But Wait, That Wasn’t In My Job Description! Music Education by Joel Wagner - August 16, 2009June 30, 20106 "Welcome to education." "Deal with it!" "Didn't they teach you in college that you need to be flexible?" 'What do you want me to do about it?" "Wow, I wish I had it that good my first year!" So you graduated and then spent all summer looking for a job. You got your job, get to the school, and suddenly the classes or students you have bear no real similarity to what they told you in the interview. The good news is that you're not alone. The bad news is that this is probably what you are going to be dealing with all year. I recently got an email expressing a similar situation: I'm a first year who was hired
Less Stress: Only Work At Work Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 29, 2007July 5, 20100 Each morning when I come into the band hall, there are always a handful of students who come to drop off their instruments before school. Often they will come in and stand around talking. Because our custodian runs the vacuum each day and doesn't fix the chairs after he finishes, the entire classroom has to be set up each day. I would prefer that they either practice their instruments or leave, but my coworker wants his students to come in and socialize or whatever. Since he gets to school later than I do, I have come up with a plan that works. I tell them to find something productive to do. That could be setting up chairs and stands, practicing,
The Purpose Of A Personal Mission Statement Personal by Joel Wagner - July 26, 2007July 5, 20109 Last summer, I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The book radically impacted me and helped me to begin becoming much more organized. This week, I was talking with a friend about his auto repair business. I asked him why he had to be at the shop all day every day. He told me it was because when he's not here, the guys who work there don't do a great job of greeting the customers. I remembered reading Stephen Covey's account of a great customer service experience he had in a business. Upon asking why it was that they had such a welcoming environment, he found that the company had a mission statement. On top of that, each