Some of the Worst Instructional Mistakes Teachers can Make

Many teachers spend a career doing the wrong things. What's worst is that some are aware that much of what they do is poor teaching and teachers continue because they are unable to adapt to new ways, or some are just "wrong-spirited" and seem immune to new ideas.

#1. Grading formative assessments. Homework, for example, is generally for diagnosis and practice. It has two serious defects as a gradable assessment: (i.) it can be -- and often is -- copied; and (ii) it often violates the principle of grading something  that has not yet been thoroughly taught -- that's why it is designated as a "formative" assessment.

Likely, the most common reason for grading it is personal deriving from the notion that the teacher told students to do it and feel as though the student disobeyed by not doing it. The grade is a punitive action for the disobedience and a reward for compliance.

 

A picture of a mother teaching
responsibility.

Perhaps equally common is the belief that "If I don't grade it, they won't do it." That is due to the fact that many students have been    "taught" that school is about grades and learning is secondary. Students often do not understand that well-conceived homework is about learning and not grades. After receiving a few grades for homework students expect it. 

Finally, many teachers believe that homework develops responsibility. Actually, responsibility develops homework. The seeds of responsibility are planted and nourished at home and responsible students do homework because their parents engendered positive habits. Students with parents who don't nourish children get penalized. 

Suggested reading for #1        

#2. Over-Reliance of Punishment and Rewards. Teachers often face a genuine dilemma when students  misbehave or violate class rules. They often turn to some type of punitive retribution that may or may not bring about positive changes in student behavior. Punishment can create as many problems as it solves and may be effective at temporally stopping bad behavior but useless at creating long-term positive changes.


Rewards to increase positive behavior or enhance learning can likewise create serious and unexpected consequences. To believe  that material rewards are necessary for learning is simplistic and incorrect. 

Careless use of rewards by teachers
may discourage charitable behavior.

Most of us are raised on a reward/punishment routine by our parents, so it seems OK to apply the same techniques in class, but there are ethical and behavioral issues with both. Punishments have been briefly discussed above. As for rewards, teachers should know that rewarding expected behavior is equivalent to giving a payoff for doing things that are simply right and should not be rewarded. Charitable behavior, for example, is something we want people to internalize as "a right thing to do." It becomes an ethic, and the "reward" should not be an expectation of a prize, but a good feeling from within. 

Suggested reading for #2.

#3. Poor Evaluation Techniques. No. 1 (above) addresses the issue of grading homework, but there is a large class of student work that need not be graded. They are generally called "formative assessments" and include lots of written classwork (like worksheets) which students complete while they are learning something new. Getting students used to completing work that they know will not  be graded may seem difficult, but the solution lies in convincing them that what they do helps them learn the material for formal testing (summative assessments). That also means that teachers must plan and select class activities that actually do help students learn. 

The big bonus for teachers is that there are fewer papers to grade, since students can correct answers in class. Teachers must help students see the relationship between formative work and summative grades. Parents should be kept up to date about whether or not students are completing formative work-- not because it is graded, but because failure to complete formative assignments can result in lower grades on tests.

Many teachers record 40 or more grades per student per grading period. Some of  these grades are for non-academic work like returning important papers with parental signatures, scores for good behavior, deductions for tardiness, etc. Grades or unfortunately used as bribes, rewards, and punishments. Lots of teacher do it, but it is still wrong.
Suggested reading for #3.

#4. Poor Discipline. Often during class two or three students might continue to talk or be disruptive despite the teacher’s warnings. A common practice is to announce that if unless everyone behaves that the entire class will be punished in some way. This is equivalent to arresting everyone present in a bank even though all of the evidence makes it clear that only one person committed the crime!

Use positive discipline to develop trust  and cooperation.

The intent of this type of negative discipline is to create resentment toward the offender and turn peers against one another. Often the one or two guilty students aren't the most popular kids in school anyway, and punishing the class distances them even more from good role models who typically behave. Holding each member of a class responsible for controlling the behavior of all makes little sense. It is a Machiavellian power approach -- the ends justify the means. If it works, it is deemed "good." 

