10 Mistakes Every New Teacher Makes

It’s that time of the year again: school is starting. Children are returning from the slumber of summertime, and a new wave of teachers are making it out to the battlefield. They will train young minds, form lifelong friendships and cry until their eyes bleed.

Yes, teaching is cutthroat. Between the salary and the challenges of dealing with teenagers, as many as 90% of new positions are a result of teachers leaving. And as teachers leave, we ask ourselves what we could have done to have them stay?

Well, the first thing is people probably leave because the job is torturous on some days. And, a lot of times, that’s because of mistakes that no one warned teachers about. So, to prepare you all, here are 10 mistakes every new teacher makes.

1. Trying to be the “cool” teacher

Don’t. I repeat: don’t try to be the “cool teacher” that doesn’t fail kids, doesn’t send them to the dean, or raps Cardi B. You don’t do students any favors by keeping low behavioral or academic expectations. No one is saying you need to be a taskmaster. But if you are “chill” like one of those college professors that wore flower shirts, played a flute, taught poetry under the maple leafs and just gave everyone A’s for showing up to the final, your classroom environment will snap. And if you’re faking knowledge about subjects they are passionate about, they’ll know.

2. Trying to be a dictator

The opposite of the cool teacher is the negative controller. Students need authority, but in the form of a leader, not a tyrant. If you’re sending kids to the dean for the smallest indiscretions, always yelling at students, and threatening them with failure, that classroom environment is going to deteriorate fast. Kids need someone they can trust. And while you can’t be a pushover, you also should not be a bully that instills fear. Because the second you tell a student, “do this or you’re failing/going to the dean,” that thing is never getting done.

3. Planning too little

There’s some who go into teaching thinking it’s a good excuse to be lazy and get out at 3PM (ha!). They also decide that they don’t really need lesson plans because they were such good speakers in Communication 101. WRONG! Planning for a classroom involves so much more than just standing there and speaking; if you don’t have a plan for timing, activities the students will do, how you will model, how students will participate, how they will be assessed, etc. — you will get burnt.

4. Planning too much

Now, some people take that in the opposite direction and start planning too much. Don’t do that. For any given plan, spend no more than 20 minutes creating it. Beyond that, you’re burning yourself out even before you teach, and you need energy for the room. Find another teacher, ask your mentor, look online at resources like EngageNY — there is no shame in copying lesson plans. There is, however, shame in tiring out so badly that you are too burnt to do your job.

5. Isolating yourself from your bosses

Some people think they’ll get in trouble if they go to the principal too much. And you definitely don’t want to do it all the time. But, if there is a problem you can’t handle, let your bosses know. The observation should not be the first time they know you’re struggling, because they can then ask (fairly), why you didn’t ask for help. And in cases like where a student has shown signs that he might hurt himself or be a victim of foul play at home, don’t even wait. Go to the counselor, the principal, the AP, the dean, and all authorities immediately. In some cases, it is better to be very, very safe than to be very, very sorry.

6. Running to the bosses all the time.

Now, you’ve probably guessed it: the opposite is also true. Asking for help does not mean you turn to the bosses all the time. They hired you for the job; you have to be the first and last line of supervision for those kids. If a kid misbehaves, there is a ladder of referral a mile long before you get to the dean. There are parents, there are counselors, other teachers the student does well with, etc. Ignoring all that and going to the authorities not only ignores your duties, it also lets the kid know that you can’t handle him.

7. Only calling home for bad stuff

Some teachers think calling home will create a miracle. It won’t. Sometimes, parents are just as clueless about what to do with the kid. Sometimes, they think the kid is an angel when he is more a demon in your class. Either way, a parent never wants to hear only the bad their kid is doing. If they’re doing good, make those phone calls as well. It keeps you credible and it lets the student know that aren’t just watching when he does badly.

8. Being too harsh on grading

You have already graduated from college; they did not. If their abilities are well below level, you need to see where they began and grade them as much on PROGRESS as on actual results. So if you get a kid who started the year with 30s and is now into the 60s, that kid deserves more than a 55 on the report card.

9. Being too easy on the grading.

So you calmed the kids down. They behave and you want to reward them. Buy them pizza at a class party. Don’t make the mistake of rewarding good behavior with good grades. If you’re giving a kid 90s and he gets a 30 on the state exam, that’s a discrepancy you’re going to have to explain to your boss. You’re truly failing the kid if you don’t let him know where he needs to improve.

10. Taking work home

This is a big one. If you take work home all the time, you’re not acing that “Work-Home Balance,” chief. And in this job, that’s as important as anything. You will be tired at the end of the school day. So if you take work home and don’t let that be the end of your work day, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Try to get your grading, planning and other responsibilities done in your preps and, at best, an hour or so after school by staying late. Any more than that, and you’re just going to be miserable and quit within a few years (if you last that long).


So that’s the 10 big traps to avoid. And when you can avoid these 10 mistakes every first year makes, you only have about 900 more to worry about. But at least these you can handle; the others, well, you take them as you go.

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Abdul Rehman Siddiqui

Written by

I write about games, dramas & comics that represent marginalized people. Doctoral student in Edu & HS teacher. Words: Dramafever, Mic, ESPN.

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