Words Have Meaning

 


Words have meaning. They are our keys to the universe. They are indispensable in our daily lives. Nothing happens without the application of language.

This blog will be a place for me, as an educator of the English Language, to ponder, propose, explore, and otherwise delve into English.

One key use of language in our modern world is on the internet. This blog is exemplary of how words are used to interface with the wider world. If you're reading this you're either a part of my class or you've stumbled here while questing the world wide web for "words".

This initial installment is being done for a class I'm taking, but I hope to continue to use this blog and grow it over my future as an educator.

I wish to discuss technology and how it is used in the study and teaching of Language Arts. This blog is a perfect example of a way technology can be used to facilitate learning in a Language Arts class. I am writing this in a classroom in southeast Missouri. You might be reading this in southern Europe or western Asia. Gone are the days of graphite scribbles on parchment. I type. You read. We may never even stand on the same continent. The ever-evolving miracle of technology.

Technology enables us to communicate, and communication is the core motivation for language. In my future classroom (or current, if you're reading this years after its writing and I've managed to achieve my goal of tenured instructor) my students will use blogs much like this one to express themselves. They will read the blogs of fellow students and share comments. Thoughts will be exchanged. Ideas will merge and grow together. As a class we will engage in collaborative learning. What did we read today? How did it affect us? What impact did it have on those who came before us? Will that impact be changed when our children read it? Student centered blogs will promote interactive learning. As teacher I would be extremely judicious with input. The blogs should be a way for the students to express themselves freely and without fear of censure.

Games can also play a role in self-improvement. A popular choice currently is Zynga's Words With Friends.

It plays like Scrabble but can be played on-line or with a mobile phone or device. Players challenge their friends to a one-on-one game and create words for points using the letters drawn randomly by the game. Each player goes in turn and games can last for days. This is a fun way to encourage students to explore new words and to develop an expanded vocabulary. Games like Hangman, Word Scramble, and various vocabulary games can also be found online or in mobile apps. This site has a few games to choose from.