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Book: 25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them by Carolyn Orange
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Authors: Carolyn Orange
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children to raise their hands again and again and never be recognized.
SCENARIO 4.3
Adding Insult to an Unjust Injury
In sixth grade, my teacher embarrassed me in front of the class because he thought I was talking and he made me stand in the corner! He then asked me to apologize in front of everyone. I refused and walked out of the class. I was in an honors program and I had to get out because if I stayed in, I would have had to take his class. He then had the nerve to deny to the principal that this incident ever happened. Of course, they believed him.
This scenario is a classic case of adding insult to injury. After erroneously punishing the student very publicly, the teacher baited the student into insubordination and misconduct by demanding a public apology. The indirect consequence of the student dropping out of the honors program was an unforeseeable injustice. The denial of his actions makes this teacher’s motives suspect.
Most teachers are honorable and their intentions are good but they sometimes make mistakes. Sagacious educators know that they are not infallible and that there are times when they might be mistaken. These teachers would never draw so much attention to such a minor offense as talking. The disruptive effects of conflict and confrontation far outweigh any positive benefits that may be gained from public censure. This unfortunate event could have been avoided with private reprimand or what MacDonald (1991) referred to as the use of I-messages in a private one-on-one conference. In the conference, the teacher would have found out that the child had not been talking. It would have been easier for the teacher to apologize, in private.
SCENARIO 4.4
Saving a Red Face
The worst experience I had in school was when my sixth-grade teacher ridiculed me and made fun of my answer. Then I made a comment to her that was rude and she made me stay after school and write dialogue out of a book verbatim. I was literally punished for trying.
It takes courage for a student to raise her hand to answer a question and risk the embarrassment of giving the wrong answer. Students’ worst fears are realized when a teacher publicly ridicules their answers. In this scenario, the teacher’s cavalier disparagement of the student goaded the child into some discourteous face-saving behavior. The subsequent punishment deflated the student’s attempts to save face and salvage her self-esteem. The injustice of it all was mentally tucked away to be nurtured for years and years.
Truly professional educators would never ridicule a child’s answer. They know their job is to help children come up with the correct answer. They employ a variety of techniques to achieve this outcome. An effective approach to handling student responses is to offer students cues or prompts, to accept part of the answer, or to look for something positive about the response to move the student closer to the correct response.
SCENARIO 4.5
Old School—1899 or New School—1999?
My family moved so I had to start second grade as a new student. I was scared. I didn’t know anyone at my new school. Everything was fine until PE class that first day of school. In PE, the coach asked the class to line up and the lines were supposed to start on designated little circles. Needless to say, I wasn’t accustomed to their style of lining up, so I formed my own individual line that wasn’t on a circle. Unfortunately, the coach noticed I was out of line, so he yelled at me and rudely asked me to follow his directions, not knowing that this was my first day of class. My self-esteem dropped at that moment. He didn’t realize that I was trying to meet his request but misinterpreted his directions.
Outdated, antiquated, passé, or archaic, by any name the practice of having students line up on specific circles and follow specific directions is a relic of a bygone era. Turn-of-the-century teaching (1890s–1930s) featured a similar technique where students had to
SCENARIO 4.3
Adding Insult to an Unjust Injury
In sixth grade, my teacher embarrassed me in front of the class because he thought I was talking and he made me stand in the corner! He then asked me to apologize in front of everyone. I refused and walked out of the class. I was in an honors program and I had to get out because if I stayed in, I would have had to take his class. He then had the nerve to deny to the principal that this incident ever happened. Of course, they believed him.
This scenario is a classic case of adding insult to injury. After erroneously punishing the student very publicly, the teacher baited the student into insubordination and misconduct by demanding a public apology. The indirect consequence of the student dropping out of the honors program was an unforeseeable injustice. The denial of his actions makes this teacher’s motives suspect.
Most teachers are honorable and their intentions are good but they sometimes make mistakes. Sagacious educators know that they are not infallible and that there are times when they might be mistaken. These teachers would never draw so much attention to such a minor offense as talking. The disruptive effects of conflict and confrontation far outweigh any positive benefits that may be gained from public censure. This unfortunate event could have been avoided with private reprimand or what MacDonald (1991) referred to as the use of I-messages in a private one-on-one conference. In the conference, the teacher would have found out that the child had not been talking. It would have been easier for the teacher to apologize, in private.
SCENARIO 4.4
Saving a Red Face
The worst experience I had in school was when my sixth-grade teacher ridiculed me and made fun of my answer. Then I made a comment to her that was rude and she made me stay after school and write dialogue out of a book verbatim. I was literally punished for trying.
It takes courage for a student to raise her hand to answer a question and risk the embarrassment of giving the wrong answer. Students’ worst fears are realized when a teacher publicly ridicules their answers. In this scenario, the teacher’s cavalier disparagement of the student goaded the child into some discourteous face-saving behavior. The subsequent punishment deflated the student’s attempts to save face and salvage her self-esteem. The injustice of it all was mentally tucked away to be nurtured for years and years.
Truly professional educators would never ridicule a child’s answer. They know their job is to help children come up with the correct answer. They employ a variety of techniques to achieve this outcome. An effective approach to handling student responses is to offer students cues or prompts, to accept part of the answer, or to look for something positive about the response to move the student closer to the correct response.
SCENARIO 4.5
Old School—1899 or New School—1999?
My family moved so I had to start second grade as a new student. I was scared. I didn’t know anyone at my new school. Everything was fine until PE class that first day of school. In PE, the coach asked the class to line up and the lines were supposed to start on designated little circles. Needless to say, I wasn’t accustomed to their style of lining up, so I formed my own individual line that wasn’t on a circle. Unfortunately, the coach noticed I was out of line, so he yelled at me and rudely asked me to follow his directions, not knowing that this was my first day of class. My self-esteem dropped at that moment. He didn’t realize that I was trying to meet his request but misinterpreted his directions.
Outdated, antiquated, passé, or archaic, by any name the practice of having students line up on specific circles and follow specific directions is a relic of a bygone era. Turn-of-the-century teaching (1890s–1930s) featured a similar technique where students had to
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