When & Where: I actually came across this word in my own mind as I was writing an e-mail to my friend, Melissa. She had sent me an e-mail about a new Over the Rhine song she wanted me to download. For some reason, as I was writing to tell her I would download it soon, the word posthaste came to my mind. I wrote, "I will listen to your song posthaste."
Level of Familiarity: Before I wrote the word, I needed to find out if my assumption about what it means was accurate. I'm not even sure where I ever heard this word before, and I know I have never used it.
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines posthaste as "very quickly; with great speed." So, happily, I was correct.
Reflective Commentary: When I write to this particular friend, an English teacher who has been referred to by others as an "intellectual bulldog," I am always mindful of being articulate and writerly. She is the only person I know whose e-mails read like Pulitzer prize-winners, so she has set the bar very high. I think it's interesting how, in situations like this one, my mind seems to grab for "fancy" words ... ones that I never even knew that I knew! Now that I know (and know that I know) this word, I am sure that I will use it again. I sometimes think that using interesting and uncommon words isn't so much a way of being snooty as it is to be ironic and add a little "spice" to otherwise routine conversation. For some reason, posthaste makes me smile.
It is also interesting to me that this word came from my own head, yet I still wasn't sure I knew the meaning. This is a testament to the incrementality of vocabulary learning. I heard it before, I remembered it, I would likely understand it in context, but was not yet at the level where I could use it confidently.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
4:1 - Inimical
When & Where: I read inimical tonight in a chapter by Tatum (2011) entitled, "Diversity in Literacy" in the Samuels and Farstrup's (eds., 2011) What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (4th ed.). This is the new literacy program text that will be taking the place of The Handbook. Tatum (2011) writes, "A failure to become astute about [various factors']...impact [on] educational outcomes not only becomes inimical of students of color, but to the nation..." (p. 429).
Level of Familiarity: I do believe I have seen this word before. I know I have never used it. I had difficulty trying to ascertain it's meaning in context, but my best guess was that it was related to the idea of disadvantage.
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines inimical as "likely to cause damage or have a bad effect."
Reflective Commentary: This is a really good example of academic vocabulary in the discipline of literacy education. It is not content vocabulary that can be associated with a given "thing" related to literacy, but rather it is a word used in research-focused texts, uncommon in other contexts. I can definitely see myself using this word, especially since so much of my writing and teaching deals with the ways that certain voices are privileged while others are silenced in educational settings. In my recent experiences with Common Core Assessments, I would certainly say that standard-setting methodologies are inimical to students, teachers, and administrators. This is a word I would like to remember.
Level of Familiarity: I do believe I have seen this word before. I know I have never used it. I had difficulty trying to ascertain it's meaning in context, but my best guess was that it was related to the idea of disadvantage.
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines inimical as "likely to cause damage or have a bad effect."
Reflective Commentary: This is a really good example of academic vocabulary in the discipline of literacy education. It is not content vocabulary that can be associated with a given "thing" related to literacy, but rather it is a word used in research-focused texts, uncommon in other contexts. I can definitely see myself using this word, especially since so much of my writing and teaching deals with the ways that certain voices are privileged while others are silenced in educational settings. In my recent experiences with Common Core Assessments, I would certainly say that standard-setting methodologies are inimical to students, teachers, and administrators. This is a word I would like to remember.
Monday, September 23, 2013
3:2 - Coalesce
When & Where: I read coalesce in a book I am reviewing called Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core (Ippolito, Lawrence, & Zaller, eds., 2013). The sentence was: Using "definition-focused instructional practice ... is a good strategy for coalescing understanding of a new word, but not as effective as establishing an initial understanding of it" (Lawrence, Maher, & Snow, 2013, p. 63).Level of Familiarity: I have definitely heard this word before, but for some reason I always thought of it as meaning "bring together." That doesn't seem to be what it means here. In context, coalescing seems juxtaposed to the word "established." This indicates to me that coalesce means something like "begins" or "initiates."
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines coalesce as "to blend or come together."
Reflective Commentary: My initial assumption was correct; however, I now am having difficulty seeing this word as the most appropriate to use in this sentence. Namely, how does receiving a definition of a word coalesce understandings? Instead, I would think that coalescing of understandings could only happen when students have multiple exposures to a given word, a definition, opportunities to use it, etc. I now question whether or not the authors used the word correctly here. I think what they intended to say was that providing definitions establishes an initial understanding but does not coalesce understandings.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
3:1 - Guarantor
When & Where: I heard guarantor during a meeting for a task force I was asked to serve on. The purpose of the task force is encourage students' financial literacy through engagement with a web-based tool called "Salt." The presenter informed us that the company that runs the site, ASA, is a guarantor of student loans.
Level of Familiarity: I have definitely heard the word before, probably when I was dealing with student loans in graduate school. What it meant didn't seem to matter back then. Now, however, I feel it is more important to understand what it means in order conceptualize what it is that Salt does.
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines guarantor as "one that guarantees." This is not helpful. I know the word "guarantee" but I don't understand what this means in relationship to student loans. I realized that I needed to look elsewhere. I Googled "guarantor of student loans" and came across this definition on Wikipedia: "a person or agency that agrees to pay someone else's debt should he or she default on a loan."
Reflective Commentary: I now understand a guarantor to be essentially a debt management entity, a concept that I am familiar with. I don't see myself using this word very often since I don't have many conversations about loans or debt in my daily life. Eventually, though, I am sure I will need to walk this road as a parent.
I really enjoy using uncommon words and adapting words from one context into another. I do wonder if I might use this word in another context though in a more metaphorical way. For example, whether I could say that I've been a "guarantor" of something after helping to clean up somebody's mess after they have made a mistake?
Level of Familiarity: I have definitely heard the word before, probably when I was dealing with student loans in graduate school. What it meant didn't seem to matter back then. Now, however, I feel it is more important to understand what it means in order conceptualize what it is that Salt does.
What it Means: Dictionary.com defines guarantor as "one that guarantees." This is not helpful. I know the word "guarantee" but I don't understand what this means in relationship to student loans. I realized that I needed to look elsewhere. I Googled "guarantor of student loans" and came across this definition on Wikipedia: "a person or agency that agrees to pay someone else's debt should he or she default on a loan."
Reflective Commentary: I now understand a guarantor to be essentially a debt management entity, a concept that I am familiar with. I don't see myself using this word very often since I don't have many conversations about loans or debt in my daily life. Eventually, though, I am sure I will need to walk this road as a parent.
I really enjoy using uncommon words and adapting words from one context into another. I do wonder if I might use this word in another context though in a more metaphorical way. For example, whether I could say that I've been a "guarantor" of something after helping to clean up somebody's mess after they have made a mistake?
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