25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake
17
Academic Shortcomings
SCENARIO 17.1
Shame and Punishment
My worst experience with a teacher was my first-grade teacher. She sent me to the
corner and didn’t allow me to be a helper (chalkboard cleaner) because I could not
write my name correctly. I was devastated and felt ashamed of my incompetence. I also
was extremely nervous the remainder of the year.
This teacher is confused in her
assumption that “not learning”
is a punishable offense to be
punctuated by shame and deprivation.
According to information processing
theory, several exposures and
repetitions of material are necessary
to encode information into long-term
memory (Woolfolk, 1998). Good
tea chers know that some young children
have more difficulty learning
skills and concepts than do others.
They are aware that cognitive development
varies in children (Piaget,
1952) so they expect variation in children’s
classroom performance. There
are so many traditional and innovative
ways to help children learn to
write their names that punishment
need never have been an option.
Effective teachers are aware that
shame is not an effective motivator.
Competent teachers would have
used some writing readiness activities
or some one-on-one instruction
to help their students practice. They
would try not to discourage their
students by shaming them. Instead,
these teachers would empower their
students by praising their efforts and
inspiring them to do better the next
time.
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