Week 7 - Post 2: Mercurial

When and where: While prepping for my reciprocal teaching assignment, I read through the vocabulary articles that Dr Hopkins posted on the Moodle site.  The one that I chose, Flanigan & Greenwood - Effective Content Vocabulary Instruction in the Middle  (if you are signed into Moodle - the link should work) used mercurial at the end to describe students "in the range of the strange" also known as middle schoolers.

Level of familiarity: Since they already claimed that middle schoolers are "strange" I figured it must have something in common. Before I looked it up, I considered what the root word might be, and I decided on something to do with mercury.  Knowing that mercury was once used to soften beaver pelts used in hats, a practice that caused many hatters to go crazy after extended careers - hence, Mad Hatters - I figured that maybe mercurial had to do with "Mad Middle Schoolers" or otherwise refer to someone who is crazy.

What it means: Well I wasn't totally incorrect.  Merriam Webster online dictionary defines mercurial as an adjective that describes something that is rapidly changing or lively and quick.  When I think about the Mad Hatter, I would happily describe him as mercurial.

aliceinwonderland.wikia.com

Reflective commentary:  The more specific definition didn't change my understanding of the description of middle school students.  However, the online dictionary's definition makes more sense with the introduction of the article, which states "Middle school students are transitional. The term, 'typical middle schooler' is automatically an oxymoron, for there is no such thing."  Instead of simply crazy, they are specifically "crazy" because of their constantly changing lives, emotions, reactions, etc.