The Common Cold (HACK, COUGH and repeat)

This is the tale of a cold, a cold that clung on like ticks on deer hide. It is getting better by small degrees. I wish for leaps and bounds but it is not so. So I continue to eat my homemade chicken noodle soup, drink my tea, drink my lemon and honey. I have restless nights and early mornings. I had a spurt on my medicine where I accomplished a lot. I think it might have been a bad idea to go so hard because now I am exhausted. So  I hope they are right about how many weeks this lasts because next week will be my fourth week. I hope it is coming to a close.

The next few months are overbooked, over-scheduled, and overwhelming. That is just for school. My own life will have to happen one way or another. So hopefully I can get well and reboot. This is why teachers need breaks. I am telling you. The janitors need us to go away for awhile so they can sanitize the nasty germs. The students need a break so they can come back refreshed. Learning new things every day is difficult.  I am almost afraid to read my e-mail lately because it is usually something MORE.  I don't know how our district can take another million dollar budget shortfall. You know what is ridiculously frustrating about this. We can get funds. Do you think those funds can be spent on anything we actually need? NOPE!  We just got a grant the grant cannot be used for salaries, supplies, technology, capital improvements and more. Capital improvements are improvements to your building or environment so say we wanted to buy new chairs because none have been purchased since the 70's and we don't have enough NOPE!  So it goes. The government makes everything a little more painful don't they?  

I had the question about Common Core again! AGAIN! The people who are so anti-Common Core just please go read the Common Core Standards.  They are just a set of concepts that need to be taught. NOT a curriculum. I am not saying they are all that and a bag of chips with extra yummy salsa. I'm just saying what you are calling "Common Core" may be something else entirely. Just read them for yourself.  Our state adopted them but promptly changed their name. They changed their name in part to make any adjustments they thought they might need to, but also to encompass all the standards our state requires. For instance Common Core Standards do not tell what is taught in Social Studies each state adopts their own standards for Social Studies, Science, and the Arts. So there ya go! Read them for yourself.

I put a much needed document in a "safe" place. I'm losing my mind looking for it. So it is time to go to bed and find the "safe" place tomorrow. I am definitely going to label a box "safe place". HA