Sunday, October 9, 2011

Logosphilia & Learning

Word love, baby.  I love tropes and poetry and lit and foreign word lists. More fodder for word play and manipulation, which we work to make an art form 'round here.

My new words for the week (with thanks to the imitable Ms. L'Engle):

iconoclast; One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions
widdershins; In a contrary or counterclockwise direction
hubris; Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance
ontological; Of or relating to essence or the nature of being
fulsome; Offensively flattering or insincere.
soporific; Inducing or tending to induce sleep. Drowsy
poniards; A dagger typically having a slender square or triangular blade
perfidy; deliberate breach of faith, treachery
gauche; awkward, lacking social grace, crude
peutile (french); capable of panic or disorder
lugubrious; mournful, dismal or gloomy
diaphanous; vague or unsubstantial
sarxy; fleshly, pollution of the spirit

I love the word sarxy. Anything with a "x" in it deserves special mention, dontcha' think?

Over at the Hive there was a whole discussion about what home school parents are learning. I think it's an important question. If we are not learning as teachers, how are we keeping the material fresh and engaging for our students? This fall I'm teaching high schoolers Creative Writing and Drawing. I'm also teaching a group of 3rd graders writing. It is so fun to teach the very beginner writer as well as the more mature, serious writer. It jazzes me. I'm challenged to really "get" grammar so that I can engage the notsolittles with it and help them realize that it's just an engaging game, not something to be intimidated or threatened by (which I was for years, hence my struggle in foreign language study). I'm challenged to keep writing and reading myself or the high shcoolers will trounce me. Oh yeah. These are sharp kids. Their writing just thrills me. I would not, at all, be surprised in more than one of my few students ended up being a published author.

My dh, the polymath and voracious learner, is tucking another language under his belt (his 4th) and goes around waxing lyrical in Hebrew. It's is enchanting. Far more enchanting than all of the 70's songs he sings to me, (but not as funny : ).  He is always learning something and can engage intelligently with a plethora of subjects. I can engage intelligently about a handful of subjects. I figure all of the recipes and kids birthday and personal  info that are filed in my brain is taking up quite a bit of brain space. Still, with that, I am intentional about learning all of the time in certain areas: my faith, writing/lit, gardening/landscaping, relationships (human development/therapy/sociology, creativity and education. Our house fire/ re-build has forced us to learn about building and construction among other things. Which has been an exhausting blast.

I love the idea that to study is worship. Thinking of it as such expands the meaning and forms of worship.

What new words have you come across lately? What are you learning? What jazzes you most?

1 comment:

Michelle Brown said...

Windershins and sarxy are my favorite. What an awesome list.

Following from the blog hop.