play that solo and gave it to the second chair flutist (who didn’t know how to play it but had a nice tone!). I was rather humiliated by the way he did this, and then, afterward, on the bus, he informed me that the band hadn’t even been competing! He did this to encourage the second chair to be interested in band for the next year, but then she quit, so it was all for naught. He was brusque, gave me no warning, and then tried to act happy!

If he needed to do that and I can see why, he did it in a very poor manner and offended me, my pride, and should have explained things a bit better. I would hope I would avoid bruising students’ pride.

The band teacher hit some sour notes on several counts in this not-so-virtuoso performance. He failed to give the student appropriate feedback on her achievement. He understandably was not happy with her performance but he chose a very ineffectual method of apprising her of the changes he planned to make. Giving the solo to the second chair at
the last minute was less than honest and showed a reckless disregard for this student’s feelings. His motive for making the change was questionable. He gambled with his student’s pride and he lost.

A true maestro would be up front and honest and provide students with useful feedback and constructive criticism. He would make his students aware of their status in class and help them devise strategies for improvement. The sagacious teacher will always consider students’ feelings and pride when making evaluative decisions.

SCENARIO 12.6
Broken Bones: Give the Student a Break

It happened years ago, while attending classes at Tidewater Community College. It was my sophomore year; I was taking twelve credits at the time. One weekend prior to the beginning of the class, my TV antenna fell off. I climbed on the roof, fixed the antenna, and as I was coming down from the roof, my foot slipped and I fell down to the ground. I broke both of my wrists and had a cast put on both of my arms up to my shoulders.

This is not all. I had to drop some of my classes and of course the first one to go was Drawing II. I was also taking physical science. I did not want to drop this class, thinking that with a tutor’s help and the understanding of my teacher, I could pass this class. I worked very hard. I took a cassette with me every day. I had one of my classmates take notes for me, but at the end of the course, I received an F. I am not complaining about the grade even though I did not think it was fair. I am complaining about my teacher not communicating with me prior to the cut-off day of the drop–add date.

This student’s accident precluded her ability to participate in school as she had previously done. She reasoned that she could succeed with some tutoring and with the teacher’s understanding. In spite of her hard work and efforts, she received an F for the course. The teacher obviously did not share the student’s optimism and, judging from the student’s comments, there was very little if any communication about the status of the student’s grade or of the student’s progress.

Proficient educators anticipate that students may have emergencies or illnesses that interfere with their education, so they have liberal policies in place to accommodate these students. The scenario teacher could have been more understanding by offering the student some assistance, by being flexible about assignment-due dates, and by keeping the student aware of her progress. In this student’s case, it would have been prudent for the teacher to advise the student to drop the course if the student was unable to make suitable progress. Teachers that are very rigid and inflexible about student illnesses are ineffective and are often a barrier to student progress. I had a math professor whose policy was three absences—an automatic F. I had the flu and I missed class for a week. Up to that point, I had a B or better in the course. I could not believe that
anyone could be so unfeeling about student illness, so I thought if I stayed in the class and worked really hard that she would give me some consideration. At the end of the course I had a B+ but she gave me an F because of the absences. To this day, the college has factored this F into my grade point average and they refuse to change. I took the course again and they still would not change it. I gave up trying years ago. My math teacher’s rigid policy had very far-reaching effects. Rigid teachers are concerned about students taking advantage of them. I think it is better to err on the side of leniency than to err on the apex of inflexibility.

SCENARIO 12.7
The Shaming of the Crew

The worst experience I had with a teacher was when I was in the second grade. I had trouble pronouncing my Rs so the teacher took all of the kids that were having trouble with pronunciation to another class. In the other class, another teachers’ aide helped the kids having trouble. I don’t know why this bothered me so badly, but it did and it has stuck with me ever since. Now though, I am glad I had extra practice, and the teacher I know had good intentions. I guess I felt like an idiot in front of all the other classmates.

The student in this scenario was feeling the classic effects of the stigma that is often associated with remediation. The scenario teacher’s handling of this situation generated unnecessary shame and stress. She very publicly pointed out the students’ deficiencies and assigned those students to another class for additional instruction. The problem was that it was a lower level class, and the student was shamed in spite of the teacher’s good intentions.

Perceptive educators would anticipate that sending a child to a lower class could cause shame if it was done publicly. Sending a child to a lower class should be a last resort. Considering there was only one skill involved, pronouncing Rs, why didn’t the second-grade teacher try to work with the students before sending them to someone else? Perhaps a reason not to try to help them was that there was an obvious speech problem that needed the special attention of a speech therapist. I doubt if that was the case because there were so many students having problems. All of them didn’t have speech problems. If the teacher thought it was truly necessary to send the students to another class, she could have done so without the rest of the class knowing why or by doing it under the guise of the students going to help with the students in the lower grade. Of course, as they are “helping,” they also would receive additional instruction.

SCENARIO 12.8
Last Picks

My worst experience during my younger years was probably PE. Until the middle of the eighth grade, I was one of the shortest in the class. I was also, to put it nicely, one of the scrawniest kids. In picking teams, the coach would have two of the most athletic kids pick teams for sports. Almost every time, I was the last or the next to the last chosen.

My revenge was during my eighth- and ninth-grade years when I “bloomed.” I worked out over the summer breaks and was on the junior high football team. I would pick the smaller kids as well as the athletic ones.

The practice of letting the good players choose their teams has been around for decades. Countless children have been psychologically scarred by this practice for a variety of reasons. They were too fat, too slow, too scrawny, too clumsy, and so forth, and they were usually among the last to be picked. Teachers rarely intervene in this process.

Insightful teachers can usually predict the outcome of this potentially discriminatory practice and prefer to seek alternative methods of team selection. Random methods of selection are more appropriate. These teachers will anticipate that some of the better players may groan or make derogatory remarks about less-able players, but they usually make it clear that there will be zero tolerance for such comments.

SCENARIO 12.9
Speak First, Think Later

My worst experience in school happened in my first semester of college. My sociology professor asked the class if anyone personally knew someone who committed suicide. He then proceeded to go through the class one by one hearing each student’s answer. If they had known someone they said how they were associated with the person and how the person died. Needless to say, halfway through class it was my turn. My mother shot and killed herself less than a month before so it was hard for me to answer. I physically shook as I answered. I flatly said that my mother had shot herself a month ago. It was difficult because of the recentness of her death but also because of the others who had spoken before were obviously just speaking of some they had heard of or a mere acquaintance.

Asking sensitive questions that have the potential to psychologically damage a child is an inappropriate educational practice. The teacher in this scenario was probably a novice or a nitwit. To ask students if they knew someone who committed suicide is akin to lighting
the fuse of a potentially explosive charge and standing back to observe the fireworks. If the student knew the suicide victim, therein lies the probability that the student may have had feelings for that person. What objective could possibly be accomplished by probing vulnerable psyches with such sharp, blunt questions?