Tag Archives: professional development

Term of Art: Special Education

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

“special education: Programs to identify and meet the education needs of students with emotional, learning, or physical disabilities. Federal law requires that all students with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate education according to the specifications of an Individualized Education Program from infancy until 21 years of age. See also free appropriate public education (FAPE); Individualized Education Plan (IEP); Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

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Albion

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Albion: An ancient and poetical name for Great Britain. It is thought to have been so called from the white (Lat, albus) cliffs that face Gaul, but possibly from the Celtic ailp, “rock; cliff; mountain.” It was Napoleon who called England Albion Perfide (Perfidious Albion).”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Disinformation

Posted on August 9, 2026 | Leave a comment

 “Disinformation (noun): False or misleading information or documentation contrived to deceive or subvert, especially deliberate fabrication by an intelligence agency. Verb: disinform.

‘If I say the US is intervening in El Salvador to help a gang of nun-raping cutthroats with no popular support, I may be misinformed, or I may be disinformed.’ Alexander Cockburn, Village Voice”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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Heptameter

Posted on August 9, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Heptameter: In prosody, a line of verse containing seven metrical feet in any meter. It is usually identified together with the name of the meter: for example, iambic heptameter.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Common Errors in English Usage: Might Ought, Might, Ought

Posted on August 7, 2026 | Leave a comment

This week’s adaptation from Paul Brians’ excellent reference manual Common Errors in English Usage (which, amazingly, he allows no-cost access to at his Washington State University web page) is this worksheet on the use of might and ought. In this reading, Professor Brians steers students away from the solecism might ought toward the proper use of these two auxiliary verbs; the worksheet calls upon students to write, extemporaneously, sentences using these auxiliaries properly.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Term of Art: Reliability

Posted on August 7, 2026 | Leave a comment

“reliability: A statistical term that refers to the consistency of test scores in different contexts or with different populations. A judgment of a high degree of reliability indicates that a test is dependable and relatively free from random errors of measurement.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

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Word Origins: Barbecue

Posted on August 7, 2026 | Leave a comment

“barbecue: [M17th] This word comes from Spanish barbacoa, perhaps from Arawak (West Indies) barbacoa which was a ‘wooden frame on posts.’ Barbecue is used in space in the phrases barbecue mode and barbecue maneuver describing the rotation of a spacecraft to allow the heat of the sun to fall on all sides.”

Excerpted from: Creswell, Julia. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

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Academic Art

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Academic Art: Art created in the prevailing styles of the European and American art academies. By the late 19th century the avant-garde looked on academic art as a moribund style being practiced in isolation from current styles—a view now under reconsideration.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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Discourse

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Discourse (noun): Verbal expression or interchange of ideas; discussion or conversation; a formal address or paper on a subject. Adjective: discoursive; adverb: discoursively; noun: discoursiveness; verb: discourse.

‘He is not so amused, however, at the disclosure of my having temporarily “lost” my papers in the forest. He gives me a discourse on carelessness. It is a short discourse, but it weighs about four tons.’ Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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The Doubter’s Companion: Bretton Woods

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Bretton Woods: A system for international financial management and stability which was put in place by the Allies, minus the Soviets, in 1944 and destroyed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon without consideration being given to a replacement.

Nixon hoped in this way to solve some short-term American economic problems by recreating the sort of financial disorder in which the largest power would be the best placed to benefit. It could be said that this was the single most evil act undertaken by a leader in the postwar period. Other leaders should be discouraged, however. The opportunity to do worse is perpetual.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.

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