Word of the Week

Late last week, I asked my FB friends to nominate cliche phrases that they'd like to see disappear. They offered up several useless, trite sayings such as: "just saying," "my bad," "it is what it is" and others. Lake Superior State University (in the UP) creates a list of words or phrases to be banished in the coming new year.

Vocabulary and word choice are two issues I address quite clearly with my students when we are reading. Why did the author use that word and not this one? Additionally, I try to challenge my students to step up their vocabulary and I never speak down to them. If I use a big fancy word, I write it down for them and give them a brief definition. I'm always a bit pleased with how many will write that word down some place and some will even take it out for a test drive in a discussion or a piece of writing.

I think I would be remiss if I passed up this teachable moment and not offer up some more precise and eloquent replacement words. I'll make this list alphabetical and I ask you to use the word (or a variation of it) in the comments.

This week's word is - admonish (verb) 1. to warn or express displeasure in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner or 2. to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement.

* All definitions are taken from an old-fashioned dictionary that sits on my book shelf: Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition, 1997

Thing 19

Last year, I asked our district tech department about podcasts. I had listened to a couple and thought that it would be cool and relevant if my students could create their own podcasts. I am sorry to say that I received several blank stares. I quietly excused myself, backed out of the room, and returned to my room - where I laid my head on my desk and silently wept for not having thrown caution to the wind and become a rock n'roll photographer, salary and sleep deprivation be damned.

For some reason, I was unable to watch either of the RESA podcasts on my laptop (told myself to watch them at the ex's later in the week), so I went directly to the third link.

The first podcast I watched was the Sesame Street on about language acquisition. I suppose because as the mom on a mildly autistic mom, repetitive language is a daily struggle. He has grown up with two teachers, so his receptive language is pretty impressive, but he struggles with his expressive language, though he has come a long way in the past year.

Additionally, a large number of my students were not born in this country and thus come from an English as Second Language background. Many of them do not speak English at home and, thanks to satellite television, only hear it at school. I've struggled for a few years with an effective way to handle vocabulary. I guess I just have to surround my high school students with vocabulary in the same manner I did my adopted-from-China-didn't-know-he-was autistic son. Don't talk down to them, be diligent about my word wall, and keep reading the research.

The second one I watched was for pure pleasure because I needed a Glenn Tilbrook fix. I can't really talk about it publicly, but I have secret plans to make him mine ;)

The final one I found was a series of four about the History of Photography. This is the great passion of my life and I'm always looking to know more about it. Of course, I was drawn in to it due to the iconic Dorothea Lange "Migrant Mother" photograph.

I still want my students to make a podcast and it would be great to find some podcasts about the craft of writing and maybe I can share those with my students. I'll save that search for thing 20.