It’s Closing Time…

I was @ a birthday party on Saturday when I noticed that the owners of the house owned a karaoke machine.

“Hey, Rose. Is that a karaoke machine?” I ever so politely asked.

Do you guys karaoke???

“Yes,” she replied. “Would you like to try it?”

“Try it? Are you kidding? I am the karaoke queen. I am definitely game!”

Boy, did I enjoy myself. I was unstoppable. Six, seven… well, about 15 songs later, I was as happy as I could be. Of course I sang my staple songs, but since I had the mic all to myself, I threw in a new one- Closing Time by Semisonic. I just love this song.

Let me set this up for you: The song’s setting is a bar. I’m not a big fan of bars since I don’t drink, but you don’t really have to be to appreciate the song. The song’s setting isn’t as important as what the song is saying. There is one line in there, in particular, that strikes me as so profound. The line goes:

Every new beginning is some other beginnings’ end.

When I first heard this song a couple of years ago, I thought that that was possibly one of the best sayings I’d ever heard. I have been thinking about that saying because I am beginning my 2nd year of teaching. In order to begin teaching I had to obtain that oh so previously elusive Bachelor’s degree that I had been desiring for so long. That new beginning-teaching- was my other beginning’s end, which was that of completing that long sought after Bachelor’s degree.

Endings can be sweet, they can be bittersweet, they can be horrible, etc… You just never know. For now, I am not concerned about the bittersweet or horrible endings though. Right now, my main concern is about happy endings, or rather happy beginnings.

I may have had a very rocky beginning to my teaching career, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is what has made me who I am. It is what has put the swagger (according to my husband) in my step. So, that’s it; that’s all I have to say for now. I have to go. I need to get up in the morning and continue fixing up my classroom.

As always, here’s to continued success!

The Biggest Difference Between Good & Bad Spellers…

From Marie Rippel @ all-about-spelling.com

What are the biggest differences between a student who knows how to spell and one who struggles?

Kids who are good spellers tend to enjoy learning, read more, and do better in all subject areas. They normally have the confidence that they can tackle most academic learning.

Poor spellers, on the other hand, usually dislike school, are often frustrated, and try to hide their learning challenges.

That was the problem with almost all of my students. They couldn’t spell because some of them didn’t even know the alphabets. I really worked on that. This year, I am going to work on spelling, phonograms, & high frequency & sight words to keep my students on the marvelous track they started on.

Here’s to continued success!