8 Things Teachers Should not do!

Picture Credit:  Beermann Law

Whenever one enters a profession, they do so with a feeling that they want to learn everything in the shortest possible  period of time. With Google and the ‘How To-’ lists which are available in loads, a person first thinks of doing all the relevant things which would help him her to progress quickly in life earning rewards and awards during the process.

Kindly note that research suggests that success does not happen overnight. The minimum period of working and struggling given by experts and researchers is five years. Not a minute less though this time frame can be extended and can go on for a period of ten years or even more when you can say that you have achieved some success.

All the colleagues and friends simply focus on telling you all the things that you should be doing since you have decided to start working. Your to-do-list also comprises of things to be done every single day.

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do!”-Michael Porter

Read the above quote. It clearly states that if you are planning to walk up the ladder quickly, then you have to choose what not to do also at the same time. Committing too many errors would make you step back every time that you try to move forward.

I did not enter this profession as a choice. So in the beginning I rebelled against everything that I was told to do. I found faults in the working of my colleagues. I was also cynical to many as I came to know later from some of them. Complacence also settled in me somewhere and stopped me from working.

Gradually some instances happened and my interest in my profession started evolving.

As I recollect my journey, I feel most educators do not take the following into account when they join the profession. Or sometimes when the workload is more they tend to overlook these aspects.

Anger and insecurity will make you react in the below mentioned ways. Try to control both these feelings on your professional front. If you are mindful of these two fallible human traits, you will go a long way and that too sooner not later.

So here goes my list of Not-To-Do-Things!

1 Don’t be Scared of any Child!

Too many teachers make this mistake if the level of confidence is low in a teacher. Children are smart. They can sense and feel the insecurity among the teachers and they react in various ways. Either they will misbehave with the educator, or shout in the class, or keep talking when told not to, or back answer,etc.

The solution here is to stay calm, control your anger and spread a smile which looks genuine on your face.

Of course this is the outer facade that can be used as a shield until you take total control of the situation.

The real trick is to understand the psychology of the child. Find out what has disturbed the child or try to touch the child’s heart by responding with love or fulfilling his need for insecurity or any other issue that the child might be facing.

Take up an activity which the child might be interested in or shower praise upon the child. Maintaining eye contact for a long period of time in the classroom also helps.

If nothing works then counselling the child will definitely will. You can also ask a colleague to talk to the child and try to find out the problem.  The idea is to not get bogged down by the attitude of the child but to try and find out a way.

You don’t have to show the child that you are the boss. Try to walk hand in hand with the child.

There are three easy ways to develop a Teacher-Child-Relationship-

a.  Pay attention to the child’s needs.

b.  Develop a positive relationship based on praise, rewards and conversation.

c.   Do not detach the strings of EMPATHY.

2 Don’t Procrastinate!

Work gets piled up when it is delayed. So do not PROCRASTINATE.  Keep completing the work as it comes. Adopt creative techniques to keep yourself passionate at work.

Set challenges for yourself and accomplish them before the set deadline.

Encourage yourself and self motivate to do what you have decided. Draw inspiration from a source which pulls out the laziness syndrome from your body.

Think, Plan, Act-Don’t waste away your time.

3 Don’t Criticise Another Teacher in Front of a Parent or a Child!

This happens in a frenzy. Sometimes you are trying to deal with a class in your own ways but the response has not been positive. No matter what you do, you are held back every time due to one or the other tasks which do not go as planned.

You are putting in sincere efforts but results are unsatisfactory.

So the educator is called to the Principal’s Office, explanations sought, etc. etc. During such a time the educators seek an escape route and generally it seems pretty good to defame another person to gain superiority. Blame game is not a wise thing to do.

Remember here that if you want to grow in your life, never pull anyone down, push yourself up.

Criticising a colleague in front of the parents will bring a negative impact on your personality. Avoid! Never do it! In fact you must be there to support a fellow teacher if something has gone wrong.

4 Don’t refuse to take a good idea to class!

I have stated this earlier also that excessive learning results in over thinking. This leads to less or no action. So read or browse the internet for a short period of time. If you come across a good idea, write it down and take it to class either the next day or whenever you wish to.

Do not let that idea go waste. If you spot a good idea being used by one of your colleagues, appreciate the person, use the idea and remember to thank the person from whom you had borrowed the idea.

This leaves a mark of mutual respect for one another.

Plagiarism is a punishable offence online and brings irony and disrespect offline.

So take care!

5 Don’t be immersed in work all the time!

Work can be bogging. Some educators are in the habit of completing their work way ahead of the time. They just want to finish off their work.

This keeps them busy all the time and results in over work. At times quality of work suffers here. So divide the time of work and ease at the workplace. It is alright to just sit and look out of the staffroom window sometimes. Take a break of five to ten minutes, calm yourself down and then start working again.

6 Don’t Clutter your workstation!

Keep clutter away from the workstation. Organise your desk. It sends out positive vibes. A properly arranged workstation will attract you towards work.

A neat and clean workstation shows your approach towards your work. So mind it and let it portray an organised picture of yourself.

7 Don’t read circulars or instructions in a Hurry!

On certain days there are too many circulars which come from the various administrative heads. In a hurry to sign, the educators do not read them carefully and hence there are problems in comprehending the circular and remembering the submission dates.

Also if an educator thinks that the circular has something which was predictable, they do not read the instructions carefully.

This results in too many misunderstandings leading to various explanations or written memos from the administrators to the teachers.

So do not read the circulars in a hurry. Take your time to read the circular, note down the points if required and then on the second level discuss the same with other colleagues. This ensures that everyone has understood the instructions properly and is working on the same lines.

8 Don’t wait for a deadline to submit your work!

Certain things like examination dates or Parent teacher meetings are fixed and have a particular set pattern of working. So there are certain things which are mandatory to be done. They are already in the system. Keeping in mind the academic calendar of the school, be prepared with what might be asked. Try to submit everything before the deadline.

This reduces stress on yourself. Time management tips will come effective here.

Most teachers just take it as a cumbersome task to submit work before deadline. They want to take it as granted and submit the work only after several reminders.

This shows and proves that they are less efficient. Because one cannot fail the deadline every time. If it is once it can be understood and no one would take an offence.

But if you repeat it again and again then you are bound to face the consequences.

Final Word-

Put a strategy in place for your work. And this strategy must include the things you should not do when you enter the field of education.