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

SCENARIO 12.15
Off on a Tangent

My tenth-grade algebra teacher—I never learned anything in that class because all we did was to try to get him talking about other things. Because of this, I feel that I didn’t like algebra (hated it) and I didn’t think I would ever need it again—until college. College algebra was and still is my worst subject and worst grade I have ever had. It was boring in tenth grade and even more so in college.

This algebra teacher routinely allowed his students to distract him or get him “off on a tangent,” as it was called when I was in high school. Apparently, he did not have a lesson plan or syllabus. The consequences of this type of distraction are many: The students are not engaged, little if any learning occurs, and the students become disenfranchised with the course. The scenario teacher failed to make maximum use of class time. He failed to create a sense of responsibility about doing the work because he showed little concern for delivering the instruction.

Competent educators usually prepare for each class. They have goals and objectives to meet and they use a syllabus or lesson plan to guide them and keep them on task. These teachers are flexible enough to allow for some deviation from the topic if the subject is provocative and the students are very excited. However, wise teachers are watchful for deliberate attempts to distract them. Skilled professionals know how to bring the students back to the lesson. They have an obligation to manage class time effectively to maximize the instructional contribution to their students. Good teachers periodically assess their progress with the material they plan to cover and make adjustments as needed. The old adage, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail,” applies here. A lesson plan, or at the very least, an agenda, is necessary to stay focused.

SCENARIO 12.16
Worksheet Workout

In fifth grade I was placed in a different class than all of my friends who were together in one class. The class I was in was much slower, boring, and the teacher seriously didn’t like me. We were forced to do silent worksheets and spelling tests all year, which was extremely boring.

A blatant misuse of seatwork is evident in this scenario. To force students to work silently on worksheets all year is counterproductive and boring. Worksheets are usually reserved for follow-up work to reinforce concepts learned in direct instruction. Some teachers occasionally use worksheets as time fillers or busy work. To be effective, worksheets should be interesting and engaging and should not be boring or useless. The latter makes it difficult for students to stay on task (Charles, 1983).

Resourceful educators will employ a variety of instructional strategies and materials to effect behavioral outcomes. Informed teachers are aware of the research that suggests that student learning is enhanced when students are allowed to talk, to work together,
and to move about as they engage in learning tasks. Worksheets can be effective if they are used for follow-up, practice, and individualized instruction. They should never be a singular mode of instruction.

SCENARIO 12.17
Let Your Fingers Do the Reading

When I was in sixth grade my teacher divided us into groups in my reading class by the way we pronounced words on a list. I of course went into the slow readers group. I never liked to read after that. It was never fun because she made us follow along with our fingers and to me that was degrading. In my senior year my English teacher got me to read a book and I now enjoy reading this certain author plus other books. All it took was an interesting book and a teacher who had a positive effect on me to change my views of reading in a positive way again.

This ineffective teaching practice of grouping students based on such limited criteria is bound to have some undesirable consequences. Grouping students by the way they pronounce words is a practically useless strategy. This selection process invites error and has the potential to distress a child who has been erroneously assigned to a lower group. Understandably, children in this situation would feel degraded by being forced to follow along with their fingers because this practice reflected the teacher’s expectations for the low group. Kerman and Martin (1980) found that teachers have lower expectations for low-achieving groups and give them less feedback. The author of this scenario acknowledges that a lack of feedback and low expectations made her dislike reading for a time. A teacher’s belief in her ability to read a book restored her interest.

Effective teachers would explore alternatives to grouping, considering the controversy that surrounds ability grouping. If they elect to use groups, the selection criteria would be explicit, appropriate, and functional enough to allow the teacher to organize students into groups of preferably five or more students to facilitate efficient, effective instruction. This type of grouping can best be accomplished by first determining a child’s skill level through appropriate assessment and then matching the task to the skill level. To communicate high expectations for children, encourage them to read alone and offer assistance only when it’s needed. Positive feedback plus high expectations fosters a love of reading and facilitates reading achievement.

SCENARIO 12.18
Rigid Mortis

One of my worst experiences at school was during the fall of 1995 while attending college. That semester my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly on Halloween. I immediately notified my professors that I would not be in class for the remainder of the week. The professors were willing to work with me, with one exception.

Upon returning the following week, I approached my world geography professor about giving me a one-day extension for an exam that was scheduled that Monday at eleven o’clock. This professor indicated that he could only extend the test to another class that same day at two o’clock, but he preferred I take the test when scheduled since I was already there. I was too emotionally drained to even try to plea with him, so I took the test and failed it miserably. As if that weren’t enough, my own father suffered a heart attack the week before finals leaving me totally unable to focus. I finished that semester with two Cs and an A. This greatly affected a GPA I had worked hard to build up.

This professor has a severe case of “rigid mortis.” He was unyielding and unmoving in his academic policies. He failed to realize that tests are merely tools for feedback. In this case the feedback merely reflected that the student was unprepared. The etiology of his “condition” seems to be rooted in a deep fear of being taken advantage of by his students. His “deaf ear” is symptomatic of a lack of compassion for student problems.

He could remedy his condition by simply judging each student’s situation with a positive, open attitude and by showing more flexibility in his academic policy. Compassionate professionals would make every effort to say yes to a reasonable student request. These professionals would only test a student under appropriate conditions to ensure the score would more accurately reflect a student’s progress. They would also have a great deal of empathy for students with serious problems. Empathy is an important characteristic of the effective educator (Rogers, 1969).

SCENARIO 12.19
Almost Perfect Attendance

My worst experience in school can be shared by two incidents. The first was when I was in the third grade and during lunch time my teacher came into the cafeteria to tell me that my mom, grandma, and two-year-old baby brother had been in a serious car accident. My neighbor had to come and pick me up from school to take me home. The second worst memory was in the second grade. My middle brother had been hit by a car and I had to go to school. It was the worst day of my life wondering whether he was going to be okay or not. All throughout that day (I was only 7) I kept wondering if he was going to die. Such morbid thoughts for a seven-year-old to ponder, I remember crying at school and my teacher telling me my brother would be all right. I kept telling her, “But you didn’t see his face.” That is the most vivid memory that comes to my mind. I went to school that day because my mom didn’t want me to ruin my perfect attendance.

The scenario teacher seemed to be a caring individual who tried to comfort the child. Unfortunately, the teacher was treating the wrong symptom. The attendance policy is an underlying problem in this scenario. It was not very accommodating.

Reasonable teachers have flexible attendance policies where excused absences, such as death or serious crisis, do not count against a student’s perfect attendance. In this case the teacher would assure the parents that he child would be excused and the perfect attendance record would remain intact. To maintain a rigid policy with no exceptions to the rule would encourage the anxiety and trauma that this child experienced. If, in spite of assuring the parents that it is okay for the child to miss school, the parents insist on the child staying in school, the prudent teacher would refer the child to the school counselor or social worker for intervention.