25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Inappropriate Discipline Strategies
playground setup. The teacher ass umed
the child was at fault and physically
dragged the child into detention.
Experienced teachers know that
the school is responsible for playground
safety and that a child
engaged in reasonable play should
not get hurt. The student in this scenario
seemed to be engaged in reasonable
play and may have caused
an accident. The teacher should have
tried to comfort the child while
examining the child to determine
the extent of the child’s injury.
SCENARIO 1.29
Punishment Befitting the Crime
Punishment should not have been on
the agenda.
Resourceful teachers would have
the nurse tend to the injured child
and would have seized the moment
as an opportunity to review playground
safety rules with the class.
The other students could learn from
what happened to this student. This
could be a very effective learning
experience because the other students
in the class can also learn
vicariously from the injured student’s
consequences (Bandura, 1986).
During my senior year, I was kicked out of a physics class for excessive talking and
laughing and was threatened with expulsion.
This is obviously a case where
the punishment does not fit
the crime. To expel someone for talking
and laughing is excessive. In
many cases, it is not so much the
offense that is important, but it is the
underlying need for control and
the power struggle that has polluted
the classroom climate. When teachers
have a “do as I say or else ” approach,
students can experience some bizarre
punishments. Wanting to curb a student
’ s talking is very prevalent in
classrooms. For some students, school
may be their primary source of socialization.
They risk the wrath of the
teacher because they have to steal
class time to interact with their peers.
This is especially true in high school
where there is no recess. Extreme
punishment of this nature only serves
to contribute to the drop-out population
and it is entirely inappropriate.
When my son was either a freshman
or a sophomore in high school, he
was suspended for ten days because
he and some other young males were
caught throwing paper off the roof of
the school. He was in advanced math
and science courses. A ten-day suspension
would have put him so far behind
in his course work that he would risk
failing some classes and jeopardize his
graduating on time. This snowball
effect could have been so discouraging
that he might have even considered
dropping out. Luckily, I was able to
intervene and reduce the time. A more
fitting consequence for throwing
paper off the roof might have been to
have the young men clean up all the
paper around the school on a Saturday.
I see little to be gained by suspension.
Students often see it as a vacation and
this attitude could make suspension
a negative reinforcer, increasing the
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