What these teachers fail to understand is that creating resentment in students is not a good idea. The teacher has made a judgement call that "bad" students deserve to be disliked by peers. Also, students correctly see this technique as unfair and are more inclined to label the teacher as unfair. 

The responsible, well-behaved students in the class may  behave better because they fear the irrational actions of the teacher, not because they respect  the teacher. Those students who cause the problem initially feel great-- they may not like others in class and have found a way to manipulate the teacher. If the resentment created is strong enough, the offending student(s) may become targets of physical violence if the mistreated students decide to take retribution.

Suggested reading for #4.

#5. Too many Notes. Notes are a pat of the learning process, especially as students get older. But teachers who depend on notes and lectures daily are making a big mistake. Some teachers learn that giving notes can help bring quiet to a noisy class by giving them something to do. I.e., students who are busy writing are not as likely to get involved in misbehavior. 

This does not mean that the students who are busily copying notes are involved in a learning activity. It means that they have something to do. It's like "doodling," and compliance in note-taking helps defeat the boredom of sitting quietly and paying attention. There is no guarantee that students will use notes to study. Indeed, they may never look at them again.

Before using notes teachers should offer tips to students about taking and using notes.

• Listen to what is said by the teacher. Be confident about listening skills.
• Writing word for word is not necessary. Key words and concepts can be studied later.
• Abbreviate liberally. Develop unique shorthand symbols.
• Don’t copy what is already known well.
• Ask questions for clarification.
• Students should organize notes in a way that they understand.
• Use highlighters to emphasize key points.
• Have a designated notebook for notes. No loose-leaf paper that ends up stuffed into a book bag.
• Review notes soon after taking them. Compare them with classmates.

There are many ways for students to take notes. Teachers should not dictate a precise method. The important thing is that the notes are meaningful and useful to the student. 

Notes have their place, but teachers who use them as the main instructional method on a daily basis run the risk of being boring and ineffective.

Suggested reading for #5. 

#6. Failure to Know and Treat Students as Individuals. One size does not fit all. Cookie-cutter teaching does not reach everyone. The expectation that all students will react identically to one method of teaching is flawed. 

Teachers need to know something of significance about each students. They need to know something of their families, their hobbies, their reading and math abilities. This does not mean  we delve into their personal lives for sordid details, but the social  grapevine in schools is fruitful and paying attention to it can provide insights into behavior and academic progress. 

Differentiate instruction when possible. With cooperative work, mix the groups frequently rather than allow the same students to work together all the time. 

If students are failing assessments due to particular deficits in basic skills, make tests that are fair to a broad group of students. Be sure vocabulary is appropriate and sentence structure is appropriate for the entire class. 

Talk with parents to gain understanding of students. No need to pry, but parents are usually anxious to share issues that might become barriers. 

Take time to engage each student in polite conversation as time allows. Make each one feel welcome and noticed. Validate their existence as persons of worth. You may be the only person to do so. 

THE HOMEWORK DILEMMA: PART 2

Homework or home torture?

The Homework Dilemma: Part 2 

My Opinion for What it’s Worth

Before continuing I am obliged to make it clear that I do not believe in the abolition of all homework. I believe that if it is well-conceived some homework can be useful. I believe in the abolition of bad homework assigned for the wrong reasons.

So how do we determine the value of homework as a teaching tool? A simple question will suffice. “How do I know it works?” That straightforward query allows us to screen new and old instructional methods. If no answer is forthcoming then professional responsibility requires that we find one.

Disagreement on Homework is Common

Teachers don’t need to be researchers. They don’t have to commit to spending hours each week involved in reading journals and searching the Internet. What is needed is healthy skepticism about teaching methods that prods them to ask the question above.

Regrettably, many teachers believe that more homework is the answer to improving learning and pile it on. Some of these teachers have observed that students who do homework make better grades than those who don’t, but drawing a conclusion from that observation is not justified.

There is also the personal factor that is exemplified by teachers feeling that students have disobeyed by not completing an assignment. Kids are supposed to do as they are told, so not doing homework gets personal. The result is often a zero which makes some teachers feel better but does little to improve learning. Finally, there is a prevailing belief that many students will not complete homework unless it is graded. That is because we have taught many students that grades are more important that knowledge. This is the result of overemphasizing grades to the exclusion of learning.

