Reflection

Types of Words and Texts

I was wary of this assignment at first, to be honest.  I thought that I used context clues too much to really struggle to understand any new word.  I was surprised to see that it was fairly easy to find words that I could look up for this assignment.  

I never realized that I read so many magazines.  I never have considered myself as someone who reads magazines - but two of my fourteen words came from magazines (dunridge and ossified).  This blog made me think about where I was getting information and what I was reading.  Without looking closely at my reading, I thought that I mostly read texts for grad classes and searched on the internet for lessons.  I felt like I hadn't been reading a lot lately - and certain nothing that would produce new words.  But, in reality, I found new words all over the place.

I tried to stay away from science heavy vocabulary - it was tempting, but I wanted this blog to be about words that I could use and that the others in my class might also be able to use.  I seemed to find a lot of words that were content specific or rarely used.  I think that only a few of these words I will incorporate into my everyday language.  However, many of these words are those that I had confused with another - so these I can use and be confident that I am now correct in using them.


Vocabulary Tests

I think I gained a better understanding of what it means to master a word.  I think that it makes sense that to truly know a word, a person has to be able to spell the word, define the word, use the word in context, and even connect the word to others.  Vocabulary should be more than being able to spit out a definition from a dictionary or textbook.

The spelling part was still terrifying, though.


Learning Impacts and Implications 
  I have a greater understanding of the texts that I looked up a word from.  I think that this is because I was interacting with the text for longer than just to absorb the information.  As I wrote about in my ameliorate post, often I just use the context clues and move on.  I don't spend time thinking about what a word might mean.  This blog made me stop and notice when a word was new or something I couldn't quite define.  Then, once I had looked up the word, I went back and thought about the word in context and how the meaning would have changed if a different word was used. 

I think this is a good example of writing to learn.  I had to stop and think, organize, and express my thoughts on the word, which made me gain a better understanding of the word and of the text that the word was in.

I think that this looking for new words and thinking about their meaning and purpose within the text has become somewhat of a habit.  I can't say that I will spend any more time writing to learn these new words or helping me understand the text a little better.  But I will continue to consider new words and notice when I need to look up a word and actually look it up!