1. Content comes first

How often do teachers ignore their students’ ideas, choices, suggestions, etc., in class to focus on their content? How often do they do so to cover the curriculum and teach for exams?

We do believe in the power of student-centred learning in letting students speak, reflect, make choices and share what they have learned. But, because of time and our fear of getting behind, we rush to teach that content and we let all those learning opportunities go.

It is true that personalizing instruction and giving students some control over their learning is time-consuming and requires further planning, but it pays off. It CAN develop your students’ potential and make them more motivated to learn.

So, we should not ignore such practices all the time. Because if we do so, this will become a habit over time. We get used to prioritising content at the expense of having more time for students; to get involved in their learning. Not because of time pressure and exams, but because we feel more comfortable holding control of things.

2. Talking a lot

Most teachers talk too much in the classroom. They want to explain things well, help energize others, enjoy communicating what they know, etc. Regardless of the reasons, teachers should bring down their TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and encourage their students to talk more.

Research has found that the more opportunity a student has to talk about his ideas- to practise them and be involved in thinking about them- the more impact those ideas have upon him.

So, we should focus on the quality of our talk and find appropriate forms of teacher talk to make it more effective, stimulating, and interesting. To do so, here is a blog post that can help: 4 Ways to reduce Teacher Talking Time.

3. Making assumptions

Making assumptions is part of human nature. We are expecting things daily. The same is true in teaching. We make assumptions about our students, their potential and attitudes, about their parents, other colleagues, and ourselves.

The kind of assumptions we make are based on our beliefs or conceptions of things. Our assumptions define our attitudes, our feelings, and our identity as teachers.

We may not realize this, but our assumptions can be detrimental to students’ learning, our growth as teachers, and our relationships with others.

For instance, instead of interpreting your student’s behaviour as offensive try to understand why he is behaving in that way. Talk to him and get to know the real reason.

Do not assume that your students already know about a given concept simply because they learned it before. Instead, check out their prior knowledge before you go through your lesson and raise their confusion.

If your student’s parents don’t come to school to talk to you, this doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care about their child. You don’t know about their circumstances. So, it’s better to be compassionate and understanding and to interact positively with others without being judgemental.

Teachers’ assumptions can also impede their growth. If they believe they know enough because they are qualified or have years of experience, they are likely not to learn on the go. So, they can’t update their knowledge and skills and innovate in teaching.

Other teachers may feel discouraged to learn and improve when they compare themselves with others and believe that they can never make it through all the bumps in teaching.

So, avoid making assumptions. This is a bad teaching habit.

In teaching, we should never assume things; you will get frustrated as the unexpected is always there. So, let your beliefs apart and seek evidence and facts to understand things better. Then, call upon your knowledge and skills to sort out issues.

4. Asking “Have you understood?”

Another bad teaching habit is asking students whether they have understood the lesson/concept under question. Understanding is key to developing students’ knowledge and skills in all subject matters. It is thus the basis for any learning achievement.

However, as educators, we should also recognize that students’ understanding is a complex process that varies in degree from one student to another. There are students with a high level of aptitude. They understand from the first instant. Whereas others need more explanation and practice to get things.

Needless to say, there are also those students who struggle with attention. As their minds are wandering, they may not even know what those lessons are about.

To this end, asking one simple question: “Have you understood?” in the middle or end of the lesson wouldn’t suffice to check for students’ understanding.

Lessons understanding cannot be measured by simply getting yes or no answers from our students.

So, no need to raise such a question in your classes. This is not going to reflect how much learning your students have retained. There are more efficient ways to check for their understanding of the lesson. You can read about these in this post: 10 Ways to Check For Students’ Understanding

5. Focusing on evaluative feedback

Teacher feedback is meant to help a student learn by providing information about his current achievement (where am I), any existing learning gap (what do I need to do to achieve my goal), and appropriate ways to close that gap (how can I close the gap ?). So, our feedback must be descriptive, instead of evaluative.

When teachers focus more on marks, grades, percentages, etc, they are judging the student’s work and allowing for comparison to others. This type of feedback doesn’t convey the information and guidance that students can use to improve. So, it can impact negatively their learning and motivation.

This doesn’t mean we should praise students a lot to create a positive climate for learning. Praise needs to be realistic, targets the students’ effort or the work’s characteristics, not the students.

So, to support students to learn from our feedback we shouldn’t focus just on marks or grades but also provide descriptive feedback while assessing them formatively.

6. Not seeking others’ help

Teaching is extremely difficult and draining. But, how often do teachers seek each other’s help to overcome the different challenges they face and learn?

Teachers often pretend that everything is going right while they are feeling stuck and overwhelmed.

Regardless of how much experience we have in teaching, we need to learn more to reach our educational goals. Because students’ learning needs are changing, the world of work is evolving, so new skills are required.

So, asking for a colleague’s help is not a sign of weakness or a lack of knowledge and skills. But, it’s a willingness to collaborate to make things work better for all teachers and learn to thrive more in teaching.

These were the most common bad teaching habits. Ongoing reflection on our teaching can help us recognize those habits that drain our energy and productivity. So, reflect on what habits to break and decide on the good teaching habits you need to create.