5 Common Teacher Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Everyone makes mistakes—including teachers. While educators are quick to reframe student mistakes through a growth mindset lens, they’re less forgiving when it comes to their own slipups. But teacher errors often follow familiar patterns and can be a source of exceptional personal and professional growth. In this episode of School of Practice, ELA teacher and instructional specialist Miriam Plotinsky digs into the most common teacher mistakes and identifies key strategies for quick, effective resets that get learning back on track. We’ll also hear from a few classroom teachers about their own missteps, and examine the research about how students benefit when teachers address their own mistakes head-on. Related resources: Learn more about this episode 6 Common Teacher Mistakes—And How To Avoid Them Teachers’ Intellectual Humility Benefits Adolescents’ Interest and Learning PEW: How K-12 Teachers Manage Their Workload A Simple Way to Self-Monitor for Bias 5 Steps to Leveraging Background Knowledge in Lessons  Using Formative Assessment to Measure Student Progress How to Engage Students the Moment They Enter the Classroom 29 High-Impact Formative Assessment Strategies How to Avoid Rushing—a Pitfall for Even the Most Experienced Teachers