Thursday, September 22, 2011

I'm a Snob

A spelling snob to be exact.

I hate it when I see misspelled words.
Not that I don't ever make those mistakes. Mine are usually from carelessness with checking because I pride myself on my ability to spell well.
But, I can spot them anywhere and I always point them out.
I notice them in books, notes, letters and signs.
It's like a game to me now.

It all started in the 3rd grade.
I was an excellent speller and won the Spelling Bee for Terrell Elementary School in San Jose. I then went on to the city championship, being one of two finalists left.

I lost.
I misspelled RESPONSIBILITY.

I went home that night and started memorizing the spelling of many words in "chunks" or with "chants". I teach the same chunks and chants to my students. My favorite one is to teach them how to spell "friend."
I tell them to first spell "f'" and then "r" because you can hear those two letters first. Then I chant, "I will be your friend until the very end." This shows that the letter "i" comes next and when you cover up the "fri"...you see the word "end" just like we said in the chant.
They all love it!

So, yeah...I'm a big spelling snob. I struggle with simple math problems sometimes and I have poor common sense, but spelling...it's my forte. Are you looking it up?:)


3 comments:

  1. Nah, didn't have to look it up, Shalimar. You see, I'm a WORD snob. Gimme a crossword puzzle and I'm a happy camper. Loved your FRIEND story (and I'm sure your friends do,too)!

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  2. Eye haight win poeple spell wrds rong. Oh wow, that was hard. I think that in order to be a teacher, secretary, principal, or someone sending out mass emails, you have to pass an elementary grammar test. There their they're? Your you're? Sentences without subjects or predicates? Geez.

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