These problems are entrenched, and I won’t attempt to try to solve them here. Part of the problem is the overuse of rewards and awards doled out for grades. In the U.S. we have come to believe in the power of the reward. Albert Einstein was no dummy. He said, “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” I agree with Albert.

Real Problems with Homework?

Likely the most common error teachers make regarding homework is grading it. Homework is a formative assessment. Formative assessments are those non-graded activities that students do while they learn something new. If we believe — as experts generally do — you don’t test what you haven’t taught, then we use homework for diagnosis and practice.

“If I don’t grade it they won’t do it!” Well, perhaps not, but if teachers spent more time convincing students that homework has value as a learning tool by making sure that homework addresses standards and therefore will appear on test and quizzes, then the real value of homework will be more clearly established, and the homework is graded when the test is graded.

OK, are you sitting down? Many students can and do copy homework. That single fact renders homework as invalid for grading. Related to copying is the fact that some parents help and some don’t. And as long as I’m talking about parents — please remain seated — some parents just aren’t very good at parenting. Some don’t frankly care whether or not Junior does his work. Knowing this, why punish Junior?

Aside from mom and dad, other factors can make home an unsuitable place for homework. Love and concern may be present, but the home can be collapsing under the weight of dad’s recent arrest, Uncle Bubba’s visits while under the influence, mom’s job loss, etc. Dysfunctional homes are all too common.

Thankfully most homes function well, but homework is often boring. I know it’s true; some of my brightest students told me early on that homework was boring. How dare they! I never promised them a rose garden! Time for zeros! The problem is that negative grades don’t motivate students who aren’t motivated by grades, and they are the ones that are most likely to not do homework. That’s why so many students accumulate strings of zeros. It doesn’t matter! If teachers are interested in motivation, try — really try — to give interesting homework.

Homework should never be assigned as punishment. When my son was in high school he brought home an F for algebra on his first interim. He had an A average on tests and quizzes. His teacher told me that she thought a failing grading was proper punishment and would motivate him to work harder. Duh!

My son’s aversion to homework was born out of his need for down-time. How selfish! Don’t ruin weekends and holidays with homework. Students need and deserve time with friends and family. If you mess up parents’ time they won’t like you either. Remember that other teachers are assigning homework. One of my granddaughters is in the fourth grade. Two weeks ago she called my wife — a former math teacher — for help with a math problems. My wife asked me for help! After missing a new episode of House, we finished, and my granddaughter went to bed with social studies homework not yet done!

In using homework, apply compassion, be empathetic, and don’t let it get personal. A caring, kind, and congenial teacher will affect grades positively more than all the homework ever assigned. There are times when homework is needed, but have specific occasions for assigning it.

Of course you may choose to agree or disagree with the above. You can do all of that homework checking and recording homework grades and calling parents, etc.

But, “How do you know it works?”

Dysfunctional families interfere with homework completion.

 

How to Construct Better Tests: an Example

What is Wrong with this Question?

The following question violates three rules for writing good multiple choice questions. What are they?

Which one of the following is not true?

A.  Mass is weight.

B.  Inertia is a resistance of mass to change speed or direction.

C.  Limestone is a type of sedimentary rock and is formed from materials settling to the    

      deposition of material at or near the Earth's surface.

D.  Velocity is speed is a given direction.

Answers below.

Tests are enough of a challenge without
students having to maneuver through
poorly written questions.

1. Choices should be of approximately equal length.

2. Negative questions are not recommended.

3. The choices should related to the same topic (C. relates to earth science, the others 

    relate to physics).

(BTW: the correct answer is A.)

The Homework Dilemma: Part 1 

My Opinion for What it’s Worth

Teachers give homework — it’s part of what they do. I gave it when I was a teacher back when the earth was still cooling. Eventually I gave very little homework — mostly to encourage studying before tests, but sometimes not even then. Homework didn’t seem to work in the best interest of my students, and I thought I was using it incorrectly — based on what I now know, I was.

