Can you get teachers to love admin

I recently discussed a recurring issue following this question from an employer: “My teachers do an excellent job in the classroom and feedback from students is positive. But when it comes to administrative duties, I find they are lax. Registers are sometimes forgotten, lesson records are sketchy, and reports on students are late and not very full. How can I make teachers understand that these duties are as much a part of their job as teaching?” Oh dear, I've heard this so often and I can understand why teachers prefer to concentrate on the business of teaching rather than fill in forms! Anyway, the advice I came up with was this: You have taken the first step by acknowledging the problem! It's a fact of life that teachers usually hate admin. But you could ease the situation by building admin time into the timetable. The reluctance often stems from teachers being obliged to complete admin tasks in their own time. Since classroom pressures are usually stronger, they not surprisingly prefer to spend additional time planning lessons and organizing materials. If you build in fifteen minutes a day, or twice a week, when teachers meet in a designated admin room to complete their tasks, they will find it easier to accept that this is part of their normal responsibility. For this to succeed though, you will need to involve them in the planning. If they see this as extra time tacked on to the working day, it will probably be met with resistance but if you can devise a plan whereby it fits into the existing work hours, it will have a greater chance of success. This may mean scheduling time when students work alone—using self-access materials, interviewing each other or doing other interactive projects. Alternatively you could shave five minutes off lessons to accumulate the time needed. Let the staff work out a system acceptable to all so that they feel they own it. Once admin features as a regular and obligatory slot on the teachers' timetable you should find the situation improves.

Bartending school is just the beginning

While you may be thinking about attending bartending school, keep in mind that a bartending career is not all fun and games. Bartenders work hard, and are often paid minimum wage. Working at a top club will, of course, up your take-home pay in the form of tips (sometimes as much as thousands per night), but you'll have to do your time and gain experience at smaller clubs and bars first. Initially, you’ll also work the less crowded shifts. Some bars and clubs even require new bartenders to work as barbacks first – this means you’ll be schlepping beer and liquor from the storage room to the bar, washing glasses and cleaning up. Not nearly as glamorous as you might have dreamed. As a barback, you’ll earn a portion of the bartender’s tips for the night. The hours are often long, you're on your feet the whole time and might have to deal with a lot of rude customers. Aside from that, once you’ve moved up in the ranks and have the popular, crowded shifts – those that you make the most money with – you’ll never have Friday or Saturday nights free. You’ll be working. If you still are thinking about attending bartending school, make sure you pick a reputable organization. You can also attend bartending school online. Many bartending schools offer job placement assistance one you finish your courses – if you don’t have a job lined up already, you’ll want help finding one. The best bartenders have an outgoing personality, are patient and tolerant of customers who may have had one too many and are able to multitask and work under pressure. Remember, you’ll be on a virtual stage once behind the bar, with a lot of eyes watching you! Once you’ve completed bartending school and started your first job, know that you will make mistakes. It’s your ability to recover from them with grace and humor that will keep you going.