I find that I was a much better employee at PA. I’m not sure why, but I was more efficient, diligent, and willing. I didn’t like the work more (it wasn’t stimulating, difficult, or particularly satisfying). but I did jump on every opportunity to do something, perhaps because there was so little to do at times.
so why, lately, have I been reluctant to do much around here? I don’t think it has anything to do with actually getting paid, though perhaps it’s a factor. goodness knows I wasn’t spending the money I made at PA on anything but food and rent (and a plane ticket to CA of course, the necessities of life). maybe I just like kids better than I like adults. or maybe I can only do a job for six months before my fear of being discovered completely overtakes me (I have this fear that my employer will finally realize that I have no idea what I’m doing and that I’m really not as good at this as they think I am). or maybe I’m just in an entirely anti-social mood and don’t want to have to talk to people one-on-one. and I hate taking people out of class to test them, as it’s difficult to get them here for class in the first place and I want for them to spend their time actually learning instead of being tested (though I have to test them to show progress so people give us money so we can keep teaching…it’s a stupid process). also, I procrastinate.
I just don’t have a lot to do! I ask the bros sometimes if they need help but they usually only need me to do little things that I do quickly and we’re to the point that they’ll ask me if they need me to do anything so I don’t have to ask them. I do three things here. tutor GED, run the ESOL, and do tech support. I don’t like tutoring GED during the day, because of the students that come in, mostly. we don’t work well together, and I know this, so I help them out every once in a while but mostly I copy worksheets for them and do quick explanations and find other tutors for them to work with (it’s not just me. this one group of day students is a serious problem we’re trying to tactfully deal with). I should just suck it up and work with them, I know. but I don’t. and the ESOL, periodically I come up with ideas of ways to make the program better, or get more people in, or someone to make a contact with and then I do it. but really, the program doesn’t require a lot of work. I make sure there are tutors and books and students. lately, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to retain students, but our population is in a constant state of flux so I’m not sure that’s even physically possible. there’s some paperwork, but once I got rid of the backlog it became totally manageable (apparently I’m too efficient at paperwork. I’ve got mad organizational skills). and as for tech support, we’re a small organization with not too many problems that can’t be solved in a matter of minutes (or seconds).
I think I could do this job part-time and get everything done and be fitter happier more productive.
Sometimes, it gets too hard to keep track of everything. I know, I get it too sometimes. My solution for this problem is to keep all the to-dos in one place – my on-line workspace. About a three months ago I subscribed to a web-based project management tool and it turned out to be very handy. You might want to check it out, it might help to orginize things in your head. Here’s a link http://www.wrike.com/
Good ol’ PA! Kids are easier to work with than adults. Even though they are still lazy, difficult and mean, there is more hope of them changing. You feel like you are making a difference, and you can see it happening!
I usually only last 3-6 months on any job before I start to get bored. The good news – there are a lot of jobs out there.