I stopped grading homework long ago. After all, it results in lots of zeroes and my students didn’t need those. Really, if an assessment is consistently producing zeroes, shouldn’t teachers wonder what about its usefulness? In those days we didn’t talk about formative and summative assessments. Assigned work was about grades.

I know it is popular to assume that students are being irresponsible when homework is not done, but teachers are supposed to be able to find what works. We are not supposed to call the student irresponsible, stupid, bad, lazy, etc. and move on — we find a way, not a way out. Sometimes we fail and the student fails, but we must commit ourselves to get better and adopt better methods rather than apply the “same old, same old” and expect students to adapt to us. Teachers are the experts — or should be — where teaching methods are concerned.

I never saw any real evidence that it made students more responsible, although some teachers continue to claim it is so. Research on homework is inconclusive. There certainly are no landmark studies that show unequivocally that homework is essential to teaching and learning, although there is some pretty good evidence that it is of little or no value for elementary students. There seems to be some benefit for high school students from homework, but it’s limited.

Let me be clear— I didn’t just ride into town on a turnip truck. I know the language of research. I understand correlation, meta-analysis, and z-scores. I have read the works of Harris Cooper, Robert Marzano, Thomas Guskey, and many others. I have a well-founded professional opinion on homework and I have a personal one.

What do the Polls Say about Homework?

Although parents often hold opinions on education that don’t necessarily reflect best practice, their opinions must be respected simply because schools educate their children. Regrettably, a clear understanding of what parents think about homework is hard to ascertain. My experience as a teacher and administrator has convinced me that parents generally support, or at least accept, various instructional methods — especially those applied the schools their children attend.

Surveys and polls produce a bewildering variation in results. A mumsnet.com survey from October 2008 had a reasonable sample of 1,036 respondents to the question “Are you happy with the amount of homework your child is required to complete?” Fifty-six percent responded, “Yes it's just about right,” while 27% said, “No they get too much.”

Mumsnet is a site for parents, and surveys offered by websites are generally not conducted with scientific controls for validity, but provide information of interest to a specific group at a specific time.

On the other hand, smartgirls, a website that attracts a wide age-range of young females conducted a survey concerning a number of school issues. The poll is over a decade old, but of the 484 respondents, 274 — about 57% — responded that they had too much homework. Interestingly, about 27% admitted to cheating on homework at least “sometimes.”

A November 18, 2011, Timeforkids poll was in close agreement with Smartgirls, with 57% claiming too much homework. Again, there are no controls to assure reliability.

Harrisinteractive displays the results from a poll from March 2008 that seems to have some scientific controls, although an exact description of the polling process is not described. The results show that 60% of the parents and 81% of the teachers agreed that the amount of homework given was “about right.” There is also close agreement on the “importance of doing homework.” Fifty-six percent of parents said doing homework is “very important,” compared with 50% of teachers.

Polls don’t give us much information about homework. They lack validity and depth.

The most important issues about homework concerns how educators apply what they know — or should know — about teaching and learning.

That will be the topic for Part Two.

Why Give Pop Quizzes as Part of Instruction

Upon what principal of learning or instruction are pop-quizzes based? There is one generally accepted teaching tenet that discourages testing what has not been taught, and pop-quizzes can easily violate that practice.

There is no one type of pop-quiz, and that makes research on the effectiveness difficult. The most common characteristic is the unannounced nature of the examination. There is good reason for teachers to justify the use of pop-quizzes or any type of instruction. If the justification is based on the popularity of the method among other teachers or to merely keep students on their toes, it’s probably time to look for additional justification.

In teaching, as in life generally, knowing whether or not a particular action “works” is important. If pop-quizzes, or any other assessment is given for punitive reasons, that’s not a valid basis for its use. The main problem with pop-quizzes as an assessment is that students may not have studied. Is it reasonable to expect all students to maintain a state of readiness for being assessed at any time in all classes, for it might well be the case that a student has several teachers who give unannounced quizzes? 

Don't test what you haven't taught!

