25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

52 Teacher–Student Relations
Two of the teachers in these scenarios
were probably taught to believe that
the left hand was the devil’s hand or
that left-handedness was unlucky or
evil. This folklore of “conspiring
with the devil” is not only ludicrous,
it defies logic and, like much folklore,
it is unfounded. Such a glaring
accusation is sure to focus all of the
shame, hellfire, and damnation lights
on the students and practically
ignores the teachers’ inability to
effectively teach left-handed students
to write.
In our society, right-handed teachers
and students are dominant and,
understandably, instructional techniques
and materials are geared
toward them. Wenze and Wenze
(2004) note that life for left-handed
students is full of challenges, equating
it to living life as if you are always
looking in a mirror, where everything
you do is backwards. Their powerful
metaphor underscores the need for
teacher understanding and empathy
to ensure the successful adaptation of
left-handed students. Teachers who
are unprepared and lacking in the
knowledge of ways to teach lefthanded
students view left-handedness
as a deviation from the norm and
subsequently a problem. Lefthandedness,
like some other human
differences, is shrouded in myth and
cloaked in superstition. It would
be interesting to see to what nonsense
such educators would attribute
ambidexterity or the armless using
their feet as hands.
Teachers well-versed in the knowledge
of human development know
that students are not responsible for
handedness. Knowledgeable, flexible
teachers recognize that there is no
single magical way to teach all students.
The prepared teacher will be
aware of student differences and will
seek ways to address those differences.
In today’s educational environment,
left-handed students are a
minor challenge.
Many teacher resource books
offer techniques to facilitate teaching
left-handed students. For example,
most writing texts illustrate the correct
way to hold a pencil for lefthanded
and right-handed students.
In the absence of appropriate materials,
ask an expert. Teaching lefthanded
students should not be a
problem and certainly does not
require an exorcism as two of the
scenarios suggest.