25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 2: Physical Aggression
Squeezing a child’s neck is a
form of physical aggression
that could result in serious permanent
damage. Spanking is against the
law in many states, so some teachers
use squeezing a body part to inflict
pain as a way around the law.
Technically, they are not spanking.
This teacher seemed to do all of the
wrong things. Her default reactions
of jerking and screaming and squeezing
are ineffective. She needed to
learn more acceptable methods of
dealing with discipline problems.
SCENARIO 2.4
The Hair-Raiser
Effective teachers use a variety of
acceptable discipline strategies, such
as eye contact, warnings, proximity,
gentle reminders, nonverbal cues,
and gestures, to quiet their students
and to get the students to focus
on their work. Novice teachers can
acquire these types of teaching techniques
by observing master teachers
and asking for suggestions. Levin
and Nolan (1996) stress reminding
students of what they are expected
to do. They offer several useful
strategies for quick compliance.
The teacher would not allow grooming in the classroom. One day I forgot and started
to brush my hair. She came up from behind me and pulled my brush the opposite way
I was brushing, to pull my hair. I saw her pull out hair from several students. Also, if
your locker was not clean, she would throw everything to the floor, and she did not
care what broke.
A person’s personal boundaries
should be observed at
all times, in the school, at work,
everywhere. Parts of a person’s
body and personal belongings
are protected by personal boundaries.
This teacher consistently violated
students’ boun daries. Pulling
out students’ hair can be con sidered
assault—an offense that
should never happen. Breaking students’
belongings is an illegal act in
that it involves the destruction of
property.
In our litigious society, “let the
teacher beware.” Informed teachers are
fully aware of the legal consequences
of certain acts committed under the
guise of discipline. They limit their discipline
to effective methods that have
been tested and that are backed by
research. In this case, the teacher could
have confiscated the hairbrush until
after class if the child had been using it
inappropriately; however, it is imperative
that the teacher return it after class.
Wise teachers keep their hands off of
their students’ bodies.
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