7 Weird Things Teachers Do That Students Should Never Know

There is nothing as noble as teaching. Although I agree that all of us are innately leaders and teachers, there are only a few of us who were called to teach. Teaching is not only a profession but a calling. However, there are some of the weird things teachers do in and outside class. Some of which, soil the teacher’s referred respect from his or her students. Among others, some these weird things may include;

1. Carrying Uncoordinated Teaching Materials

It’s sometimes common among teachers to carry teaching materials that are unharmonized. For example, some teachers download teaching notes and simply dictate them to learners without proper harmonization. The mistakes in the content may be identified by the sharp learners themselves in class. It in turns make a teacher a fool of his own students.
It’s important that as a teacher, you draw your lesson plans and carry whatever other materials you may want/need. It’s also wise to bring educational games, practices or conversation starters, in case you finish early and need to fill some extra class time.

2. Taking Students’ Behavior Too Personally

My professor of chemistry teaching methods at the university used to tell us that, “As a teacher, you’re not responsible for your students’ actions. You are only responsible for the way that you react to their actions.”

Students will say and act through a lot of inappropriate behavior. They sometimes push your nerves to the limit. You may eventually lose control. At that moment, you may even begin to forget that students are still in learning and developing the process.

3. Indecisiveness and Over-Reliance on Others to Handle Classroom Challenges

This not only makes you look incompetent and powerless to your colleagues but also shows the students that you can’t handle situations on your own. This is not to mean that you can and should always handle all the challenges you face in a classroom situation.

There are some situations that are out of your hands and definitely necessary for an administrator to step in. Besides that, you should always deal with student misbehavior in the classroom. It builds respect and drives behavior in the right direction. It places you in a position of authority.

4. Gossiping With and About Colleagues

Teachers should surely never gossip with colleagues about other workmates, students, their parents or any other school member. Gossiping with others only makes YOU look irrational, irresponsible, porous and hard to trust. If you find that others are talking about you, then ignore it. There is nothing gained by fueling the fire. Your best bet is to take it with a juice of honeycomb.

5. Family and Personal Challenges

Teachers are not perfect, they will have their best days and their worst days. There will be times when you may lose focus or your temper, and that’s OK because you always have a tomorrow to start over and do the right things. Don’t smear the whole community and students with your bad mood. You were denied your conjugal rights, denied food or something? Deal with it at home. The world has a lot of problems to deal with. Your family challenges are immaterial to the academic work you are meant to undertake.

6. Mis-Understanding of Concepts, Questions, and Answers

It is a fact that teachers may not be the brightest. Also, they may not understand everything correctly.
At times teachers may fail to understand certain concepts. But since they are teachers and they have to teach their students, they may fumble or rush their way around.

Teachers should not show that they know everything. Whatever they don’t understand well, they should consult with their colleagues and subject mates. After all, a teacher is not a walking library.
However much teachers are experts in their subjects, rarely can they score every question right if given an exam.

Unconfirmed reports from teachers who attended the 2019 KNEC national examiners training say that almost half of the trainees could not score over 50 percent of the sample examination papers they were training to mark.

7. Usage of Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and alcohol abuse only place you in a corner of disrespect. You ultimately evolve into a nuisance to the students. You lose the moral authority and later become a poor motivation.