25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Teacher Confessions of Worst Treatment of a Child
Motive Probe
43.1. Describe the problem and your specific role in it.
He was deliberately disrupting the class, engaging in private conversations
and had not done any work.
43.2. Why did you do what you did?
(No response.)
43.3. What emotions or feelings were you experiencing at the time?
Frustration and anger.
43.4. Was your behavior justified? If so, why?
Yes, sometimes you have to use shock to get a student’s attention.
43.5. Do you regret your action(s)?
No, I was successful. His behavior changed. He passed the class.
43.6. Do you ever think about this incident? If yes, approximately how
often since the occurrence(s)?
None.
43.7. If faced with the same or a similar situation, what would you do?
Depends on the student.
Commentary
Cursing a student is a vulgar way of expressing an interpersonal emotion of
fury that says you make me very, very angry. It is meant to abuse and show
irreverence for the person. It harbors the implied threat of further out-ofcontrol
action. It’s also an invitation for students to further misbehave by
cursing the teacher in return. It’s troubling that the teacher thinks cursing is
an acceptable practice because he was satisfied with the resulting behavioral
change in the student. I was taught that the use of profanity or four-letter
words suggested a limited vocabulary. I think that premise holds true for
teachers; using profanity as a discipline method suggests a limited repertoire
of discipline strategies. To avoid resorting to profanity, teachers must
challenge themselves to expand their knowledge of ways to motivate students
to work and cease disrupting the class without such an angry display
of emotion.
Mistake 25: Sexual Harassment
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