The Need To Finish
by Jess Hope Katz
When I was a little girl, I had relatives who would say things like, “Make sure you finish your food, and be a good member of ‘The Clean Plate Club.” When I heard things like this, it always fascinated me. Why was there such a focus on finishing? Was eating a race? Why was I not informed?
As I got older, I learned that so much of life is seen as a race to the finish and that task completion is almost always rewarded. This has been more evident than ever with the online/digital classroom presence that has exploded in education in the past 5-7 years.Students log onto a school issued Chromebook and are expected to check their Google Classrooms for various assignments and directions. It seems like a logical one-stop-shop for learning but what it really has become is the opposite of learning.
Google Classroom has become the place where in a very transactional manner students turn in assignments then expect to get a grade immediately sent back to them. It is the epitome of the banking method that Paolo Freire spoke of. Put information in, get information out, rinse, lather and repeat.
The idea of checking off boxes on a list, items, tasks that need to be completed is not a new one. It’s just that with the explosion of Social Media it is everywhere. There are apps now that are so hyperfocused on task completion, the reward the user as if they were playing a video game, with “prizes.” Other apps cater to certain types of people and try to help them prioritize their tasks, so they can feel organized and accomplished.
What happened to making lists on paper?
What happened to enjoying time for the purpose of being present?
Why is America so focused on task completion and the need to finish?
As a teacher, the things I have to do for school are never done. I often feel pressured to work through lunch and not allow myself a break. Why? So I feel accomplished? How can one feel accomplished when one is completely depleted? I’ve heard so many people vent to me, thinking that I will side with them somehow, about how teachers just work from 8-3, and have summers off, and how life is easy. I want to collectively punch all of those individuals in the teeth.
A good teacher knows that his or her work is never done, because that is the nature of teaching. Learning is never done or completed. No one knows everything. I always thought that the idea that someone “mastered” a subject and didn’t need to study it anymore was so insane. No one knows everything. Even if they have multiple advanced degrees.
The more you know the more you realize how little you actually know.
I wish people would stop focusing on checking off their lists and finishing everything, and live more in the present. Every time I have a conversation with a certain friend, I feel refreshed, invigorated, and curious about the world around me. Learning shouldn’t be about task completion, but rather opening your mind to the vast possibilities of the world. That is authentic learning.
Someone wrote on notes the other day, (they were in their 20's) that they didn't know how to write down their thoughts while they were out and about without a laptop. I was flabbergasted because a) I'm old and b)Moleskines are my life.