This week I would like to present to you another "thinking" article. An article to make you think a bit about how we talk with our students and help prepare them for the future. I came across this article during some personal professional development I was doing on Twitter. One of my colleagues, Josh Clark, shared it on Twitter. It is a great article.
The article's title sort of explains what is contained in it. Interestingly enough, many of our students go on job shadowing and could possibly experience such a conversation.
Questions To Consider:
1. We all have stories about first jobs and starting out, how could those be useful in helping to prepare our students? Have you ever told those stories?
2. There is a great quote near the end of the article that includes this statement;
“That’s not my job,” off their lips will have a far greater advantage over those who use it."
Is this something our students hear a lot? Can we help to address this idea/concept?
3. Have you been able to share your experiences in the educational field with someone job shadowing? You all have great experiences, you are encouraged to do so.
This year alone I have used peanut butter to untangle gum out of a student's hair, a toothbrush to scrub out paint from another's sweatshirt, and sewn up a hole in another's shirt! It's funny how none of those are "part of my job description," yet the students who needed help did not hesitate to ask me for help. For teachers, there isn't one set job description, I've learned that quickly in my 4 short years of teaching! It's because the kids are the job and as they change, so do we. On a side note, my first job was filing medical records at a small family physician's office. Then I became the electronic medical records scanner, then a receptionist. From there, I moved up to billing and checked patients in and out. Until one day the phone nurse wasn't there and the manager asked me to step in! I even took over the phone nurse's station twice a week simply because I knew the role needed filled. Just like the article, I started out making $7.50 and hour and by the time I left, I was making $10.75. In the end, I think every little job and task we complete, however frustrating/"non-related", becomes part of the job description.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what's in the article. I worry that we run the risk of burning out when we do everything without considering that there are other things that are more important to be doing. In my current position, I wear a lot of hats, and even though it's hard, sometimes I push back at Josh and say that I can't wear that hat right now. Hopefully it comes across in a productive way. Even though I don't use the words, "It's not my job," I worry that it might come across that way. I don't think most people don't know all the hats that other people are wearing. For example, I have witnessed the PE department and some coaches using the dust mop on the gym floor and the squeegee machine. It's not their job, but like the article says, it had to get done so they could teach, so they do it. So this is where I'm torn. Yes, things have to get done. But when people spend their time doing the things that "have to get done," it prevents them from doing the really important things that can impact a lesson or a student's life. I read some advice somewhere that said, "Only do those things that only you can do." In other words, if there are tasks that someone else can do, like a student, I try to delegate. This frees me up to focus on the instructional planning that only I can do to make my classes enjoyable and productive for my students. Hopefully this provides a little nuance to the discussion without coming across poorly. I think as long as we all understand that we're all in this together, we can head off the "it's not my job" mentality. For our own health and well-being, we should also consider spending our time doing those things that only we can do.
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree and disagree with this article. It is an impossibility to say yes to everything, because saying yes to something means saying no to something else at almost any given point in time. However, that doesn't me we can't be team players, help people find the necessary resources, and/or re-prioritize at a moment's notice.
ReplyDeleteI do many things that "aren't my job" - but they need to get done. However, we also must know our limits and not over-commit. This used to be my habit as a band director and it took me awhile to learn. One day someone told me, if it doesn't take your degree to do, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. The point is - at times we need to complete a task that only we can complete - this is what makes us unique and gives us individual value. During those times, we need to leverage our resources better and delegate the other tasks that don't require our unique skill set. This is the balance.
As a final note of balance - I once had a man I respected greatly tell me that if you are going to error, make an error in love. Sometimes "tasks" take us away from the human side of life. As a checklist person, I have that tendency which I need to constantly battle. I believe we need to teach the skill of balance. I am not sure we do it all that well when we treat everyone exactly the same and expect an inordinate amount of remedial work to be done. Just because there is a task at hand doesn't mean it needs to be completed. This is a real struggle for students (and most adults), IMHO. The article hints at all of this, but if taken to the extreme becomes a recipe for getting stuck too. A willingness and ability to do what needs to be done is definitely important...identifying what needs to be done and when is a skill, as well as communicating that effectively.
Three comments is a record...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the discussion from all of you.
In reading the first comment, I think it would be interesting to list jobs that we have had. We could possibly use this to show students a progression or a level of expectation for them as they enter the work force.
An interesting task that I took me a few minutes to remember my progression. This list doesn't include volunteer work when you do stuff to get experience even though it doesn't pay, nor does it take into account overlaps in jobs when I was juggling multiple paying gigs in college and post-college. It seems that my worklife goes through a 5-year cycle of doing something, mastering it, and adding something else that interests me, then mastering that thing. If I'd gotten married a started a family, my career trajectory would probably have followed a different set of dots. You should look up Steve Jobs' commencement address to understand the "connect the dots reference." [http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/]
Deleteelementary school - chores at home
middle school - newspaper delivery carrier
high school - kitchen help at a nursing home; youth handbell choir director at church
college - private music lessons; cook at a nursing home; handbell choir director at three separate churches
post-college - middle school band director, asst. hs band director, elementary band director; handbell choir director at four separate churches; newspaper delivery carrier; pit orchestra director for a community theater program; private music lessons; euphonium player in the Salina Symphony and Hutchinson Symphony
5 years after college - reservist in the 312th army band; group exercise instructor at the YMCA; serve at a restaurant
10 years after graduation - graduate assistant at BGSU, handbell choir and youth director at a church, reservist in the 338th army band; 5-12 band and choir director at PH