Teachers ethically do not have a right to assess topics that have not been taught. Pop quizzes can easily violate this principle if the idea is to simply encourage students to study. Assessment dates should be given far enough in advance to allow students time to prepare. In middle school and beyond teachers know less and less about student schedules outside the class they teach. It may well be that they are overloaded on a particular day that some students are not prepared for a pop quiz due to a variety of academic and personal reasons. Offer a chance for review before assessment, 

Pop-quizzes are examples of one of the many things teachers do because they can. That students be always prepared to be assessed is simply not realistic. Few adults involved in college classes meet such a lofty expectation. Why is it fair for students in public school?

Not all students have resources for
homework at home. Some parents
can help, some can't or won't

The Homework Dilemma: Part 1

My Opinion for What it’s Worth

Teachers give homework — it’s part of what they do. I gave it when I was a teacher back when the earth was still cooling.  Eventually I gave very little homework — mostly to encourage studying before tests, but sometimes not even then. Homework didn’t seem to work in the best interest of my students, and I thought I was using it incorrectly — based on what I now know, I was.

I stopped grading homework long ago. After all, it results in lots of zeroes and my students didn’t need those. Really, if an assessment is consistently producing zeroes, shouldn’t teachers wonder what about its usefulness? In those days we didn’t talk about formative and summative assessments. Assigned work was about grades.

I know it is popular to assume that students are being irresponsible when homework is not done, but teachers are supposed to be able to find what works. We are not supposed to call the student irresponsible, stupid, bad, lazy, etc. and move on — we find a way, not a way out. Sometimes we fail and the student fails, but we must commit ourselves to get better and adopt better methods rather than apply the “same old, same old” and expect students to adapt to us. Teachers are the experts — or should be — where teaching methods are concerned.  

I never saw any real evidence that it made students more responsible, although some teachers continue to claim it is so. Research on homework is inconclusive. There certainly are no landmark studies that show unequivocally that homework is essential to teaching and learning, although there is some pretty good evidence that it is of little or no value for elementary students. There seems to be some benefit for high school students from homework, but it’s limited.

Let me be clear— I didn’t just ride into town on a turnip truck. I know the language of research. I understand correlation, meta-analysis, and z-scores. I have read the works of Harris Cooper, Robert Marzano, Thomas Guskey, and many others. I have a well-founded professional opinion on homework and I have a personal one.

What do the Polls Say about Homework?

Although parents often hold opinions on education that don’t necessarily reflect best practice, their opinions must be respected simply because schools educate their children. Regrettably, a clear understanding of what parents think about homework is hard to ascertain. My experience as a teacher and administrator has convinced me that parents generally support, or at least accept, various instructional methods — especially those applied the schools their children attend.

Surveys and polls produce a bewildering variation in results. They are not typically representative of scientifically conducted surveys.

 A mumsnet.com survey from October 2008 had a reasonable sample of 1,036 respondents to the question “Are you happy with the amount of homework your child is required to complete?” Fifty-six percent responded, “Yes it's just about right,” while 27% said, “No they get too much.”

Mumsnet is a site for parents, and surveys offered by websites are generally not conducted with scientific controls for validity, but provide information of interest to a specific group at a specific time.

On the other hand, smartgirls,  a website that attracts a wide age-range of young females conducted a survey concerning  a number of school issues. The poll is over a decade old, but of the 484 respondents, 274 — about 57% — responded that they had too much homework. Interestingly, about 27% admitted to cheating on homework at least “sometimes.”

A November 18, 2011, Timeforkids poll was in close agreement with Smartgirls, with 57% claiming too much homework. Again, there are no controls to assure reliability.

Harrisinteractive displays the results from a poll from March 2008 that seems to have some scientific controls, although an exact description of the polling process is not described. The results show that 60% of the parents and 81% of the teachers agreed that the amount of homework given was “about right.” There is also close agreement on the “importance of doing homework.” Fifty-six percent of parents said doing homework is “very important,” compared with 50% of teachers.

The most important issues about homework concerns how educators apply what they know — or should know — about teaching and learning.

That will be the topic for Part Two.

Homework shouldn't interfere with
family activities.