25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Teacher Confessions of Worst Treatment of a Child
34.3. What emotions or feelings were you experiencing at the time?
At first I was angry, then I was concerned because students must complete
13 semester hours of college credit in 6 weeks. They cannot afford to miss
a minute.
34.4. Was your behavior justified? If so, why?
No, I should have taken a different approach. Send him to the doctor first!
34.5. Do you regret your action(s)?
Yes.
34.6. Do you ever think about this incident? If yes, approximately how
often since the occurrence(s)?
Five years.
34.7. If faced with the same or a similar situation, what would you do?
Commentary
I am still faced with this situation daily, but I stick to strict school policy
of pulling an AF form 341 for the student. This will cause the student to
receive remedial military training on the weekends.
This teacher is guilty of assumption, a common “crime” where a teacher
accepts something as true without corroborating evidence. He assumed
the student airman was slacking because sleeping is incompatible with
paying attention and learning. It would behoove all teachers to gather
information before making an assumption. Insightful teachers suspect a
problem when certain behaviors persist. He could have suggested that the
airman see a medical doctor as his first attempt to deal with the problem.
The public shaming appeared to be retribution for his belief that the airman
was disrespecting him by sleeping; he retaliated by making a public
display of the sleeping. The public shaming could have been avoided if the
teacher had scheduled a private conference with the airman to gather
information.
Teacher # 35
A Scenario of a Teacher’s Worst Treatment of a Student
A student was stealing from his classmates. I asked the entire class who had taken a
specific item that particular day; I had an idea who it was because that same student
had taken a watch from his grandmother. (This was another incident.)
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