Interruptions
Before each child had her own school computer, Lorraine Hong lost her passion for teaching after her principal’s ‘simple’ request to add ten minutes of keyboarding to her hourlong writing period. By the time the computers were set up and students settled, fifteen to twenty minutes passed. Hong writes that she felt more like a short-order cook, scrambling to keep pace, rather than her classroom being a four-star restaurant in which she could “build the provocative experiences that nourish layered learning…to allow teachers to be professional educators.”
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If you are a teacher, you can relate to Armstrong and Hong’s scenarios. Others of you may also be concerned about interruptions in your work, ones which perhaps can make you, too, feel like a short-order cook.
I lived in a noisy culture in the nineties. You may have worked in an office that used to have typewriters but later had computers, printers, and other machines. Cubicles broke up space but did little to alleviate noises and interruptions. If you were frustrated, how were you able to express it?
Since the late 2000s, the arrival of smart phones demand that we pay attention to their presence. They signal with texts, messages, and calls. You mute your phone but know it is lurking with who-knows-what. You may have anxiety of FOMO.
Humans have coped with cultural pressures throughout history. You cope today in unanticipated ways. When feeling out-of-sorts, you may seek peace of mind by stepping away from noises and interruptions. You shut off your phone, TV, computer, sit in a quiet room, meditate, read a book, or take a walk in the woods, whatever works for you.
You ‘tell’ your phone in Armstrong’s words, “My time is more valuable than yours. Whatever you’re doing cannot possibly be as vital as whatever I’m doing.” Being yourself with yourself.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.” (Kierkegaard)
I write to bring ideas and methods from my life as a teacher in the latter half of the 20th century to help teachers and the public to “live forward” in this century. My latest book, Teacher in the Rye: Doing It My Way is available on Amazon. And I welcome comments here on my Substack or by email at frankthoms3@gmail.com.
