PA Shorts: Busy or Full?
I couldn’t practice because I had so much school work.
I couldn’t practice because I was out walking my pig.
I’d love to learn that piece, but, I guess it will have to wait until I’m less busy.
We are an over scheduled society. Those who take time to smell the roses are often belittled. We feel guilty when we have free time and we apologize for it as though it were shameful.
All of us have students who have so many activities going that they often can’t do anything very well. But, let’s not blame it all on the students. We teachers often take on too much ourselves. We teach, we plan, learn, accompany, do the accounts, discuss pedagogy, interpretation, and technique with colleagues on social media, counsel, answer emails and texts, and fulfill obligations to professional and philanthropic organizations. We burn out.
You might be interested in this post from the blog Jon and Josh, Only Lazy People Are Busy. The title is actually a quote from C.S. Lewis. I think he is talking about busy work—that seemingly endless stuff that we are assigned or that we feel we have to do. I’m talking about the task equivalent of empty calories.
In the post, Jon adds the following to C.S Lewis’ statement: And Only Focused People Are Fulfilled.
Are you and your students full or busy? We can’t control the busywork others give our students but we can make sure everything we give them helps them learn to reason, feel, and grow. In short, we can cut out the busywork.
Here are a couple of laughs on the subject of practice. (See what I did there?) Stay full my friends.
