You're FIRED: A message about life to my students!
Being a grade 8 teacher means that there are some added responsibilities to my job. For my students, this is their last year of middle school and they will be graduating and moving on to high school next year. As their teacher, I feel that I have an extremely important role to play in preparing them for high school. There are some big differences between middle school and high school and if my students aren’t prepared to hit the ground running then there is the possibility that they could struggle. Learning skills and work habits are so important to student success at any level. Having these skills are even more important at the high school level as the workload is often much bigger and the demand on the students time is higher. Yesterday I had to tell some of my students that they were FIRED!
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Since the beginning of the school year, I have been trying to teach my students the skills they will need to not only be successful in high school but also to be successful in life. We have focused on the learning skills that will help them to achieve to the best of their ability. There is even a page of our Google Classroom dedicated to HS prep and it is shared with parents as well.We have worked on organization skills, note taking skills, study skills, test and exam prep skills and we discuss these things all throughout the year in order to keep the ideas fresh and relevant. These are all great skills to have but above all the biggest thing that I try to instill in them are time management skills. It is imperative that these kids learn to manage their time and plan effectively in order to get work done on time.
“Time management” is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities. Good time management enables you to work smarter – not harder – so that you get more done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress.
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From day one in September I am working with my student on developing good time management skills. I talk to them about the importance of submitting work on time and the potential consequences of being late. We even spend time going through case scenarios and role plays dealing with time management and being late. We discuss both student-teacher interactions and the interactions that could potentially happen in the workplace. We have looked at the proper use of agendas and scheduling. We have spent time assessing the work we have and prioritizing.There has been so much time spent learning how to chunk up our work into manageable pieces so that we can set small achievable goals along the way. S.M.A.R.T goals may be a topic for another day.
This week has been a frustrating week for me as I am sadly realizing that time management is a skill that my students still need a great deal of work on. It is almost the end of April and there are only two months left before graduation. These kids are two months away from being high schoolers. As we are approaching the end of the year the workload is starting to increase a little. My class has several projects on the go right now. A book review, a Geography presentation on underdeveloped countries and a Science project on hydraulic machines. All of these assignments were started at different times and there has been an incredible amount of time provided in class to work on them. I started prepping them even before the assignments started about the amount of work and that time management and organization was going to be very important. I told them to even consider it a challenge as it is a small taste of the responsibilities they will have on a regular basis next year.
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On Monday the first of these assignments, the Book Review, was due and class presentations were supposed to start. Almost half the class was not ready and only three of those students had taken the time to contact me over the weekend to let me know that they were not going to be ready. This prompted a lengthy discussion about responsibility and getting work done and meeting timelines. Things we discuss regularly. What blew me away and is prompting this post is the absolute lack of concern demonstrated by so many about the fact that they were not done. Only three of the kids were concerned enough to contact me prior to the due date, something that I have talked to them about as well. Our discussion ended with a creation of an organizational chart to help them plan out the rest of the upcoming work. I also let them know that there were going to be consequences. There would be marks deducted for every day they were late. In the real world, there are consequences for not getting our jobs done on time. They needed to start understanding this. Most got the message loud and clear.
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The next assignment was due yesterday, Friday. This time I had only the usual suspects that didn’t have their work done. The fear of losing marks was enough for the rest of the class but not for these five repeat offenders. The sad part is that even though they knew they were being docked points they really didn’t seem overly worried.I’ve spoken with the parents of all five of these kids several times throughout the year but there really hasn’t been a change. I made it clear that they had all lost marks and that if they weren’t ready by Monday they would lose more. I likened it to taking away a part of their paycheck if they didn’t do their work at a job. I explained that that couldn’t really happen though so guess what. You’re FIRED!!! That is what you are going to hear if these habits continue.
