# [[EDUC 7650]] Assignment 3 Jethro Jones ## Assignment Directions **First**, as a start to this week's response, **please return** to what I wrote on your last week's submission and give me a sentence or two response in this assignment. Simply begin with "From last week..." and share your reactions.  **Second**, we talked about the importance of **thanking**, how this benefits the recipient and you and the value of a gratitude culture. Your assignment is to send a _handwritten_ note to someone - either through the mail or placed in their mailbox or on their desk - that expresses your appreciation. Here, in Canvas, let me know that you did this. IF you wish, you can share the identity of the recipient, and/or their role, and/or your rationale, but that's up to you.  **Third**, gasp, what thoughts do you have after reading the [following](https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2025/01/22/everything-a-university-does-can-be-done-in-half-the-time-for-half-the-cost/)? Do you **agree** with the author? ## Assignment From last week: regarding the links not working before, they are updated now. I'm publishing all my doctoral work at drjethro.com and you can see everything for your course at drjethro.com/7650. Everything will be linked from there. Regarding the ideas around the [[7650 Assignment 2|bathroom makeover]], you are correct that it was a little thing that was not so little at all. This is a key missing ingredient in much of our work in schools. We put a lot of emphasis and focus on what needs to be done, and usually, a much smaller action can lead to a much bigger result. Which is a good tie in to the [article we read this week](https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2025/01/22/everything-a-university-does-can-be-done-in-half-the-time-for-half-the-cost/). Ironically, many people seem to be losing their minds about what is happening in the United States Government right now with Elon Musk being tasked with sharp reductions in waste. I don't understand why people think that it is so terrible that people are being forced to justify why they should have jobs. If that's scary, it seems like a pretty good indication that your job might not be necessary. It's been fascinating to see people getting upset in the media about actually looking for places where this waste happens. The web site [datarepublican.com](https://datarepublican.com) shares an easy to search view of many of these universities and trusts that are getting money, sometimes for questionable things. Other situations, it makes sense. The problem is there is a huge amount of waste, as any government employee (including educators) will tell you. Perhaps my biggest frustration with college is that it is supposed to prepare people for work, but so many people did not learn the necessary skills to do work in their undergraduate, graduate, and even professional courses. IF university is preparing us for a job, it should give us opportunities to *do* that job. Anderson's comment: "Indeed, paralegals in law and nurse practitioners in medicine can do at least 50 percent of what their fully credentialed superiors do, and they can do so for a fraction of the cost." In education also, we need to regularly provide pathways for people to go from graduating high school to working in the school district to becoming teachers (or other professions) as a sensible viable career path. But those pathways don't usually exist anywhere. Finally, as it relates to notes of gratitude, this is a practice I've been doing for a long time. If you're interested, you can check this [link here](https://jethro.site/nagging).