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Message board > TEACHERS ´ EXCUSES
TEACHERS ´ EXCUSES
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anitarobi
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TEACHERS ´ EXCUSES
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Dear all!
I was wondering what you do when you find yourself in that rare, but unpleasant situation when your students catch you off guard, i. e. when they notice you made a spelling mistake, or when they ask you something you can ´t think of that very second, or when you realize you made a mistake while counting the points on their exams, or when you come home from a very loooooooong day and realize you gave them the wrong explanation for a word (by mistake, naturally)... What do you do when they call you up on it? Do you apologize, admit and fix it? Do you ignore their comments....? Pls, pls, do share - I think it would be quite interesting to see how we all manage... I mean, nobody ´s infallible, but teachers are not expected to make mistakes, right? And still - we ´re only human.  Wishing you all an interesting weekend!
Anita |
21 May 2011
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aboabed3
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Hi If I make a mistake, I usually apologize and tell that I ´m not perfect. Also, I ask them not to be afraid of making mistakes because we are learning. Those who don ´t make mistakes are the ones who don ´t work. |
21 May 2011
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teresapr
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Hi, Anita!Interesting topic for discussion. When that happens to me I do all that,I admit I made a mistake,fix everything, apologize and remind students that teachers also make mistakes and are no encyclopedias or sophisticated computers! Wish you a nice wekend! |
21 May 2011
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maryse peyé
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Hi Anita,
I completely agree with Teresa and Abdullah. When I make a mistake I recognize it and apologize of course. I correct the mistake and go on. Of course it depends on how the student expresses his remark.
But I must confess I have a funny and efficient astuteness as soon as my very 1st lesson (well it may be easier for me as I only teach private lessons) : I tell that, as I am only a human AND a teacher I may make mistake from time to time but some will be intentional... just to see if the studied point is understood... the student often laughs when seeing my funny expression ; and as I am hardly angry and always try to make the student understand that he can learn, even if he is wrong in his answer, we are sharing knowledge with a great mutual respect. I always point out the positive answers, and only explain what is wrong. That way the student does not feel guilty if he is wrong and it is easier for me to admit I am wrong... And the student becomes much more volunteer in learning !
and it works !
Have a good Sunday everyone !
Maryse. |
21 May 2011
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carinita
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Good topic...Students are smart :) Smarter than teachers perhaps...
A student told me before I delivered an exam last week that I could not give a test on verb to be when I hadn ´t explained the topic. Well, I had not explained the topic because the students had delt with it the previous year.
Anyway, I made a quick a revision with the whole class and they practiced completing sentences with the three forms (am is are) After that, I ask the st. if it was ok for her then...and she said Yes.
Humbleness is key in teachers but not all teachers are humble.
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21 May 2011
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franknbea
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I absolutely, positively, adamantly refuse to believe that you are only human what I usually do(it does happen on occasion) is try and make a joke of it, depending on the students age is how saucy the joke will be. |
21 May 2011
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maryse peyé
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good job Frank ! Students love humor ! I admit I cannot teach without using it. It greatly helps ! |
21 May 2011
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Mar0919
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Hi, all! Interesting topic, because usually we only complain about the student ´s excuses, but like all humans  we too make mistakes. Well, my students all know I work 2 shifts, and I ´m always running, so when they spot a mistake in a worksheet, for example, and they point it out, I say... oops! you can tell how tired I was when I was preparing it, can ´t you? And they laugh. Or when they ask me the meaning of something and it ´s one of those times, when you have the word at the tip of you tongue but in that precise moment you don ´t remember, I just say mmmmmmm..... mmmmmmmmm...... mmmmmmm..... and the ss can tell I ´m really trying to remember, I just say, aw shucks! it ´s my German friend again, (Alzheimer) he ´s tied my tongue again! But I promise tomorrow I ´ll tell you the answer! next day I call the ss, come on, hurry, let me tell you the answer before my friend shows up! They get a laugh out of that. Or when.... LOL ....!!! this was funny...... since I have TONS of worksheets saved in my computer, here I am looking at the topic I had for the next day, and I look through all my files, pick the worksheet I think is best to work with that topic, photo copy it, la, la, la.... I ´m all set, next day, I explain the topic, give out the worksheet, and a ss says..... um.... teacher, you already gave us that worksheet LAST YEAR! LOL!!! And here ´s my hamster working full speed, and I said, of course it ´s the same one, don ´t you remember how many mistakes all you had last year, as everybody had not understood the structures correctly? So, this is a "review" about this topic. (I must say that in our text books, we do see topics that were seen in 1st, and 2nd grade, and in 3rd, it ´s reviewed briefly again) So, I had the perfect excuse! But, when these situations happen, I just accept it, apologise and correct the mistake. I ´ve taught them, or tried to, that EVERYBODY makes mistakes, as NO ONE is perfect, and not to be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes help us learn. |
21 May 2011
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MarionG
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same here...I apologize profusely and/or joke about it and use it as an opportunity to explain that one is alowed to make mistakes.
I remember my very first lesson..the very first time I stood before a class of 6th graders (I have no training to be a teacher - I studied law - and English isn ´t my mother tongue). I gave the kids a list of questions about themselves. One question was: "Do you have any pets?" The first kid to ask me a question in my teaching career asked me "How do you spell guinea pig?"
I completely blanked out!! I couldn ´t have answered that to save my life. I simply said to the kid: "Kill the guinea pig, get a cat C-A-T"
(of course I checked the spelling and wrote it out for the student the next lesson  ) The student might but I will never forget how to spell it! |
21 May 2011
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