During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 11 years. You can see all those collections from the first 10 years here.

Today’s theme is Mistakes in Education.

You can see the list following this excerpt from one of the posts:

1. The Pandemic’s Glaring Lessons for District Leaders

A lack of transparent decisionmaking and clinging to concepts like “seat hours” are among mistakes districts have made during the pandemic. Read more.

2. 7 Mistakes Districts Have Made During the Pandemic

Arrogance and looking at students through the lens of deficits, instead of assets, are among the blunders. Read more.

3. 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 educators share for helping ELLs. Read more.

4. Don’t Make Assumptions About Your ELL Students

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

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

Four educators 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.” Read more.

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

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

7. Nine Mistakes Educators Make When Teaching English-Language Learners

Confusing lack of English proficiency with lack of intelligence is among those mistakes five educators cite. Read more.

8. ‘We Need to Face Our Own Discomfort’ About Discussing Racism

Marian Dingle, Sydney Chaffee, Raquel Rios, Rinard Pugh, and 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. Read more.

9. Race & Racism Are Not ‘Merely Curricular Topics’

Tehia Glass, Erin Miller, Eddie Moore Jr., Ali Michael, Marguerite Penick-Parks, 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. Read more.

10. Teachers Can’t Ignore Racism Issues and Hope They ‘Will Go Away’

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

More Q&A posts about mistakes in education:

• Classroom Management—Mistakes and Solutions
• The Biggest Classroom-Management Mistakes
• ‘Start Classroom Management From a Place of Love, Not a Place of Power’
• Creating Classrooms ‘to Unlock the Learning Potential Mistakes Provide Us’
• Mistakes Are ‘Learning in Action’
• ‘Freedom to Fail’ Creates a Positive Learning Environment
• Recognize Students When They Learn From Mistakes
• ‘A Mistake Is a Door to Discovery’
• ‘Students Need to DO History, Not Just Listen to It’
• We Need to Create ‘Joyful Moments’ in Reading Instruction
• Mistakes Teachers Make in Reading Instruction
• ‘There Is Not One Right Answer’ for Reading Instruction
• We Need to Let Students ‘Read, Read, Read’
• Mistakes Made in Writing Instruction & What to Do Instead
• Avoiding ‘Missed Opportunities’ in Writing Instruction
• ‘Do Not Grade Every Piece of Writing a Student Creates’
• ‘Nix the Tricks’ in Math Instruction
• ‘It’s Time to Slow Down and Smell the Mathematical Roses!’
• Mistakes That Math Teachers Make
• Don’t ‘Steal the Aha’ From Science Instruction
• Mistakes New Teachers Make & How to Avoid Them
• Administrators Shouldn’t Try ‘Too Many Initiatives’
• Administrators Can’t Lead From ‘the Confines of Their Office’
• ‘Principals Shouldn’t Be Lonely’
• The Biggest Mistake by Administrators ‘Is Putting Tasks Before People’
• Common Administrator Mistakes & What to Do Instead
• Our Teaching Mistakes & What We Learn From Them
• Making Mistakes & Learning From Them—Part Two

Explore other thematic posts:

• It Was Another Busy School Year. What Resonated for You?
• How to Best Address Race and Racism in the Classroom
• Schools Just Let Out, But What Are the Best Ways to Begin the Coming Year?
• Classroom Management Starts With Student Engagement
• Teacher Takeaways From the Pandemic: What’s Worked? What Hasn’t?
• The School Year Has Ended. What Are Some Lessons to Close Out Next Year?
• Student Motivation and Social-Emotional Learning Present Challenges. Here’s How to Help
• How to Challenge Normative Gender Culture to Support All Students
• What Students Like (and Don’t Like) About School
• Technology Is the Tool, Not the Teacher
• How to Make Parent Engagement Meaningful
• Teaching Social Studies Isn’t for the Faint of Heart
• Differentiated Instruction Doesn’t Need to Be a Heavy Lift
• How to Help Students Embrace Reading. Educators Weigh In
• 10 Strategies for Reaching English-Learners
• 10 Ways to Include Teachers in Important Policy Decisions
• 10 Teacher-Proofed Strategies for Improving Math Instruction
• Give Students a Role in Their Education
• Are There Better Ways Than Standardized Tests to Assess Students? Educators Think So
• How to Meet the Challenges of Teaching Science
• If I’d Only Known. Veteran Teachers Offer Advice for Beginners
• Writing Well Means Rewriting, Rewriting, Rewriting
• Christopher Emdin, Gholdy Muhammad, and More Education Authors Offer Insights to the Field
• How to Build Inclusive Classrooms
• What Science Can Teach Us About Learning
• The Best Ways for Administrators to Demonstrate Leadership
• Listen Up: Give Teachers a Voice in What Happens in Their Schools
• 10 Ways to Build a Healthier Classroom
• Educators Weigh In on Implementing the Common Core, Even Now
• What’s the Best Professional-Development Advice? Teachers and Students Have Their Say
• Plenty of Instructional Strategies Are Out There. Here’s What Works Best for Your Students