There’s a lot of advice out there for teachers. Some people think they know how to be a good teacher, but in reality, most don’t have any clue what it takes. Teaching is an art form that requires patience and understanding. It can’t be taught with words on paper or from behind a desk. In order to become a better teacher, one must first admit that they’re not perfect and then work their way up from there.
The 17 Things You Should Not Do to Your Students
There are a lot of things you should never do to students. Here’s a list of the top 17:
1) Don’t “call out” or publicly humiliate anyone in front of their peers for any reason. This is especially true if the person being humiliated has special needs and is already struggling with self-esteem issues.
2) Don’t give someone a zero for an assignment and then expect anything productive to come out of that student in your class.
3) Don’t ask students to never challenge you or offer criticism, because if they do, they’ll think everything is fine when it’s not.
4) Don’t neglect to teach students how to deal with being bullied. It’s not just a problem for them, but adults too!
5) Don’t punish students for sharing their personal lives in class. In fact, you should be encouraging it!
6) Don’t make up your mind about a student before getting to know him or her personally. Everyone deserves a chance.
7) Don’t forget that not everyone can learn the same way, and as such you should always provide alternate methods of learning for those who need them.
8) Don’t use sarcasm or humor to teach, because that may confuse your students and leave them unable to learn from it. Be straight-up and straightforward.
9) Don’t assume you have to work with a certain type of student because that will limit your options and lower your creativity.
10) Don’t be a robot! You’re not just a teacher–you’re a human being with feelings and emotions so know when to use them…and when to let them go.
11) Avoid using language that belittles people – words like “stupid,” “idiot,” or anything else that demeans an individual.
12) Never make threats or bribes.
13) Don’t ignore students–if someone’s behaving inappropriately, you need to step up and fix it…even if it’s your least favorite student who only shows up for the first period of the day!
14) Never use guilt as a way to convince someone to do something.
15) Remember that every student comes from a different background, and there’s no way you can know the significance of something until you’ve walked a mile (or several) in their shoes.
16) Don’t punish students for speaking out–if they’re telling you that something is wrong or something has gone missing, then listen to them!
17) Remember that every student deserves to be treated with respect from day one, and you can’t let yourself think of them as anything less.
Things To Do To Your Students Instead
There are many things you shouldn’t do for your students, so here is a list of things you should do instead.
1. Don’t tell them they’re wrong, tell them how they can be right
It’s important that nobody feels stupid when learning new things or trying to improve their knowledge. Nobody likes being told off for doing something wrong, but if you can teach your students how to improve then they will understand that the mistake was a small one and that as long as they learn from it, there’s nothing to worry about.
2. Don’t ignore them, engage them
In order for a student to become engaged in what they’re learning, they need an attention span. If you can grab their attention, then they will be able to focus on the task at hand, rather than other distractions like their phone or what’s happening across the classroom.
3. Don’t punish them, reward them
Giving punishments won’t teach your students anything except that if they don’t listen in class then there are negative consequences. On the other hand, if you reward them with praise and treats when they do something well, then they will be more willing to try again.
4. Don’t push them too quickly, give them time
As a teacher, you need to prepare your lessons as carefully as possible so that your students know what is expected of them and how it relates to the real world. That way, when you’re teaching them about your topic, they will already understand some of what you’re saying, and it’ll be easier for them to learn.
5. Don’t take their mistakes personally, improve yourself
When a student does something wrong in your class, don’t blame it on them, look at how you can improve your own performance. If you can improve, then so can they!
6. Don’t leave them confused, familiarize yourself with the syllabus
If you know nothing about what you’re trying to teach them, it will be very difficult for your students to learn anything at all because they won’t understand any of it. Make sure that you familiarize yourself with the syllabus and that you’re confident in what you’re teaching.
7. Don’t punish them for not understanding, guide them carefully until they do
If a student doesn’t understand something, it’s very easy for teachers to make assumptions about why they are struggling. However, if you can ask questions to try and help them with their problem, then you can both figure out what the issue is.
8. Don’t let them get distracted, teach them how to concentrate
As a teacher, it’s your responsibility to make sure that your students are focused on what they’re doing in class. If you teach them how to concentrate, then they will be able to learn more effectively and find it easier to learn information in the future.
9. Don’t just teach them about their weaknesses, improve upon them too
If a student is weak in a certain area, then that doesn’t mean that they’re stupid or incapable of learning it, they just need more time and support in order to get there. If you can help them improve, then it’ll be much easier for them in the long run.
10. Don’t just tell them when they’re wrong, tell them why they’re wrong
If you can teach your students what they’ve done right, then it shows that you are observing their work and taking an interest in their learning process. If they know what is expected of them, then it’ll be much easier for them to improve in the future.
11. Treat Them Like Humans Not Idiots
As a teacher, it is your responsibility to guide your students and help them improve. Your goal as a teacher is to teach the student all they need to know for life outside of school. In order to achieve this, you should try treating your students like human beings instead of idiots.
That’s it! Hopefully from these pointers, you can see how important it is that you engage your students and encourage them to learn new things, rather than just giving them a hard time when they get something wrong. Remember, if they don’t understand what you’re teaching them then it’s not their fault, and it’s down to you as their teacher to rectify that!
Final Thoughts
Educators are more than just teachers; they’re parents, friends, and mentors. If you want to be the best teacher possible, then you must engage with your students instead of ignoring them or punishing them for not understanding what you’re teaching. The tips we’ve provided should help get you started on how to do this, but if all of this seems too difficult, contact us today. We can provide a team of experts who will work with you on creating an educational plan that helps improve your student’s abilities in both their strengths and weaknesses, while engaging them at every step along the way, so they never feel like learning is hard again! Read more of our articles here.
