25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them by Carolyn Orange

Sister A. said to me. It’s because of her that I said I’d never put my kids in Catholic school.
    Evil usually refers to something bad, immoral, malicious, wicked, harmful, ruinous, and the list goes on. Sister A. is a personification of evil; she fits many of the previous characterizations. Her wickedness is obscured by her holy robes, which have long been associated with goodness and purity. Her evil enjoyed a daily feast of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse of children. Her academic status gave her full license to indulge her evil in the classroom. She is a traitor to the cloth and her charge. She is not good and she has betrayed andabused the children entrusted in her care. The evil within her is laid bare in her treatment of the child and the dead priest. The act of forcing the screaming child’s head down into the priest’s coffin erases any doubt about the nun’s malevolent intent.
    Child abuse often finds its way into the classrooms via teachers who may have been abused as children. These teachers may find themselves terrorizing and humiliating their students and hating themselves for it, yet they are powerless to stop.
    Insightful teachers who realize that their behaviors and words are abusive take ownership of the problem and seek solutions. They explore their own history of abuse and unrealistic expectations of children, their stress and tolerance level, and their need to control their life. Teachers are caregivers and they fall into the same categories as parents. If they are abusive, like some parents, they need the same treatment as abusive parents. Caring professionals will get some help and counseling and will work on their issues.
    Good teachers who have addressed their own issues and dysfunction can provide the care and understanding needed to discuss death with small children. Sensitive teachers know that children’s feelings run deep. They would not force children to view a dead person against their wishes. Death education is an important part of child development. This type of education is best accomplished through biblio-therapy, social studies of cultural practices, and religious beliefs about death. A caring adult in a warm, supportive environment should handle death education, exercising caution to avoid creating anxiety or stress for the child.
SCENARIO 9.2
It’s Snowing Down South
    I had an experience of having to go in front of the class to give a book report with my slip hanging out. Even though the teacher knew about my problem, she made me go in front of the class anyway. This happened in third grade.
    Speaking in front of an audience can be difficult for most people. If speakers are aware that something is wrong with their appearance, the experience can be traumatic. The teacher in the scenario sacrificed the student’s psychological safety for a book report. She forced the child to go to the front of the class to report knowing that the child’s slip was hanging down. Teachers who would do such a thing are either mean-spirited or indifferent to children’s feelings.
    Caring teachers are aware of the fragility of children’s self-esteem and seek to keep it intact. Astute teachers can anticipate situations that may cause students distress and will avoid them. Good teachers wouldhave 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 eleventh-grade 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