As students, we have all been in a place where we wished our teachers did things differently. Whether it was their way of teaching, grading, or even talking to students, we knew their ways hindered our learning.

1. 10 TOXIC HABITS TEACHERS NEED TO
LET GO OF

2.  As students, we have all been in a place where we wished our teachers did
things differently. Whether it was their way of teaching, grading, or even
talking to students, we knew their ways hindered our learning. But, as
students, we didn’t have the power to change any of that. Trends in
learning have changed a lot and so is the behavior of teachers. Modern
education has positively impacted the learning culture and teacher
behavior, as well. Teachers are more open to new ideas and are more
friendly with their students. This changed behavior of teachers has reduced
the gap between students and teachers, resulting in a healthy, wholesome,
and fresh class environment.

3. Although, some toxic habits are hard to let go of. Some habits of teachers
have stuck around for so long that they are almost impossible to detach from.
We asked some students about the toxic habits of teachers that hindered
their learning and questioned experts about these habits.

4. 1- Asking Students to be Quiet
 This one comes straight from the teachers. Modern education culture relies
deeply on student engagement. As opposed to traditional learning,
modern learning is all about teacher-student and student-student
engagement. Although, teachers still find it hard to bear with a little noise
in their classroom. It is different when students are busy chatting with one
another during your lectures, but shutting them up when they are talking
post-lecture might not be the best thing to do. Allow your students to
breathe and engage with one another once you are done with your
lecture. Another thing teacher should refrain from is yelling at their
students. If you want them to be quiet, discuss it calmly after the class or
before the lecture. Yelling at students to be quiet will only make them
more disinterested in your lectures.

5. 2- Long Lecture
 A teacher has around 40 minutes in an average class. A typical teacher
spends the majority of the time talking and giving lectures. Such a class
has a teacher as the ultimate leader and students play no important role to
boost class productivity. The ideal scenario is to divide 40 minutes smartly,
where everyone has an equal chance to participate and boost learning. The
ideal scenario would be to reduce lecture time or cut your lecture into
small pieces so that students get a chance to engage and interact.

6. 3- Being Inconsistent
 There are many teachers who try too hard to be good at their job, that
they end up doing the opposite. For instance, some teachers keep trying
new learning strategies and models. Now, it’s a good thing to follow
learning trends, but changing them so frequently hinders learning. Not
only that, but students complained that they were lost and confused in a
class where teachers switched up learning methods, frequently. It is
recommended to give a new method some time before it shows its results.
Teachers change learning models and expect instant results which is both
unrealistic and unbeneficial for student learning.

7. 4- Inflexibility
 There are two types of teachers, one who keeps changing their learning
styles (discussed above), and second, those who are so stringent they
refuse they change their methods. Both behaviors fall into toxic ones.
Flexibility is extremely important when it comes to teaching. Teachers
should be open to new ideas and must be extremely observant of their
mistakes so that they can find new methods to improve their mistakes at
the right time. Changing learning styles or models is recommended to do
timely, not constantly.

8. 5- Not Learning Continuously
 Our survey showed that teachers who took professional development
programs or skill-based courses had higher productivity levels in their
classrooms. Learning continuously surely has a positive impact on the
teacher’s skills and student performance. When teachers keep learning
they get a better understanding of looking at things from a student
perspective. Not only that, but such teachers stay in touch with educational
trends and learning modes.

9. 6- Ignoring Your Students
 This is a very toxic habit that most teachers have. Many teachers tend to
ignore their students and their opinions. Experts recommend that teachers
should always keep their minds open towards student opinions,
complaints, and issues. When it comes to reviews and surveys to improve
their performance, students are the best source. Moreover, engaging and
listening to students would also help the teachers in reducing the
achievement gap in the classroom.

10. 7- Focusing on Selected Students
 Every class has different types of students. There are genius ones, average,
and struggling ones, and all of these students need equal attention from
their teachers. Unfortunately, the reality is different. Many teachers, even
the experienced ones, tend to give more attention to bright students. It
comes naturally to teachers to talk and engage more with bright students,
although, this engagement is completely useless for class. Teachers should
pay just as much attention to struggling students so that the achievement
gap in class could be closed, resulting in an overall boost in-class learning.

11. About IAO
 IAO is an international quality assurance agency, working to improve
quality assurance standards of organizations all over the world. With its
global network of experts, IAO grants accreditation to educational
institutions, corporations, professionals and qualified individuals.
www.iao.org