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I have always tried to link everything in my class to what happens in the real world. Wheather its Math concepts, History or any of the learning skills we work on all year long, I want them to see the relevance of everything we do. More and more, I am finding that many of my students don’t have enough fear of the consequences of their actions and non-actions. I am hoping that my message got through yesterday. Call me a dreamer but I have a feeling they will be ready on Monday and that the Science next week will be handed in on time.
As if I din't already like you enough. Let's forget about me as a teacher for a second. As a parent this is exactly what i want my kids' teachers to do: hold them accountable! I am shocked by the number of parents who call teachers to lobby for extra time or a better grade after their child did not meet his/her responsibility. Because of the number of complaints, and the attitude that "the customer is always right, many schools seem to be "solving" the problem by decreasing the amount of responsibility. What?! If they don't learn it in school, then where? You sir have inspired me. Expect to see my first angry educational post very soon.
Great post as always.
Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate the words of support. If I had a nickel for every time I had to talk to a parent about the need for their child to put in more effort and having the parent make excuses, I would have A LOT of nickels. LOL What frustrates me even more, is how our administrators are less willing to stand up to parents and at times are letting parents and students dictate the terms. Oh, the stories I could tell, as I'm sure you could too.
My experience is that admin would support the complaining parent, thus hamstringing my whole effort. And in my former county you weren't allowed to give less than a 50. Even if a student never turned in the work ever.
It’s not easy when we don’t feel supported. We just have to keep plugging away. The message will get through to some and that’s makes it worthwhile.
I really wish I'd had your lessons on time management skills. I had no problem in HS where there were direct consequences (athletic eligibility) to doing the work. When I got to college those consequences didn't exist in any meaningful way and really, neither did I.
Thanks for a great post, and for being a great advocate for our children. Deeply appreciated.
Thank so much. It is so hard for these kids to prioritize these days and they are so engaged in other things that they often can't be bothered. Unfortunately, that is not how the real world works and you only get so many strikes before an employer kicks you to the curb.
I am so glad that you are teaching our children!! My hubby and I searched for a school for my son that not only teaches academics, but first and foremost, teaches kids how to become responsible adults and make it in the adult world. It's all good and well that we learn things, but we need to know how to apply our knowledge too! Definitly resteeming.
Thanks so much for your kind words. What good is an education if we are not teaching kids to be good citizens who are responsible and respectful. I feel my job doesn’t end with the curriculum, life skills and leRning skills are just as if not more important.
Excellent first post to read in the morning for me :) You said it well, they don't care about consequences, somehow youngsters are behaving like there is no future. It's great you teach them to walk the walk and I love the fact you're linking school with real life, prepare them to harsh world of jobs and rejections, ...
Youngsters must know that the words are not just words, they are deeds in another form...
Thanks for pushing the World forward!
Thanks! I hear way to often students say "What are we ever gonna need this for?" or "This is a waste of time". I feel it is important for them to always understand why we are learning something so that they can see it as a tangible need. Attitudes are tough to shift however and there are lots that struggle with accountability and taking responsibility.
I agree. You have a tough job, but you're changing the World - that's why it's tough! Keep doing it, we appreciate it!
I like this real world linkage. You sound like a great teacher!
Thank you, sir. I try, somedays I feel like I'm awesome and then some days I wonder if they even heard me. LOL The everyday battle is real.
for everything I read you can see that you are a great teacher, great content
What a good article , I liked your meme, neglect this week will be less frustrating for you. Greetings and may God bless you. @broncofan99
How I would have liked to have an excellent teacher like you. What a great example and dedication you give to your students. I am delighted to read your article @broncofan99.
God bless you.
Greetings.
That is the reality in adult life, or it applies or fails.
The learning of the punctual fulfillment of the tasks by means of tools of organization to that age, is considered of general importance. In this way, the young students will understand the responsibilities acquired and the possible consequences for not fulfilling them.
What happened will make them think about the actions that must be taken into account when accepting responsibilities in the fulfillment of activities in the future work life.
Excellent attitude of educational passion!