Teaching Mistakes Teachers should Avoid

Teachers continue to make the same old teaching errors and ignore opportunities to improve. Student achievement suffers as a result.

Common instructional mistakes that teachers just won't give up.  

1. Incorrect use of homework. Homework is a formative activity -- i.e., it is assigned to help        teach new material. As such it should not be graded. If students see it as clearly related to learning they are more likely to do it. There should be no need to grade it; if homework is clearly relevant student grades will be lower on their tests. Why give zeros for missing homework if the student will receive a lower test grade because he did not use 

the learning opportunity homework offered. Tell parents about the missing homework.

2. Giving poor assessments. Teachers should understand formative and summative assessments and grade only summative. Also, teachers should not depend heavily on published assessments-- they might not agree with teacher vocabulary or syntax. 

3. Grades are for assessments, not behavior. Teachers should not deduct points for misbehavior or add points for behavior not related to learning. 

4. Avoid extra credit. If parents or students want extra credit allow them an opportunity to retake an alternate version of a failed assessment.

5. Screaming at students teaches them that you don't mean it unless you scream. 

6. Don't expect students to act like your children. Respect individuality.

7. Rewarding students with material "things" will not necessarily improve learning. There are problems with this practice. Dr. Marvin Marshall, an expert on motivation writes, "External controls are manipulators that set up students to be dependent upon external agents." 

8. Punishing the entire class. Would you want to pay a fine because your neighbor has a wild party? The practice turns peers against one another, while demonstrating that teachers have a right to be unjust.

Grading Take-at-Home Tests???

Taking tests at home! It's being doine virtually everywhere.

The take-home test. Is it an idea whose time has come? It's being practiced widely already. Sometimes it counts as much as 25% of a student's grade. 

It is said to promote responsibility as a bonus. The idea has mixed reactions from students primarily because they see it as an invasion of time spent with friends and family. Also, the use of the tests includes the risk of a zero grade if not turned in on time. 

But many like the idea because it levels the playing field somewhat. Lower achieving students can seek help from friends, books, and parents. With dedication students can bring their grades up by quite a bit. 

Some educators complain that being able to earn 25% of your grade without supervision of a teacher is risky. Some claim that it teaches some children to cheat. If some children copy the papers of friends their is often no way to know.

Many teachers are outraged, but the take-home test is a popular in many schools. You may be more familiar with it than you realize. The testing method is more commonly referred to as "homework." If you grade homework, it's pretty much equivalent to grading "take-home tests."