25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

232 25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them
Teacher # 37
A Scenario of a Teacher’s Worst Treatment of a Student
I was short with a student because of his parent’s lack of responsibility and his learned
helplessness. I had little patience with him when he messed up or complained of little
things. My frustration was more with his mom than with him, but I took it out on him.
Motive Probe
37.1. Describe the problem and your specific role in it.
I was short with a student because of my lack of patience for a situation.
37.2. Why did you do what you did?
I was frustrated with the mom because she allowed him to manipulate her
and she taught him to use his dyslexia as a crutch.
37.3. What emotions or feelings were you experiencing at the time?
Frustrated, angry, and annoyed.
37.4. Was your behavior justified? If so, why?
To some extent, because this student never tried and gave up immediately on
“challenging” tasks. He cried any time I challenged him and would go home
and paint pictures in his mother’s mind of a monster, because I challenged him
instead of babying him.
37.5. Do you regret your action(s)?
To some extent, yes. I should have had more patience with him because his
actions are learned behaviors from his mom.
37.6. Do you ever think about this incident? If yes, approximately how
often since the occurrence(s)?
Yes, three or four times since it happened 2 months ago.
37.7. If faced with the same or a similar situation, what would you do?
Step away and take deep breaths.
Commentary
This teacher’s frustration is a manifestation of a deeper problem, namely, that
some teachers are inadequately trained to deal with the complexities of inclusion.
Many of the teachers that I have taught in previous years have
complained about their feelings of inadequacy when having to work with specialneeds
children. This teacher’s lack of sensitivity to the child’s challenge