25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 7: Personal Attacks
The dictionary defines Job’s
comforter as “one who is discouraging
or saddening while seemingly
offering sympathy or comfort ”
(American Heritage Dictionary, 1992). Job
was a famous man in the Bible whose
faith in his God was sorely tested. He
lost his children, his property, and
finally his health, but he remained
steadfast in his faith. Job’s friends pretended
to comfort him but they were
insincere and were actually trying to
find fault with him. The term Job ’ s comforter
is based on the friends ’ actions.
The teacher in this scenario falls
into the category of Job’s comforter.
She makes discouraging, disparaging
remarks about the student under the
guise of helpful advice. The teacher ’ s
focus on the student’s looks and
clothing suggests some underlying
jealousy or displaced anger. The dire
predictions made by this teacher
sounded like a mean-spirited wish
rooted in jealousy. The experience left
the student confused and scarred, but
obviously undaunted. The student is
now a preservice teacher aspiring to
be a teacher.
Good teachers seek to be a wellspring
of student hope and encouragement.
They realize that the way
they communicate their expectations
can have a profound effect on students.
They help students maximize
their strengths and minimize their
weaknesses in their struggles to reach
their goals. Caring teachers are the
antithesis of Job’s comforter. They are
comforters in the truest sense of the
word; they usually want what’s best
for their students.
SCENARIO 7.4
Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Worst Student of All?
My worst experience with a teacher happened during my sophomore year in high
school. I was in an honors advanced algebra class with sophomores and juniors. Every
other class, my teacher would have us take a homework quiz. We had to neatly tear a
sheet of notebook paper into four pieces, and write the answer on a little sheet during
the first five minutes of class. I was not that good in math and in this class, since it was
honors, my teacher didn’t really teach us how to do and understand algebra. One junior
named S. and I always had trouble with these quizzes and with the class in general, and
when Mrs. S. would pass back quizzes every other day, she would say, “E., you didn’t
do the worst this time,” or “S., someone did worse than you did.” Not only did S. and
I hear this, but the whole class was aware of her comments and thus of our poor performance
in class. It was the only class and teacher that I can honestly say I hated.
I struggled for a B-/C in that class. The following year I changed to regular math and
I learned in that next class.
Honors students, like most
students, may take a course
and find that it is a weak area for
them. They may have difficulty
grasping the course content. The
teacher had high expectations for the
honors classes and let them take
responsibility for their learning.
According to the student, the teacher
made no effort to teach the class or to
help them to understand the course
material. However, she made it a
55