The article “How to Get a Job at Google, Part 2” by Thomas Friedman continues to discuss the hiring techniques of Google, however, in part 2, Friedman shares parts of his interview with Laszlo Bock, the director of hiring at Google. Bock shares that college is valuable for students who enter this endeavor when they know what are they are pursuing and why they are pursuing it. Bock shares that college and other academic endeavors are valuable in order to build a “base knowledge” for everyone which is a “social good.” He further advocates that students should pursue knowledge but also a skill set that will make them important in their future workplace. He lists the most important trail that college students should acquire in their pursuit of a degree and in term, a career: grit. Bock advocates to not take the easy classes for the higher GPA. Additionally, students should enroll in other non-required classes, such as statistics for a computer science degree (Bock himself did so and shared it was pivotal for his growth). This presents the opportunity for students to break away from a linear progression in their degree path, see different perspectives, and grow a skill set that is diverse.
Relating this mindset in my classroom, I begin to reflect on past experiences and brainstorm for new ones. As a teacher, I do not want my students to take the “easy way out” because it not only cheapens their own education, but it also robs the class as a whole. When I first began my time at Mount Carmel HS as a teacher candidate, I was admittedly a bit intimidated by Common Core. It was so out of the box and was not the way I learned math as a student. However, reflecting on a solid semester at MCHS, I have seen the multiple benefits of straying away from algorithmic math and traditional pedagogy. Students are retaining information because it was not handed to them in ways of a formula or worksheet. Students had to actively collaborate and engage with the curriculum in order to learn it. Connections were made. Students learned. And I learned. I learned grit. I learned that it is ok to be intimidated by new curriculum because I have grown so (so so so so…) much as an educator this past semester, in curriculum and in MANY other areas of teaching. Yes, there were difficult moments but I chose to see them as teachable ones. More importantly, I hope my students saw this modeled to them throughout the semester because words are one thing, but actions are another. I learned grit. They inspired me with their grit with an adjustment to Common Core. We learned together. Future employers seek out candidates who have grit. Grit is not learned in a textbook, it is acquired. Source: Friedman, T. L. (2014, April 19). How to Get a Job at Google, Part 2. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google-part-2.html Leave a Reply. |
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