25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

62 Teacher–Student Relations
have the student give the report from
her seat rather than have her embarrass
herself in front of the class.
Another alternative would be to let
the child go to the restroom and
either repair or remove the slip.
SCENARIO 9.3
Sins of Big Sister Visited on Little Sister
My ninth-grade year, I was taking geometry with Ms. M. She also taught my eleventhgrade
sister trigonometry. My sister and Ms. M. did not get along because my sister would
correct her answers. Ms. M. invariably took this out on me. She was very nasty to me.
The battle rages on. The
teacher picked up the gauntlet
to continue the fight with a new student
who happened to be the sister of
an old enemy. Apparently, the teacher
was entertaining a great deal of displaced
anger and was directing it
toward the younger sister. Some
teachers project undesirable qualities
of former students onto their brothers
and sisters. There are some teachers
that expect their current students to
follow in their brother or sister’s footsteps.
When they fail to live up to
those expectations, these teachers
make them feel inferior with comments
like “You’re nothing like your
sister; she was a good student.” Some
teachers give siblings less credit for
assignments and assume they copied
the work of their sister or brother.
Discerning teachers know that
students are individuals and not
extensions of their brothers or sisters.
Each student should be allowed to
fail or succeed on his or her own
merit. Good teachers wipe the slate
clean for everyone that leaves. This
gives all incoming students a fresh
start. If teachers have a bad experience
with former students, they
should address the problems when
they occur or let them go away with
the students that caused them. The
sins of a big sister should never be
visited upon her sibling.