25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Teacher Confessions of Worst Treatment of a Child
21.7. If faced with the same or a similar situation, what would you do?
Commentary
More educated now, I would try to include him in everything possible. I
would try to understand how limited he was and to see what new experiences
and memories I could give him.
While progressive parents and school districts embrace a least-restrictive
placement policy that seeks the most inclusive learning environment for
special-needs students (Woolfolk, 2007), the rest of society is not keeping
pace. There is much resistance and resentment toward this policy, especially
when the teachers, counselors, or caregivers have no training for working
with special-needs children. Resistance and resentment can be replaced with
understanding and empathy if people seeking to work in environments that
may potentially include special-needs kids were screened for empathy and
special education training. Such prescreening could protect special-needs
children from any abuse that may be precipitated because of their challenges.
Teacher # 22
A Scenario of a Teacher’s Worst Treatment of a Student
H. was a little boy that was a persistent problem for me. He was the stereotypical “at
risk” child with major anger problems. There were days when H. and I got along fine
and days that we did not. On this particular day, he had been causing trouble for
everyone since the bell rang. He was picking on students, disrupting class with inappropriate
comments/noises and I had had enough. I called on him to answer a question
and he gave me a smart answer and I told him his answer did not matter, because
he would never amount to much anyway.
Motive Probe
22.1. Describe the problem and your specific role in it.
I took my frustration out on a student.
22.2. Why did you do what you did?
I lost control of my emotions.
22.3. What emotions or feelings were you experiencing at the time?
Anger, embarrassment, and fear.
22.4. Was your behavior justified? If so, why?
No, no matter what, a teacher should never say those things to a student.
22.5. Do you regret your action(s)?
Yes.
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