Staying Caught Up with the Curriculum

Rebecca Alber from Edutopia mentions how teachers are always telling each other how far behind they are with the curriculum.  For example, their class should be on lesson 12, but they are only on lesson 9.  The debate becomes: Is it more important to rush through all of the topics that need to be covered in the curriculum or to slow down and enjoy teaching a little more?  I think the important thing to consider here is that many times people who are not teachers are the ones who are deciding the curriculum content.  What these non teachers fail to realize is that there is a lot more to teaching than just the subject matter.  School projects, social interactions and behavior issues are just a few of the many other aspects of teaching.  My vote is to slow down and cover as much material as possible without stressing out too much.