Are You Making the Grade?

We are all familiar with the concept of being graded for the efforts we put forth in school. When you took a test you expected a grade as a result. You also received grades for things other than the display of your knowledge in a certain subject. In the early years you may have received a gold star for finishing an assignment, regardless of how accurate your answers were. A value was often times given for class participation, effort, and your respect toward classmates and classroom equipment, for example. Those grades were recorded, compiled, and sent home periodically in the form of a report card. Report card day was either looked forward to, or dreaded, depending on how you performed as a student.

It seems the idea of giving out grades hasn’t stopped at students. Now it’s being applied to teachers. It wasn’t long ago that politicians, parents and school administrations developed the idea of grading how well of a job our teachers are doing. Whether that idea sparked the next to receive a report card I don’t know…but this week I read that parents could be next in line to receive a letter grade for their efforts and involvement in their child’s education.

The grading system is a powerful tool. It’s there in black and white….there is no longer a question of how you are doing; you either excel, need to put forth more effort, or you are smack dab in the middle; an average student. Bottom line….you know where you stand, what you have to work on, where your strengths lie, whether or not your hard work had paid off, and whether you’ve shown improvement.

So let’s see….how do our report cards stack up? In the subjects of FAMILY, SELF, GOALS, MONEY, and WORK, give yourself a grade: A, B, C, D or F. Be sure to take some time and really be honest with yourself. Are you excelling in any one area? Do you need to work a little harder on another? Maybe you are just riding the fine line of mediocrity; doing just enough to get by? Are you satisfied with your grades or do you feel you need to make some changes? It sometimes doesn’t take much effort to make some small improvements.

And, don’t forget that Gold Star. You deserve extra credit for participation, attempting something new, or taking steps toward a goal! Sometimes it’s the Gold Stars, that when added together make the difference between an F or an A+.

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:

"Life is an error-making and an error-correcting process, and nature in marking man's papers will grade him for wisdom as measured both by survival and by the quality of life of those who survive."  ~Jonas Salk