Amy West

Teri,

In this module we were learning about ways to avoid "instructor mistakes", so I'm assuming you are referring to maybe an incident in which one of those occurred, and perhaps a student approached you to confront you about what you said or to purposefully make you feel uncomfortable. I think that is a good point to bring up, because although the module talks about what not to say, it doesn't say much about how to handle being approached individually by a student if you do make a mistake like those discussed. I do think reacting too soon can worsen the problem, like you said, because emotions are heightened. I'm glad you pointed this out, because I would like to think more about how I might handle this situation if it occurred to me. I think I would generally come into my next class fully prepared, BRIEFLY apologize if I said something out of line (too much time spent just leads to "push over" problems), and then lay out more details, stating things like "Perhaps I was unclear in my wording, but I have created a handout to give you to show how I will be grading your assignments, as well as when they were due." Of course I am giving a scenario here, but I do feel that reacting in that way would show that you acknowledge you made a mistake, but are firm enough to quickly move past it and then truly establish yourself by being extra prepared and making sure the problem is resolved, even if only one student had approach you regarding an incident.

Thanks for sharing!
Amy