Sometimes you get used to things not working as they should. After a while we begin to tolerate things not working properly. In my apartment the toilet seat is not securely attached to the throne. It was like that when we moved in, the owner forgot to attach a couple of screws during the renovation before he rented it out. When I was inspecting the property and deciding if it was a suitable abode for myself and my wife, I neglected to lift the toilet seat up and check that it was secured on there.
All these months later and we still haven’t fixed it! It’s not that annoying, really. We’re used to it now, but when people come over and use the bathroom we occasionally hear a little “Whoops…I’m ok!” It’s such an easy thing to fix, but the problem is that we are used to the toilet seat being a little off, we are used to managing and manoeuvring around the problem rather than addressing it with a simple solution.
It can be the same in our schools and in our classrooms. A few weeks ago my (new) supervisor decided to come and observe a new student who’d arrived in my class. As she walked through my classroom door she stopped and asked what that pile of papers (student posters) was doing there close to the entrance. Despite searching the depths of my brain, I couldn’t come up with a plausible answer. The truth is they had been there since Term 1 and I had always intended to move them but I hadn’t quite got round to it. It was embarrassing. As with the broken toilet seat, I had simply got used to things not being as they should.
So I decided to, and I encourage you to, go on a bit of a mission:
Look at things with fresh eyes – take a few moments, step back and evaluate one area of your professional life. This may be your planning, programming, classroom set up or your interaction with other colleagues. What have you become used to? What is one area of your work or workplace where you have begun to tolerate dysfunction?
For example: That pile of posters on my classroom floor.
Decide what is not working – What specifically is not working? Does the set up of your classroom mean that one child cannot see the board? Do you leave your planning to the last minute so that you always feel anxious and disorganised? Have you never really invested time into thinking about classroom management systems?
For example: It is not the best place to store it as it takes up valuable space on the carpet, students’ work is not displayed appropriately and it makes the space look messy.
Choose one thing and fix it – There is no point in trying to do everything at once. You will just end up feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Choose one thing and do it until the task is completed.
For example: Plan to stay back after school one day, pick up the pile of posters, display them appropriately, and from now on don’t leave things on the floor.
That pile of posters and my broken toilet seat has taught me a lot about my teaching ], finishing tasks and finding focus. They have also taught me a lot about how we can slowly become immune to things not working, or not being as effective as they should.
What are some things that you have begun to tolerate?