Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Don't Forget to Thank the Person Who is Working on Your Next Big Problem

If you are a teacher and typically get all of your work done from 8:20-3:35, then congratulations! But you probably have a lot of other people to thank. If you are fortunate to be working in a well-oiled system that has provided all of the forms, documents, data, assessments, schedules (and the list goes on), that allows teams to show up at 8:20, work for 30 minutes collaboratively, accomplish everything on the agenda, and then rush to a classroom where 25 students are waiting for you, then congratulations! But you probably have a lot of other people to thank. If you show up to a grade level meeting and all of the data is there waiting for you to analyze, all of the pacing guides are drafted, sample assessments are available (and the list goes on), then congratulations! But you probably have a lot of other people to thank.

Before you could do all of that within your contracted time, someone was coming in early, working long hours on the weekends, working over summer break, and placing the needs of the organization above their own. When they start working on your next big problems, don't insult them by saying you can't help because it can't be done during your school day.