12:8 Vindicated

When and Where Did I Find It: I heard this word while listening to the song “Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional. The lyrics say, “I am Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right, I swear I’m right, I swear I knew it all along.”

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com,  vindicated means “to clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments of proof.”

Level of Familiarity: I have never heard this word before.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I was interested in looking this word up after I heard the song. I do not have much interest in researching it any further. I hope to never be in a situation where this word would be needed.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why?  I am not going to encourage others to familiarize themselves with this word. It has a very low level of transportability, and would rarely ever be used in conversation. Check out Dashboard Confessional’s song though. J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf5qrVdD9E0&feature=related

12:7 Autonomy

When and Where Did I Find It: I retrieved this word from Emily’s reciprocal teaching article, Montelongo & Herter’s (2010), “Using technology to support expository reading and writing in science classes.” The context is was used in stated, “Teachers can even encourage students to embellish their compositions through the use of a clip-art program or their own artwork and to enhance with pictures what they have conveyed with words, thus reinforcing student autonomy.”

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com,  autonomy means, “independence or freedom, as of the will or one’s actions.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/autonomy

Level of Familiarity: This is a word that I have seen and heard many times before. However, other than knowing it had to do with oneself, my level of familiarity was very limited.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I am determined to permanently add this term to my vocabulary. It plays a significant role in my own personal views of what a learning experience should be like. Although I want everything to be organized and effective in my own classroom, I also believe that my students should have the independence, freedom, and responsibility in their own learning.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why?  I encourage all my peers to familiarize themselves with this term. Autonomy can be highly correlated with increases in motivation and achievement. Giving more responsibility and freedom to our students allows for more creativity and expression. This allows our learners to make a more personal connection with the content.

12:6 Nuance

When and Where Did I Find It: I was re-reading my highlighted notes from Fisher & Frey’s “Word-Wise & Content Rich” when I came across this word. The sentence read, “Extensive vocabularies help one refine one’s thinking through more nuance and sophistication.” I already had the word highlighted but had no idea what it meant.

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com,  nuance means “shade of expression, color, or meaning.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nuance
               
Level of Familiarity: I am not familiar with this word at all.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I find this word to be fairly interesting, and would like to become more familiar with it. However, I feel this word would be difficult for me to implement into my casual conversations. I need more practice with this word to figure out when it is appropriate to use without sounding forced or out of place.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why?  I do not think this word is particularly important to the point where people should strive to learn it. It is the concept of the word that I urge people to pay more attention to. Highlighting or providing more depth and meaning to information will increase our student’s chances of retention and comprehension.

12:5 Debate

When and Where Did I Find It: I decided to choose this word when I picked to do a creative debate for strategy seven for the part two of the SCATP.

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com, it means “A formal contest in which the affirmative and negative sides of a proposition or issue are advocated by opposing speakers.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/debate
               
Level of Familiarity: I am very familiar with this word.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? This is a significant term and concept for me to know and understand as a social studies teacher. Implementing a debate in my classroom would allow the students to view information from multiple perspectives. It is also highly relevant to the debates we see on TV between political candidates. This allows me to see how knowledgeable or passionate those candidates are concerning specific issues.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why?  I think this word would be highly useful for others to be cognizant of. Debating allows for multiple perspectives to be researched and analyzed. This can be especially useful for controversial issues. Debates can be administered in many others content areas other than social studies. As teachers, we are also empowering our students in their student-led discussion after their research is complete.

12:4 Loquacious

When and Where Did I Find It: I was substitute teaching in a middle school for a 6:1:1 self-contained classroom the other day. These students displayed very poor behavior and were way too noisy and talkative. I needed a synonym for this in my note to the teacher to sound more professional and ended up saying, “The students were rather loquacious today.” Now that I think about it, I wonder if that teacher went to the dictionary after reading my note.

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com, it means “Talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative; chattering.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loquacious

               
Level of Familiarity: I am not familiar with this word at all.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I am very interested in learning this word in more depth. As a teacher it is important to be able to use appropriate vocabulary. This is especially true when using words to describe students. It would be beneficial for me to learn synonyms to more words that will help me in describing student action and behavior.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why? I think it would be a great idea for others to learn this word. It is a great vocabulary word that can be used to describe a situation that is hard to depict as pleasant. This word has a more professional vibe to it. It would be advantageous for all of us in the education to develop a more refined vocabulary.

12:3 Sublime

When and Where Did I Find It: I encountered this word while teaching at Penfield H.S. today. A girl was wearing a t-shirt in honor of the musical group “Sublime” Someone asked her what the name meant, and nobody in the class knew the definition.

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com, sublime means,”Lofty, grand, or exhalted in thought, expression, or manner.

               
Level of Familiarity: I am not familiar with this word at all.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I was very interested to look up the meaning of this word for the class. Especially since it is a word many of us have used, heard, or encountered through media, but may have not thought to understand. After finding out what the definition was, I can confidently say the pumpkin caramel cheesecake I had over the weekend was truly sublime.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why? I think it would be useful for you to become more familiar with this word. This gives people an adjective to use for some of the things they are passionate about. It also has the ability/potential to be transferred to multiple discourses.

12:2 Artifact

When and Where Did I Find It: This word was used in conversation during the movie “National Treasure”. The character said, “You need to be careful in here. These artifacts are priceless.”

What It Means?: According to www.dictionary.com, artifact means,”A handmade object representing a particular culture or stage of technological development; a characteristic product made by human activity.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/artifact   

                  
Level of Familiarity: I am very familiar with this word. It is often used in social studies classrooms

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? This is a very important word for me to be familiar with as a history teacher. Much of what we know about ancient history has been determined through scrupulous study of artifacts.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well..if so Who and Why? I would recommend that you become more familiar with this word. Artifacts have played a large role in what we know about ancient civilizations which has shaped the world we live in today. Artifacts can also refer to student/teacher generated work which is useful to know as educators.