Ķvlog

Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Q&A Collections: Mistakes in Education

By Larry Ferlazzo — August 29, 2021 8 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I’ve published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Challenging Normative Gender Culture in Education

Teaching Social Studies

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

Using Tech With Students

Student Voices

Parent Engagement in Schools

Teaching English-Language Learners

Reading Instruction

Writing Instruction

Education Policy Issues

Assessment

Differentiating Instruction

Math Instruction

Science Instruction

Advice for New Teachers

Author Interviews

The Inclusive Classroom

Learning & the Brain

Administrator Leadership

Teacher Leadership

Relationships in Schools

Professional Development

Instructional Strategies

Best of Classroom Q&A

Professional Collaboration

Classroom Organization

Today’s theme is on mistakes in education. You can see the list of posts following this excerpt from one of them:

oneofthebiggestmistakes

*12 Common Mistakes Made by Teachers of English-Language Learners

Don’t assume students who are paying attention understand what’s being taught, and support learning in students’ home language, especially for young children. Those are among the ideas six Ķvlog share for helping ELLs.

* Don’t Make Assumptions About Your ELL Students

Seven Ķvlog offer their nominations for the most common mistakes made by teachers of ELLs, including making background-knowledge assumptions and not providing enough scaffolding.

* Teachers Must Create Ways ELL ‘Students Can Show Us What They Know’

Four Ķvlog share common mistakes made by teachers of English-language learners, including not being creative in how ELLs can show us what they know and by translating “everything.”

* Teachers With ‘Deficit Perspectives’ Do Not Help English-Language Learners

Four Ķvlog share what they think are mistakes often made by teachers of ELLs, including overusing technology and operating out of a deficit perspective.

* Nine Mistakes Educators Make When Teaching English-Language Learners

Confusing lack of English proficiency with lack of intelligence is among those mistakes five Ķvlog cite.

Marian Dingle, Sydney Chaffee, Raquel Rios, Rinard Pugh, and Dr. Kimberly N. Parker talk about mistakes that are often made when trying to tackle race and racism in the classroom and explore what we teachers can do instead.

Dr. Tehia Glass, Dr. Erin Miller, Eddie Moore Jr., Ali Michael, Marguerite Penick-Parks, Dr. Chezare A. Warren, Brian L. Wright, Ph.D., and Leah Wilson share their thoughts on the biggest mistakes made when approaching race and racism in the classroom.

A three-part series approaching race and racism in schools is wrapped up by Dr. Larry J. Walker, Dr. Jaime Castellano, Dr. Mara Lee Grayson, Ashley S. Boyd, Jennifer Orr, and Kelly Wickham Hurst.

Debbie Silver, Amanda Koonlaba, Katie Biggs, Jennifer Lasater, Tina H. Boogren, and Diane Mora contribute their remembrances of classroom-management mistakes.

Theresa Staley, Judy Reinhartz, Lindsey Palmieri, and Louise Goldberg share their experiences with making classroom-management mistakes.

Anne Jenks, Peg Grafwallner, Kevin Parr, Rita Platt, Sarah Thomas, Thomas Kerman, and Paula Kondratko share their biggest classroom-management mistakes and what they should have done instead.

Experienced Ķvlog Doug Lemov, Danny Woo, Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski, Bena Kallick, Allison Zmuda, Jen Schwanke, and Mike Janatovich discuss how to handle student mistakes in the classroom.

Warren Schnack, Jenny Edwards, Michael Thornton, Annie Ward, and Cathy L. Seeley share classroom strategies for effectively dealing with student mistakes.

Amber Chandler, Howard Pitler, Barry Saide, John Spencer, Riina Hirsch, Nadja Reilly, and Laura Taddei are today’s contributors on the topic of handling student mistakes.

Margaret Searle, Diana Laufenberg, Jessica Lahey, Jonathan Cassie, Andrew Miller, Allen Mendler, and Mark Katz share their ideas on the topic of handling mistakes in school.

In this last post of the series, Bryan Harris, Allison Rodman, Dawn Mitchell, Josh Patterson, Erik M. Francis, Otis Kriegel, Barbara Blackburn, and many readers contribute their thoughts on student mistakes.

Big mistakes are made in social studies instruction. What can teachers do to avoid them? Annie Brown, Amy Okimoto, Amy Fast, Lynette Yorgason, Mike Kaechele, and Dr. Rebecca Testa-Ryan weigh in.

Diana Laufenberg, Pernille Ripp, Valentina Gonzalez, Jeff Wilhelm, Barbara A. Marinak, and Linda B. Gambrell share their thoughts on mistakes to avoid when providing reading instruction.

Regie Routman, Cindi Rigsbee, Dr. Rebecca Alber, Shaeley Santiago, and Wiley Blevins write about their suggestions for improving reading instruction.

Gravity Goldberg, Renee Houser, Tan Huynh, Samantha Cleaver, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm (with his second contribution to this series), Emily Geltz, and Sarah Shanks contribute answers to the question: “What mistakes do teachers make in reading instruction?”

Rita Platt, Sonja Cherry-Paul, Dana Johansen, Dr. Mary Howard, Bonnie Houck, Ed.D., Sandi Novak, Emily Phillips Galloway, Paola Uccelli, and Julie Swinehart wrap up a four-part series on reading instruction. I have also included comments from many readers.

