Joan Moser
December 14, 2012
Holiday decorating is a family tradition in our home. Each year, my husband and I haul boxes that seem to multiply like rabbits from the basement to the living room. Year after year, I have been making an ineffective though concerted effort to pare down the decorating.
This year, we unpacked the holiday boxes with a new filter. As we pulled each decoration, ornament, bauble, and bangle from its storage container, we asked these questions: Is this a simple decoration that truly makes us happy? Is it something that matters?
The beat-up, old, gold bell that plays an ancient, somewhat haunting holiday carol not only makes me happy, but because it was my mother's, is something that really does matter to me. A pretty metal tree, still new looking, was easily parted with after viewing it through the new filter. It didn't bring any real happiness and didn't matter to either of us.
As classroom teachers, it can be daunting to unpack Common Core Standards, Education Reform, RTI (Response to Intervention), and more. Our rooms may be filled with curriculum and resources with too little time to implement them.
If we are vigilant about viewing each of these through the filter of the question What really matters for the students in front of me? we will be able to make informed decisions that will bring simplicity, happiness, and intentional, purposeful, meaningful learning to our classrooms.