The True Common Core Is the “Heart” … | By: Committee for Children By Joy Brooke The Common Core standards were adopted by 48 out of the 50 states this past year, and in doing so, created national standards for every subject in every grade. But they forgot one thing: social and emotional skills. So, does that mean we aren’t responsible for these as educators? “Isn’t this a task for the home?” “There is already too much to teach!” “I am on overload with the Common Core.” This is what I have been hearing from many of my colleagues and other teachers these days. It’s true: it is tough to “fit it all in”. I agree with Aristotle that “educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” By teaching social-emotional skills, and bringing it into our every-day routine, we may actually discover that the “core” we all have in common is our hearts. And when our hearts are cared for and educated, we actually learn more and live more peacefully. When our students feel that they belong, they have stronger relationships, are listened to, met right where they are, and challenged to get to that next step. They are given the tools to be successful in life. These are the keys to success and great learning, and many times hard to assess until years later. A few weeks ago one of my former second graders, who is now a freshman in high school, told me, “Mrs. Brooke, you gave me the tools to believe I could do anything I wanted to do in life.” Wow! These were powerful words. I was at first taken aback. Had I made all my students feel this way? How exactly did I do this? It wasn’t the fact that I taught each subject effectively and aligned them appropriately with the Common Core standards. It was something more…the everyday little moments. It was the way I made her feel. Let’s reflect on how we are making our students feel during these stressful times in education. Let’s have a little compassion for our students now and throughout the year by remembering what matters most. Yes, there is a test. And yes, as teachers we are now even being evaluated based on those scores. But in the end, we all must remember that children are not scores. They have cores, and those cores are their little hearts.