Lisa Eickholdt, Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski, Mary Ann Zehr, Nancy Frey, and Valentina Gonzalez share their commentaries on writing instruction.

Eugenia Mora-Flores, Julia G. Thompson, Karen Sher, Bret Gosselin, Dr. Vicky Giouroukakis, and Emily Geltz contribute their suggestions about writing instruction.

Tan Huynh, Dr. Lynell Powell, Dr. Rebecca Alber, Cheryl Mizerny, Mitchell Nobis, and Kai Marks write about mistakes made in writing instruction.

A three-part series about the mistakes made in math instruction concludes with answers from Dr. Hilary Kreisberg, Richard Robinson, Rachael Gabriel, Tamera Musiowsky, Dr. Fuchang Liu, Bonnie Tripp, Bill Wilmot, and Bradley Witzel, Ph.D.

Sunil Singh, Laney Sammons, Abby Shink, Cathy Seeley, and Shannon Jones share their ideas on the mistakes that math teachers make.

This three-part series on mistakes made in math instruction “kicks off” with responses from Bobson Wong, Elissa Scillieri, Ed.D., Beth Brady, and Beth Kobett, Ed.D.

Linda Tolladay, Patrick L. Brown, James P. Concannon, Ross Cooper, and John Almarode share their “nominations” for the biggest mistakes made by science teachers.

Michael Janatovich, Sarah Thomas, Roxanna Elden, Kristi Mraz, Christine Hertz, and Julia Thompson contribute their suggestions.

A five-part series on mistakes made by school administrators is wrapped up today with commentaries from Dr. Lynell Powell, Stuart Ablon, Alisha Pollastri, Diane Mora, and many comments from readers.

Julie Hasson, Ryan Huels, David Bosso, Cindy Terebush, and Kelly Wickham Hurst contribute their thoughts on administrators and the mistakes they make.

Jen Schwanke, Dr. Jenny Grant Rankin, Harvey Alvy, Michael Haggen, James Erekson, and Michael D. Toth write about their experiences working as, or with, school administrators.

Dr. PJ Caposey, Sarah Said, Amy Fast, Andrew Miller, Anthony Kim, and Edward Cosentino share their observations on mistakes administrators make and how to avoid them.

Commentaries from Anne Vilen, Marcy Webb, Dr. Jason Kotch, Roxanna Elden, Baruti Kafele, and Dr. Manuel Rustin “kick off” this five-part series on administrators’ mistakes.

Today, Roxanna Elden, Julia Thompson, Ekuwah Moses, Jenny Edwards, Kevin Parr, and Leslie Blauman bare their souls to the world as they write about their biggest teaching mistakes.

Today’s post includes responses from PJ Caposey, Jennifer Gonzalez, Arpine Ovsepyan, Marcy Webb, Marie Levey-Pabst, Vance L. Austin, and Steven Anderson. I’ve also included comments from readers.

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Managing AI in Schools: Practical Strategies for Districts
How should districts govern AI in schools? Learn practical strategies for policies, safety, transparency, as well as responsible adoption.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Unlocking Success for Struggling Adolescent Readers
The Science of Reading transformed K-3 literacy. Now it's time to extend that focus to students in grades 6 through 12.
Content provided by 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Homework: Critical Practice or Meaningless Busywork? Teachers Weigh In
Does homework still have a purpose? The K-12 field appears deeply divided.
1 min read
ionCINCINNATI, OHIO - AUGUST 21, 2025 A student wears a translucent backpack while waiting to ride Metro, Cincinnati’s public bus system, to their second day of school on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo by Luke Sharrett for Education Week
Educators have really different opinions about whether students get too much or too little homework, and what role it plays in learning. A student wears a translucent backpack while waiting to Cincinnati’s public bus system, on Aug. 21, 2025 in Ohio.
Luke Sharrett for Education Week
Teaching Homework Assignments Less Common in High-Poverty Districts
An EdWeek Research Center survey examines out-of-school assignments by poverty level of the school system.
3 min read
Students in Cristina Hernandez's International Baccalaureate Math Analysis and Approaches Higher Level 1 work on an assignment during class at Bonita Vista High School on Oct. 10, 2024 in San Diego, Calif.
Students work on an assignment during a high school class on Oct. 10, 2024, in San Diego. An EdWeek Research Center survey shows that teachers in more impoverished school districts say they're less likely to assign homework.
Ariana Drehsler for Education Week
Teaching Opinion Are Students Really Learning? How to Check for Understanding
One of the best methods is to make student thinking visible.
13 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching From Our Research Center Are Schools Assigning Less Homework? A New Survey Offers Answers
The EdWeek Research Center looked at whether schools are giving more or fewer out-of-school assignments, and why.
4 min read
A 15-year-old student works on his homework with a school laptop in Los Angeles, on Sept. 9, 2023. The EdWeek Research Center found that 41% of teachers said homework has decreased, while 33% said it’s remained the same, and 3% said the rate of homework assignments has increased.
A 15-year-old student does homework on a school laptop in Los Angeles on Sept. 9, 2023. Forty-one percent of teachers say the amount of homework they've assigned over the past two years has declined, 33% say it's remained the same and just 3% said it's increased.
Jae C. Hong/AP