15: Final Entry/Reflection on Vocabulary Learning

Throughout the course of LTED 625, we were asked to update a blog focusing on learning new words that intrigued us. The goal of this was to build our awareness of how often we encounter new words as well how we approach to learning the new words.

Through this blog, I have become more aware of the numerous words I encounter on a daily basis that I am unfamiliar with. My words are scattered across the spectrum, coming from various sources. It was not until I started the blog entries that I realized how often I encountered unfamiliar words. Previously I would ignore the unfamiliar words or use context clues to help me understand its meaning. After reflecting on the words I looked up, most of the words were words I had come across before, such as in movies or in books, but never gave a second glance. These are the words that intrigued me the most. I wondered how I had heard these words but never gave them a second thought; especially if I had no real idea of their meaning. Such as with ‘guff’ from The Royal Tennebaums. I watched that movie at least 10 times and it was not until the blog that I realized that it was in the movie and I had no idea of its meaning.

My routine literacy practices vary, depending on what a part of the year/semester it is. Not too many of my words came from texts that I read for pleasure as I have little time to invest in a book. Most of my words came from movies or television shows as that is how I relax after a long day. The rest come from articles from either Yahoo or class articles. I read Yahoo articles almost every other day. While I do read the occasional celebrity gossip, I do engage in reading news that pertains to the country in general. Words such as ‘fracking’ came from Yahoo news articles. Once I looked it up, I realized how often I had been expose to word but never realized it. I see this word everywhere now, even on bumper stickers.

As a word learning, I benefited immensely from keeping a vocabulary blog. While I do not recall every single word and definition from my entries, the blog made me more aware of all the words I am exposed to on a daily basis that I do not know their meanings. I know now how truly important it is to be exposed to new words and different ways to learn the words. I have started to become more curious about unfamiliar words and their meanings after writing in the blog. This concept came from the class as well. Now as a teacher I am pushing more vocabulary words and strategies on my students.

This blog entry has embedded in to my life the concepts of both reading-to-learn and writing-to-learn. I read varies types of texts and came across new learnings. When I stumbled upon a new vocabulary word, writing-to-learn help enroot its meaning to my long-term memory. Through exploring the context I found the word, its meaning in context, my level of familiarity, and my reflective commentary, I learned the words and made them my own. ‘Corpulent’ is now one of my favorite words to know. If I did not write about it in my blog entry, I would have never learned this word.

These vocabulary tests have illustrated to me that not all vocabulary tests are like the ones I completed in school. My memories of these tests are the teaching handing us a sheet with all the words and me writing the definitions from short-term memory. Now I realize that vocabulary tests are not all the same. They incorporate different aspects of the word and its meaning. When I give my students vocabulary quizzes, I have them define it and write it in a meaningful sentence in order to show their understanding of the word.

One of the most important concepts this class has taught me is the importance of learning new words. While I will not continue with the blog entries or familiarize myself with the words on the same level as I did in the blog entries, I will continue learning new words. If I stumble across unfamiliar words, especially ones I cannot analyze using context clues, I will look them up. This blog assignment was the catalyst for my new words curiosity. I enjoy learning new words and now I am more aware of new words when I encounter them. This is especially important to me because if I want my students to learn new words, I should continue learning them as well. This way I can share with my students my new words and hope that they are just intrigued by them as I am. In order to continue learning new words, I will look them up in an online dictionary, or simply by going to Google. Once I read the definition, I will mentally write the definition in my own words and then put it in a sentence. This way if I come across the word again, I will understand its meaning.