Anatomy of an Ineffective Teacher

I’m going to spend some time explaining the anatomy of an ineffective teacher. But before I begin even writing this article, I want you all to understand that I HAVE THE GREATEST RESPECT FOR TEACHERS – heck I was one for 17 years. I know how hard a job it is, and I know most of you are working as hard as you can to be a good teacher. The entire purpose of this blog/website is to support teachers.

Anatomy of an ineffective teacher

So I bet you are wondering why I would spend time discussing an ineffective teacher. Well, I was thinking if you saw a “wee little bit” of yourself in one or two of the items I mention you might learn something. And my hope is that you will take that learning and find ways to improve in those areas to then become a more effective teacher.

Where I first encountered ineffective teachers

My first introduction to ineffective teachers was when I was substitute teaching right out of college. When I graduated, the teaching field was saturated in my city and new teachers were forced to become a sub for a year or two before they got their own first classroom (IF YOU WANTED TO REMAIN IN THAT CITY). I eventually moved to another large city to begin in my own classroom.

You would not believe the WIDE VARIETY of classrooms that you enter when you are substitute teaching. Some rooms were highly organized while others were pretty messy. Some had very detailed lesson plans while others left sketchy plans or none at all. GASP!! I bet some of you are thinking “I never knew teachers ACTUALLY don’t leave lesson plans. WELL SOME DON’T….THE BAD ONES!

Mind you, I’m not talking about that rare occurance when you have an actual EMERGENCY and can’t leave any lesson plans. Once I covered for three days in a fifth grade classroom where the teacher’s wife had gone into labor with their first child six weeks before her due date. NO ONE would expect him to have lesson plans ready.

Some signs of disorganization

So, I bet you are wondering what I consider an ineffective disorganized teacher. In my opinion, an ineffective teacher does not have lessons ready to begin teaching each day. Some may frantically fill in their plan the 15 minutes before the day begins, or “wing it” or only use the “teacher’s edition” (day-in-and-day-out).

The flip side of this is the organized teacher who plans ahead of time (I recommend a week ahead of time). When you get in the habit of planning ahead of time, your stress level will go way down. I was lucky in that I learned this early on during my student teaching from a very organized master teacher. Here are a couple of articles I have written about planning ahead of time…

Teacher Organization – How to Prepare and Stay Focused

20 Tips for Beginning Teachers

If you are searching for some effective classroom routines to add (or just want a list so you can compare it to the ones you have in your classroom, I have a FREE list for you. I’ve created this FREE Classroom Routines Checklist that you can download right away when you submit the form below. (happy face).

The Elephant in the Room

So, what’s the “elephant in the room” here? Of course it is classroom management and student behavior. When a teacher is weak in classroom management, everything else becomes difficult. Because if the students aren’t behaving, they most likely, are not learning either.

The first step to getting a handle on your classroom management is to have a HIGHLY EFFECTIVE set of rules and procedures that are taught well to the class(es) and are then enforced religiously. When a teacher is inconsistent with her procedures and rules, the students “pick up” on this quickly and become resentful. I have another article that applies here; 5 Simple Kindergarten Rules to Support Effective Behavior. And this article is not just about Kindergarten – it applies to most grade levels.

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Negative Personal-Professional Habits

Now I’m not trying to be critical here, but rather, wanting to help you improve. If any of these “rings true” for you, take a moment to try to figure out how you can improve on this negative habit. Here goes….(drum roll)…

• Sketchy attendance habits (your own, not the students).
• not planning most of your lessons thoroughly.
• not using “content mapping” when planning…this is also called “backwards mapping and curriculum mapping.
• not collaborating with your grade-level team (or department team if in middle or high school).
• has a habit of “taking” from the team but not “contributing.”
• leaving every single day at dismissal.
• forgetting what the students need from you the most.
• teaching only to the “text.”

Did you spot something to work on?

I bet most of us can spot one or two of these items to work on. In my career (the teaching part) there were a few things at different times that I worked hard to improve on. It took me awhile to get organized in a way that satisfied me (about two-three years). So if you are new, continue to work on this, but give yourself GRACE and the time to get this in place.

Later in my career, as I have mentioned in other articles, I was beginning to burn out. Thankfully, I recognized this and took action. My action was to move into Educational Administration. That may not be the right solution for you, but there is a solution out there. Ask a friend for advise if you are unsure. Just DON’T ACCEPT the negative situation. Decide to move forward and improve. You can do it!

Until Next Time,