Blog post #9

What an interesting read. In the article "Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces" by  Elizabeth Wardle's describes the about person's identity, authority, and the ways they learned how to adapt when entering a new unfamiliar workplace. She gives the example of a computer support specialist named Alan and his experience when he started his job right after grad school all the way leading up to his resignation. 

In the case of Alan, he refused to adopt or change his way of thinking to suit the needs of his new workplace. People have to be flexible and become adjusted to new conditions if they wish to move ahead in life. As the old saying goes "life isn't fair", maybe that because they haven't to tried to change to their benefit. 

Moving along, I currently major in Social Studies emphasis on teaching meaning that one day I wish to become a teacher specifically for high school. So my job that I have now which is working for the YMCA serve as experience for when I actually have to give homework instead of helping solve it. However, when I first started out I realized that I had to change my way thinking when helping kids in general. When helping kids with their homework you can't expect them to know what it means from what their teachers taught them and that's where I struggled. Although it may seemed to me to their homework to them it was like starting on a test with no knowledge on the subject. So in that sense not only did I had to change my thinking on how to teach but also better adapt to the mentality a child has at their age because I expect a third grader to understand algebra while their still learning their multiplications. 

If you work with kids or any age group younger than yourself than you'll know that it takes not only  a great deal patience but also the flexibility to adapt to the ever changing circumstances that younger kids can come up with. For example, for me is having five students asking you the same question while still being polite and patient with each and every one of them. Do I like my job?Yes, everyday there is something new to learn and if I'm incapable to figure out how to handle it then that means I have to change my way of thinking or ask someone else for help in order to solve the problem that is placed in front of me. That's what it means to me to adapt in order to progress in ones workplace.