I’m sorry y’all. Being the crazy Boston sports fan that I am, I had to talk about this little piece of wisdom that our pal Fish gave us. “Do Your Job” is the trademark motto of the New England Patriots, aka the greatest professional football team there is. It can be seen in bold letters and heard in loud (and proud) voices all over Gillette Stadium, used as a hashtag by players and fans alike on social media, and plastered on t-shirts being sold on street corners all over Boston and in every Patriots merchandise shop. Whether you’re watching from the 50 yard line or your couch, you will know that the Patriots are here to do their job.
I think one of the biggest reasons New England fans like this phrase so much is because it brings us a sense of confidence and stability. The Patriots know what their job is, and they know how to do it. As fans, we know that they will succeed. The job of the New England Patriots is to win, and they are expected to do anything and everything to get that done. Patriots fans are so used to winning, that anything less is a complete disappointment. We’re taught that the Patriots will always come out on top, because that’s their job. And that’s what usually happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In class, we asked ourselves as teachers, “what is our job?” When Fish says “do your job” to educators, what exactly is he saying to do? While Fish defines our job as basically to teach and do nothing else, we defined our job as something more than that. Our job is much more than just giving students the analytical tools that they need and just dumping information on them. Of course it is important to give them these tools, but it’s also important to show them how to use them in ways that are moral and ethical so that they may grow to be socially responsible and just overall better people.
Teachers play such an important role in the lives of their students. While teachers have many students, students only have a small number of teachers. For a portion of their day, two or three times a week, every week for 4 months, students look to teachers to deliver course content, while also making it interesting, fun, and worthwhile. Our time with these kids is limited, why waste it being boring?
There’s always going to be people who tell you to just shut up and do your job. When this happens, ask yourself, what exactly is your job? What is it that people are telling you to do? And once you figure that out, ask yourself what YOU think your job is and how you can go above and beyond these job requirements to make a difference. Don’t let the skeptics of this world get you down. Tom Brady sure doesn’t.
#keeponkeepinon
Emily,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Fish's book, I really enjoyed his phrase, "Just do your job." I really enjoyed it because it's straight to the point and simplifies all the aspects of teaching down to a 4-letter phrase. However, I really enjoyed how you challenged Fish's phrase by explaining how a teacher's job is much more than to give students the analytical tools that they need or just dumping information onto them. I agree completely with you when you talk about how while it is important to give our students these tools, we need to show them HOW to use them.
One of the biggest questions for student-teachers, especially us first semester babies, is how to do our job. We read various books, role-play, and ask each other how they run their classrooms. But I think it's more important, as you said, to figure out what your job is and how to exceed these expectations.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! No matter how much I dislike the New England Patriots I do have to say I have so much respect for them and their organization. Their organization reminds me a lot of the San Antonio Spurs organization. One thing that Coach Popp and Owner RC Buford agrees on is that each sub-part (persons within the organization(players, staff, stakeholders, and faculty)) must their jobs so that the organization(the whole) may function. Fish, Chelsea, and you are 100% right.
Now, performance comes into play to beg the question, How well do you or could you do your job? Then, two more questions arises from how well you do your job, To whom? For whom? These organizations we speak of Em, are all for each person associated within the organization, both the Patriots and Spurs, however, these organizations are all about Championships, which goes beyond being successful. Doing your job isn't going to bring home a championship. Going above and beyond, will. There is no one set way of teaching which means, How you do your job and well you do your job will vary, depending on who you are teaching. For example, I may think Professor Trump is a great teacher and I'll say he is doing his job. You may disagree and think Professor Trump is a joke, because he does not do his job and therefore he is a bad teacher. So it depends, to whom? and for whom?