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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 3 Number 11

COVER STORY
A new museum dedicated to exploring the role of visual art in children's literature from around the world will open in Amherst, Massachusetts in November 2002...
ARTICLES
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Teaching Children about Native Americans -- How teachers can avoid promoting stereotypes by Diane Tells His Name, Oglala Lakota
Update on Operation Deep Freeze by LT. Marshall Branch and Kathleen Carpenter, Editor in Chief
Education's Rotten Apples by Alfie Kohn
Teacher Classroom Control Means Student Self-Control by Bill Page
Keyboarding: Some Assembly Required by Dr. Rob Reilly
The Music, Movement, and Learning Connection by Hap Palmer
Early Years Are Learning Years -- Mathematics Through Play by Dr. Smita Guha
Shifting the Approach - Middle School Math in American Community School, Abu Dhabi by Sara Turansky
The Hero Within by Don Quimby
Textbook Under Test by P R Guruprasad
Introverted Children in Extroverted Schools by Marti Olsen Laney
Vocabulary Words - Jargon by Jay Davidson
If You Can't You Should, If You Should You Must, If You Must, You Can! by Glenn Dietzel
Peace by Joy Jones
Positive Parent Contact Logs - An invaluable addition to the Teacher's Toolbox by Chuck Brickman
Bits and Pieces - Various Small Articles by The Teachers.Net Community
November Columns
November Regular Features
November Informational Items
Gazette Home Delivery:

About Jay Davidson...
Jay Davidson has been teaching in San Francisco since 1969; he teaches first grade. He is the author of Teach Your Children Well: A Teacher's Advice for Parents, which is available for $12.95 at Amazon.com.

He can be reached through his Web site at www.jaydavidson.com.
His column appears Thursdays in the Daily News.

Email: teacher@jaydavidson.com.


Book Info:


Teach Your Children Well: A Teacher's Advice for Parents
by Jay Davidson

$12.95 from Amazon.com
More information



Teacher Feature...

Vocabulary Words - Jargon

by Jay Davidson


What's a monkey dish? A fam trip? Looping? English is a vital and dynamic language. This is reflected in the growth of its vocabulary over hundreds of years. English speakers of two hundred years ago would have difficulty in understanding today's conversations because of the many new words and uses. Industires and occupations have developed words and expressions that are largely known and understood only by people who work in their field. When they expand their conversations to include outsiders, they are faced with puzzled looks because the listeners don't understand what they are talking about.

The same phenomenon happens within generations. This is fertile ground for communication between parents and kids at home. Each of these groups knows vocabulary that is particular to their work, age, or schooling. Having a word or term show up in vocabulary gives both a teaching and a learning opportunity. It's also one of those times that a younger person can demonstrate expertise or knowledge to an older one, becoming the teacher and sharing information that the other does not have. There are many advantages to such interchanges: * The people involved provide greater insight into each other's worlds.

  • The recipients of this knowledge has increased understanding of the profession or industry under discussion.
  • All involved share a playfulness with the language.
  • All parties learn to show an interest and willingness to understand each other through their specialized vocabulary.
  • Everyone understands that other people have different realities than their own.

Now that you have made it through to the end of the column, I can explain the vocabulary in the first sentence:

  • A "monkey dish" is a small bowl used in the restuarant industry for side dishes.
  • Travel agents take "fam trips" to familiarize themselves with new locations.
  • "Looping" refers to the process through which two teachers "loop" between two consecutive grades during a two-year period. For example, Teacher A teaches second grade while Teacher B teaches third; the following year, Teacher A retains her class and takes them to third grade, while Teacher B returns to second grade to begin with a new class.


Jay Davidson's article, Thanksgiving Gratitude, in the November 2001 Gazette, discusses his concerns related to "retail therapy" and the implied message it sends our children.
teachers.net/gazette/NOV01/davidson.html.


Visit www.jaydavidson.com for more information about Jay Davidson.


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