Fort Worth Real Estate Online

Sometimes getting "Straight A's" isn't a good thing.  Sometimes it can actually hurt, and many kids never get over it.

I can remember it now.  Just like it was yesterday.  Me and Ann Marie Zeitz.  We were always the last two standing in the "spell-downs" in the third grade at St Jerome's Catholic School in Cleveland.

Same thing for the "math-downs."  Same for vocabulary, same for the Geography contests, and just about every other test Ann Marie and I ever took.  She was first, I was second, or I was first and she was second... or we were simply both "tied for first place."

I remember our teacher... Sr Mary Of The Cross.  She was an Ursuline Nun.  She's is probably a saint now.  Actually, she was probably a living saint way back then !  She should have been, with everything Ann Marie and I put her through.

It wasn't all "glory" way back then.  Always getting straight A's in a Catholic grade school class... it wasn't easy.  And... the pressure of it all.  But, then again... neither of us felt any pressure whatsoever.  We were just "being us."

But... I guess they felt sorry for us.  Either that, or they didn't want the fourth grade teacher going through the same stuff with us when we were to start back to school the next September after summer break.  So... what did they do ?

They "skipped" us.  Both of us.  Ann Marie skipped the fourth grade... so did I.  Bingo.  Third grade in June, fifth grade three months later.  Ouch !

What they did not realize was... that both of us were already the youngest girls in our class before they skipped us.  And, the shortest.  And the most inward... as each of us were shy and bashful.

There I was... the first Tuesday in that following September... starting fifth grade feeling like even more of an oddball than I did only one year earlier starting the third grade.  At least there was oddball Ann Marie.  At least there were two of us.

If you are the parent of early elementary school-aged children... here is my suggestion.  If you are ever approached by any of your children's teachers about them "skipping" a grade... [I think back then they called it being "accellerated..."] please talk to one of your child's school counselors before you do anything. 

After that first day in fifth grade... I don't think I got even close to escaping my "oddball fish out of water" feelings until my first day in college.  I think I would much rather have preferred being allowed to live my childhood elementary school days... rather than "skip" over them.

OK... here it is.  It's my almost obligatory post on both announcing and congratulating myself that with my last post entitled On Becoming Ourselves... Psychology Meets the Laws of Physics I admit to being "Over The Hill."  I have achieved that magical prize, that feat among feats... of reaching 100,000 Active Rain Points.  This fact... and about $4.95... will get me a really fancy cup of coffee at Starbucks.

So... who do I thank ?  I want to thank my mother... for without her I would not be here.  And I want to thank my Dad... for without him I would not be here either Happy Birthday To My Dad ! !

I want to thank my Cat Mollie, Mollie The Guard Cat, who keeps me safe at night by chasing away the goblins. and who keeps me warm at night, by snuggling with me.

I also want to thank, and to send the warmest wishes possible to a woman I met in 1978... during an extremely tragic period in her life... her name was also "Karen Anne". When I First Met Karen Anne... A Tale of Domestic Abuse .  It is because of this tragic young woman that I began always including my middle name of "Anne," instead of being know as "Karen" up until that time.

I'd also like to thank my friends up in Plano, Texas... Have You Heard About "Checkpoint Acrylic ?" whom I occasionally tease with some of the silly things I write about.

My daughter Robin was a big part of my journaling (which is really what much of blogging is for me) when I wrote Please keep my daughter Robin in your thoughts and prayers tonight... during the month of November, 2007.  Many of you so kindly and graciously shared our sadness with us through Robin losing her longtime pet "Lady."

And then, of course, there is my being thankful for all that I have learned from both my friends, and from those I have yet to meet My First Thought Was... Why Am I Getting All This Hate Mail as I continued to learn the in's and out's of blogging, and how to do all those fancy computer tricks. (I still have much to learn.)

I am very thankful for all the wonderful friends I have met here during my Seven Months on Active Rain.  Thank you all so very much.  MWA !

Before I began my Real Estate Career... I taught seventh and eighth grade in the Cleveland Catholic Schools. One of the programs stressed in our school was called "Becoming A Person." The main tenet of this program was pretty much as the title stated... we... each of us... are all in the process of "Becoming A Person."

Life is not a "state of being"... life is a process. Life is not a "destination"... it is a "direction..." or a "journey."

There are basic laws in physics that state that an object that is in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an "outside force." The other side of that is that an object that is "at rest" tends to stay at rest... unless acted upon by an "outside force."

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We are in luck. We really are ! We... have The Edge. And that "edge"... is "ourselves."

When we combine the sense of "Becoming A Person" with the above laws of physics, we do not have to depend on an "Outside Force" to either change our direction, or to move ourselves from standing totally still... to being in motion.

We... are that force. As hard as it might be to believe this at first... We... are in control.

Whatever it Is that We are thinking... those same thoughts are a perfect reflection of whatever it is that We are becoming.

And since what We are thinking determines what We are feeling... We can also control our feelings.

We have an "Edge." And that "edge"... is "Us."

We have the power to become who We choose to be. Whatever We focus on... We will become.

Whenever We choose to think what We think, and whenever We choose to feel what We feel... whether We know it or not... We are... all by ourselves... choosing who it is that We are becoming.

What are you choosing to think ? What are you choosing to feel ?

Those choices... are YOUR choices.

The thoughts and the feelings that you focus on... are what determines Who and What You Are Becoming.

What Are You Choosing to Think ? What Are You Choosing to Feel ? Who Are You Choosing to Become ?

And can you find... within yourself... the power to Make That Choice ?

I just finished writing a comment on someone's post, and used both the word "scurrilous" and the word "invective" in writing that comment.  After noticing that I used those two words... I then wrote the following:

Wow... there are two words that go all the way back to when I was teaching vocabulary in the Seventh Grade at St Euphemia Catholic Elementary School up in Ohio.  Just think... thanks to me... your's truly... there are at least nine years worth of two classes each of 44 students... that comes out to 792 of my former students... who are walking around this country with decent vocabularies.  Now that just makes a teacher and a mother... proud !

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So now... I pose the following question:  Are today's elementary schools still teaching vocabulary ?

Way back when I taught junior high school... in the Catholic elementary schools... one of my classes was entitled "enrichment reading."  It was as it implies... it was reading above and beyond what was normally taught in the seventh grade back then. 

In addition to that... I also taught my own brand of vocabulary.  Monday through Friday... Five New Words A Day !  It is funny, but I still remember the first word of the first day of the first week of the school year.  Abject:  very low in spirit or hope: miserable; wretched.

Each day... five more words.  Each day... memorize them for the next day.  Everybody... every day !  At the end of each week there was a test.  ALL twenty-five words.  Now, some might think that I would print out the definition, and have my "kids" write in from memory the "vocabulary word" that went along with that particular definition.  Noper... not this teach. 

I handed out the test paper... with each of that week's vocabulary words... numbered One through Twenty Five.  Just the word.  And then... several blank lines... for them to write in... from memory... the exact definition of that word.  And by "exact"... I mean... e x a c t !   Word for word.

Oohhhh... they hated it at first.  Lots of grumbling.  But, when they took their test papers home to get them signed by their parents... boy, yikes, and wow !  Did the parents love them ?  Yes they did !

There are some who remember the teaching of ESL... English as a Second Language.  Unfortunately there are many youngsters "out there" (all immigrants aside) who have trouble speaking English as a First Language.

So... just for fun... those of you with seventh graders in school.  Are your kids learning vocabulary words like I used to teach ?  Share your thoughts on this... if you would be so kind...