25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (24 page)

Insightful practitioners would be astute enough to have a firm policy of avoiding asking inappropriate questions. Experienced professionals anticipate the psychological minefields that surround intrusive questions. If a teacher wants to discuss a sensitive issue, such as suicide, it might be prudent to first ask the students if discussing the subject would be uncomfortable for anyone or if they would prefer to save this topic for a later time. Offering to postpone the discussion would give any student who is uncomfortable, but reluctant to say so, a way out of the discussion. Prepared teachers anticipate changes in topic and prepare the day’s lesson accordingly. Caring teachers will think through their questions to avoid saying anything that may cause their students distress or discomfort.

SCENARIO 12.10
The Perils and Pearls of Mandatory Attendance

I grew up with strict academic codes, so it was difficult for me to miss days from school. This was especially true as a young child when my parents dictated everything in my life. While this strict rule helped me out for a great deal of my life, it also backfired a few times when I was forced to go to school even if I was feeling under the weather. I remember one sick day when I was in my seventh-grade English class. We were required to read a play in class while our substitute teacher supervised us. This was one of the worst flu seasons according to the teachers, and a good portion of our class was missing. I was in class even though I had the flu. As I sat in class reading the play, I was so ill and tired from reading, that I unknowingly fell asleep. All of the sudden, the virus decided to show itself via vomiting all over the person sitting in front of me. I was sent home for a week until I got over the flu.

The perils and pearls of strict classroom policies are evident in this scenario. The student acknowledges that a strict attendance policy was beneficial most of the time, but it seemed to backfire in difficult situations such as illness.

Overly strict adherence to rules, with zero flexibility, rapidly approaches pathology. Knowledgeable teachers would hesitate to have an attendance policy where children are forced to attend class whether they are sick or well. Wise teachers would send a sick child home immediately. Experienced teachers usually have a policy to handle illnesses. They ask parents to keep their children at home if the child has a fever. Parents and children are usually motivated to try to keep perfect attendance records and they favor attending school in spite of illness. Teachers can resolve this dilemma by having flexible rules that do not count excused absences against perfect attendance. If attendance is an administrative matter, administrators should consider the approach previously outlined for teachers.

SCENARIO 12.11
Sounding Off

The fifth-grade teacher would say the meanest things about me. She would make me leave the classroom to blow my nose—“nobody wants to hear that.” She would give everybody else stickers just because she “liked” them, not because of their academic qualifications. No Band-Aids can ever make it right.

The teacher in this scenario had a natural reaction to an offensive body sound. She reacted so intensely that the child was offended and perceived her comments as mean-spirited.

Practical teachers know that in a classroom situation, potentially offensive body sounds such as blowing the nose, hacking coughs, passing gas, belching, or burping are inevitable. Experienced teachers ignore these sounds if possible. For situations that are impossible to ignore, these teachers set up an effective classroom policy to address these foreseeable events. They might have a “quick pass” that students can pick up at any time that they need to excuse themselves. The “quick pass” alerts the teacher that the student has a personal emergency that requires immediate attention. Teachers should explain the rules of using the “quick pass,” such as the shorter length of time, and so forth. The goal is to take care of students’ needs without drawing attention to the student or disturbing the class.

SCENARIO 12.12
“Loser of the Week”: A Real Loser

In high school, my math teacher would ask each student to tell the class something that had happened to them. This tidbit could be something that was stupid, embarrassing, or silly. Then she would choose what she called “Loser of the Week.” This person had to stand in the front of the classroom where the entire class would salute him or her by making a big “r” sign with his or her arms. We had this helmet we had to wear and a special desk in the front of the room. I was the loser many times.

The first two sentences of this scenario raise the question of “What is the point?” The practice of selecting the loser of the week is either a sadistic, malicious act, or a bad joke that has gone too far. Having students taunt and ridicule the student who had the dubious honor of being chosen is reminiscent of the bygone days of Roman persecution of
people with different religious beliefs. Forcing the “victim” of this hapless practice to wear a helmet and sit at a special desk conjures up the specter of a jeering audience surrounding a helpless person in the coliseum. The author of the scenario was obviously a naive, trusting child because the child continued to reveal sensitive, embarrassing information. The teacher betrayed that confidentiality each time with shaming behavior. This worthless practice places the child at risk for internalizing this negative labeling and class ridicule. The label “loser” could lower the child’s self-esteem and could become a self-fulfilling prophecy (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968). It is chilling to think of what a teacher hopes to gain from such pathology.

When teachers ask students to reveal sensitive information, that information should be handled with a priority level of confidentiality. Anything less than this violates the students’ trust. Once revealed, this sensitive information must not be used against the student. Parents are paying more attention to the types of questions or inquiries given to their children. Recently in Texas, parents were disturbed by an intrusive psychological questionnaire that was administered to their children. To avoid a lawsuit, the school district banned the questionnaire and agreed to let some of the parents observe them shredding the documents. The best practice is to avoid asking students for sensitive information unless it is absolutely necessary and only if the benefits of such an inquiry clearly outweigh any potential harm to the child.

SCENARIO 12.13
Only “Smart” Questions, Please

The worst experience I ever had with a teacher was when I was in the seventh grade. The teacher would always seem to pick on me as if I was doing something wrong. He was like a sergeant in the army. If you moved, your name went on the board. If you raised your hand to ask a question, he would say, “You’d better not be asking me anything stupid.” I couldn’t understand him because the whole purpose for raising my hand was to ask questions if I didn’t understand. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t recommend him to anyone.

Control. The crux of this problem is the teacher’s excessive need for control. He could control students’ behavior but he found it difficult to deal with the uncertainty of what they might say. To minimize his powerlessness over their questions, he intimidated his students by daring them to ask a “stupid” question. Students that do not understand the instruction may not know if their question is stupid and rather than appear stupid, they will not ask. Shutting his students up is also an insurance policy that will guarantee that he will not be asked anything that he cannot answer.

Rational teachers realize that there are no “stupid” questions if a child does not understand. Different people process information in different ways. They selectively attend to some incoming information and ignore other information. Most important is that they perceive information in different ways. Considering the differences in information processing, it is understandable that a student could misunderstand some instruction or confuse it with information that was learned previously. Experienced teachers try to cultivate a classroom environment that is conducive to learning and asking questions. Truly perceptive teachers can read students’ body language and anticipate that they have a question and ask those students if they understand. Teachers should exercise caution using this approach, being careful not to call on any one student too often, lest it suggests that the student is slower or less capable than are other students. The best strategy for teachers is to flirt with uncertainty and invite questions, but be willing to admit it when they do not know the answer. They can always tell the students they will try to find the answer later, or they can find the answer as a class.

SCENARIO 12.14
Help Wanted

I did not understand how to subtract and no one was willing to work with me.

A brief scenario such as this one is deceptively complex because of its simplistic form. This student’s unanswered plea for help has profound underpinnings of “academic negligence.” The teacher was negligent in that she was responsible for helping her students acquire and understand new concepts and obviously she did not do that. Experienced teachers review prerequisite knowledge before they attempt to teach new concepts. They teach the concept or idea and follow up by trying to ascertain if everyone understands. This probing can be accomplished by questioning students about their understanding of the new material. If there seems to be some confusion or misunderstanding, skilled teachers have a repertoire of instructional techniques to provide alternative ways of imparting knowledge. If some students still do not understand the material after repeated attempts to teach the new material, good teachers will work with them one-on-one to help students learn the new information.