Ten Commandments

Sometimes things show in my mailbox and I don't have a valid explanation for it.  I'm sure many of you can relate to junk mail, but I've had some magazines pop up in my mailbox that don't make any sense. Oh well, that's another blog post. One magazine that shows up frequently is my S&C: School and Community magazine. It's the magazine for Missouri educators (that's me!). I'm 98% sure it's in my hands right now because of my membership to MSTA. 

This issue had several articles that stuck out to me. First, an article about the Common Core State Standards. Has your state adopted them? According to the mag, 43 states have officially adopted the standards. The article started with a statistic from the Missouri Teachers Association Leadership Symposium this year: 41% of attendees felt that they were familiar with the basic idea of CCSS, but did not feel confident in the specifics of the standards. Eeek! I feel the same! I am barely getting used to the grade level expectations. Now, we're talking alignment!? Whew. I need to sit down and let me brain soak it all in. On an extremely positive note, I'm excited to be involved in this incredible process of creating career and college ready individuals. This quote sums it up, "Common Core streamlines your curriculum and allows you to move deeper with learning. [...] We will experience greater success with students when we simplify."  

Tell me your thoughts! Have you started preparing for the Common Core?

Another article that grabbed my attention was about stress. Sometimes I feel like a magnet that attracts stress wherever I go. I find myself worrying about situations out of my control and stressing to no end. My To Do list tends to grow as I check off another item and I can never squeeze it all in one day. Now as I sit here stressing about my high levels of stress, I can find comfort in these commandments:

Ten Commandments for Reducing Stress
The Joy Project

1. Thou shalt not be perfect nor even try to be. 

2. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people and spread thyself too thin. 

3. Thou shalt leave things undone that ought to be done. 

4. Thou shalt not criticize thyself for decisions that were made without the benefit of hindsight. 

5. Thou shalt learn to say ‘No’. 

6. Thou shalt schedule time for thyself and thy supportive network. 

7. Thou shalt switch off and do nothing regularly. 

8. Thou shalt be boring, untidy, inelegant, and unattractive at times. 

9. Thou shalt not even feel guilty. 

10. Especially, thou shalt not be thine own worst enemy, but be thy best friend.

I think I will tackle one commandment at a time. I'll start with number eight. It seems to be the easiest and requires the least amount of change for the time being.