Educational Leadership

them, so what feels like a class buzzing with discussion is really just a few kids speaking up while the rest pretend to listen. Instead, expert teachers pose thoughtful questions, wait for plenty of hands to go up, and then call on a volunteer—or even a nonvolunteer.

5. Don’t make tests too hard.

Although teachers use tests to gauge how well students are learning, students often use a test to gauge how well the teacher is teaching. If you accidentally— or purposely—make a test too hard, neither thing will be accurately measured. You might realize that the students underperformed on your too-difficult test, but students might just assume that you didn’t teach well. This will make them less enthusiastic about learning from you.

When I finish making a test, I often cut out about 25 percent of the test to make it more manageable. One way to do this is to assign a priority level of 1, 2, or 3 to each question, with 1 being high priority and 3 lower priority. Then you can keep all the 1s and cut all the 3s. Kids are not insulted by an “easy” test. It gives them confidence.

7. Don’t tell a student
you’re calling home.

When you’ve decided, in your mind, that you’ve had enough, keep that information to yourself. Calling home is one of the best things you can do to respond to student misbehavior, but it must always be a surprise.

When you warn a student you’re calling home, that student often increases his misbehavior because he wants his classmates to think that he doesn’t care, even if he does. Also, if you warn a student, she will get a chance to intercept your call, warn her parent, or distort the facts. Finally, you’ll look like someone who can’t follow through on a threat if, for whatever reason, you are unable to reach the parent that evening.

9. Don’t dress too casually. New teachers often intentionally dress so that they don’t look like the typical teacher, believing that a traditional-looking teacher will have trouble reaching certain kids. A new teacher with a casual personal style outside the schoolhouse may genuinely believe, “If I’m not myself, these kids will pick up on it immediately.” I disagree. If you look like a teacher, they will treat you like a teacher. Not appearing like a professional is way too big a risk.

10. Don’t babble.

New teachers are usually nervous, and nervous people often babble. The more words you say, the less value each word has. I once heard that teachers get to say about 10,000 words before the students stop listening, and that new teachers use up their words in the first week. Choose your words carefully.

6. Don’t be indecisive.

Although this could certainly be phrased more positively (“be decisive”), I phrased it this way to emphasize that teachers must actively avoid indecisive behavior. When a student asks a question like, “Can I do my test in red ink?” you have three seconds to pause, consider the question, and answer yes or no. There is no wrong answer, only a wrong way of saying it.

If you conclude you’ve made a bad decision, it’s possible to reverse it the next day. Even your reversal, however, must be done decisively: “I thought that, but now I think this. Let’s move on.”

8. Don’t try to be a buddy.

Another mistake we learn from inspirational movies is that to get through to certain kids, you’ve got to be their buddy. Although all teacher training programs warn about the problems with trying to be a student’s friend, it is still a common new teacher mistake.

New teachers may follow the prohibition in the beginning of the year but let up on it way too soon, when things are going well. I suggest you mark on the calendar a random day, some day in February, to be the first time you carefully cross the buddy line for a short visit before returning back.

Don’t
be
indecisive.

Fewer Mistakes = More Learning

The urgency of avoiding mistakes is stronger in teaching than in most professions. The only profession where it’s more difficult to salvage your mistakes is tightrope walking. Because we deal with students, who hold on to first impressions, teachers don’t get to start over with a fresh slate after making numerous mistakes, the way a waiter might.

Being aware of these 10 mistakes doesn’t mean that you’ll never make them. Even after 20 years of teaching, I still struggle daily to avoid these blunders. But every mistake you avoid will lead to a better learning experience for your students. As teachers, we might learn from our mistakes. Our students won’t.;L

Gary Rubinstein teaches math at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He is the author of Beyond Survival (McGraw-Hill, 2010); garyrubinstein@ yahoo.com.