Teacher Fail

Teacher - FAIL

No matter how much time or energy I put into a lesson, there are just some ideas that are not conveyed to my students. What's important is to learn from our mistakes. It's better to try and bring innovative and engaging lessons to students and have them completely blow up in your face than to sit back and continue with the traditional "chalk and talk" many of us grew up with. Learning from failure is often the most valuable lesson. Below are a few of my top failures and the lessons learned!

1. With the help of colleagues I had students research and create photo stories on different social movements of the 1960's and 1970's. Many of these were wonderful and creative, but the most shocking photo story was on the counter culture. The girls assigned this topic really applied their creative skills to design and produce one of the most entertaining and informational photo stories of the whole class. However, the very last slide depicted two elderly hippies with the man only wearing a tie-dyed tank top and NO PANTS! This image was projected onto a very large screen for the whole class to see. Fortunately shadows and the resolution of the picture prevented my class from morphing from a History class into a health class. The video is attached for your viewing pleasure.

Moral of the story: Always preview student photo stories or videos.



2. I'm pretty daring in the content I show students. It keeps their attention and can open the class up for discussion. I am careful to edit language and "indecent" images However, I have made the mistake of showing videos I had not previously viewed. During an extended period due to PSSA testing I decided to have students investigate the Watergate scandal and planned to show "All the President's Men." I had seen the movie on television and thought this would be a great way for my class to see the corruption and conflict that led to Nixon's resignation. I was careful to check the rating and it was PG, well within the viewing regulations of my school. The problem was that this movie was made before the advent of PG-13. Within the first 10 minutes at least 3 F Bombs had been dropped and I was scrambling for an alternate lesson plan!

Moral of the story: Always preview ANY video you plan to show.

3. Two of my loudest wake up calls have come from my American Government classes. My students' lack of understanding and my failure as a teacher were very apparent when I read the following lines.

"The First Amendment protects our rights of Religion, Speech and Sex" Hmmm what was he thinking?

"Checks and balances is when we put checks into the bank and the government matches that money to balance the budget." If only it was that easy!

Moral of the story: Just because you've covered the material does not mean all students understand. Check for understanding regularly and often!

There are many more, but I would like to hear about other lessons learned from other teachers!