Back to School Song of the Day - Sunshine - The Knocks (Remix)

Picking up where I left off last night on John's World, today is the start of another school year, my 16th, and I am excited for what the future will bring.  Listening to the remix of The Knocks' Sunshine helps me see the sunshine ahead, and hopefully after a listen you will too!  Here's to more times like these...

 

Here's Sunshine...

Song of the Day - Back to Life - Soul II Soul

I've got two traditional songs I usually play this time of the year.  I'm not sure if I'll do the other one yet...stay tuned...but since today is the first day of school, well, it's back to life for me.  Getting back to life is always a good thing, whether we believe it or not.  Summer vacation is wonderful, but reality is what allows that to happen, so you've got to just do it.  So anyway, as I go back to school today with all of my kiddies, you click play and enjoy this absolutely awesome acapella version of Soul II Soul's Back to Life... 

Back to School Song of the Day - You Gotta Be - Des'ree

Listen as your day unfolds

Challenge what the future holds

Try to keep your head up to the sky

Every year on the first day of school I like to post something inspirational, just to get the year started on an uplifting note.  Almost always the song I choose to post is Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten, but this year I thought I'd try something new.  Des'ree's 1994 smash surely qualifies as inspirational, and I hope that any of you who are starting a new year today with a fresh slate take a listen and make it a great school year!  Enjoy!

Song of the Day - Roam - B-52's

Today is Field Trip Day!  Every year I take my students to one of the greatest places on Earth, which just happens to be a couple of hours trip from our school. Yes, I'm talking about New York City.  Over the past few years, my class has gotten to experience just a bit of what NYC has to offer, including a trip to see Wicked on Broadway last year, the Statue of Liberty, MoMA, and Central Park, our destination today.

This will be our second trip to one of the most well-known city parks in the world.  I polled some past students about what their favorite trip was in order to get an idea for this year's venture, and to a person, they all said Central Park.  Central Park is such a unique and fun destination for the students because we'll get to mix a little bit of learning along with some time to just roam around enjoying the space and one another.  And such is my choice for today's tune.  Check out Roam...

  

Back to School Song of the Day - Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined

I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

This song has become somewhat of a tradition for me on the first day of school.  It's one of my favorite tunes for a lot of reasons, the best of which is that it is a call for a fresh start, one in which you live your life with arms wide open, feel the rain on your skin and release your inhibitions.  it's a great theme for a new school year, or just about any other time in one's life when they would like to begin anew and live a life full of hope, love and possibility.  

That picture above is from a few years back, after a teacher conference day in which our superintendent asked teachers to recognize some of their colleagues for their hard work and dedication to their profession.  Out of three teachers who received the honor, I was the only one of whom  not one, but three fellow teachers were inspired to nominate.  It was one of the proudest moments of my teaching career and one which I must keep in mind as I move on into this one, potentially one of the most difficult of school years for me, personally.

New York State has changed the laws concerning the education of English Language Learners in a big way, and though everyone is being affected by it, the consequences for me have turned out to be very difficult.  The law was at first applauded by ESL teachers everywhere, as our kids are finally getting some attention that has been badly missing for years and years.  However, I am sure I am not the only one who will begin to suffer for it as my workload has increased greatly, forcing me to squeeze even more out of my school day and on into my, um, free time.

Until this year I have always looked forward to the first day of school.  I get to see my kids again, craziness and all.  But for the very first time in my now 13-year teaching career, I am also dreading it. I am actually cross-posting this one on both John's Music World and John's World as this one's as much of a memoir as it is a Song of the Day.  

As goes with my life, I look for inspiration in music to get me through the tough times, and today's song will be very meaningful for me in getting through the day and the year.  For right now, I am going to let the sun illuminate the words that I cannot find and begin my book not with despair, but with hope.  Fingers crossed!

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines

We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten