Tag Archives: professional development

Acapulco (de Juarez)

Posted on September 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Acapulco (de Juarez): Seaport, southwest Mexico. Situated on a deep semicircular bay, it has the best harbor on Mexico’s Pacific coast. It was discovered by Hernan Cortes in 1531, and a settlement was founded in 1550. Until 1815, it was a main depot for Spanish colonial fleets going to East Asia, and especially to Manila. It has become a major international resort for tourists attracted by its scenic beauty, climate, and excellent beaches.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Jose Martiniano de Alencar

Posted on September 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Jose Martiniano de Alencar: (1829-1877) Brazilian novelist. Probably Brazil’s finest romantic novelist, Alencar is known for his idealized portraits of Indians and for his deep feeling for the Brazilian landscape. His most popular novels are O Guarani (1857) and Iracema (1865; tr Iracema, The Honey Lips: A Legend of Brazile, 1886), both of which deal with love between Indians and whites.”

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

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Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens

Posted on September 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens: (1908-1973) Socialist president of Chile (1970-73). Of upper-middle-class background, Allende took a degree in medicine and in 1933 helped to found Chile’s Socialist Party. He ran for president unsuccessfully three times before winning narrowly in 1970. He attempted to restructure Chilean society along socialist lines while retaining democracy, civil liberties, and due process of law, but his efforts to redistribute wealth resulted in stagnant production, food shortages, rising inflation, and widespread strikes. His inability to control his radical supporters further alienated the middle class. His policies dried up foreign credit and led to a covert campaign by the United States Central Intelligence Agency to destabilize the government. He was overthrown in a violent military coup, during which he died by gunshot, reportedly self-inflicted. He was replaced by General Augusto Pinochet.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Conundrum

Posted on September 13, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Conundrum (noun): A riddle involving disparate things and whose answer involves a pun; problem or perplexing phenomenon; quizzical matter.

‘It’s the social reformers and novelists who create these artificial conundrums; they want to see their rotten literature; they want to make us forget that the only interesting and important part of the business is what nobody talks or writes about.’ Norman Douglas, South Wind”

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

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12 Nights of the Round Table

Posted on September 13, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Lancelot du Lac * Kay * Galahad * Perceval * Tristram * Gawain * Gareth * Lamorak * Gaheris * Mordred * Bors * Bedivere

It was the linkage of the legend cycle of Arthur with that of Charlemagne that seems to have encouraged an early listing of twelve knights of the Round Table. But there are over 100 named knights associated with Arthurian legends, and tables of thirty-four and fifty knights noted. Those listed above, however, are the Round Table’s twelve chief characters. They include knights close to or related to Arthur, such as his foster brother, Sir Kay, his nephews Sir Gawain and Sir Gaheris, and his illegitimate son and nemesis, Sir Mordred.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

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Term of Art: Stovepipe Organization

Posted on September 2, 2024 | Leave a comment

“stovepipe organization: An organization whose different functions are separated so that each department has a narrow, rigid set of responsibilities and there is little discussion or collaboration among the various sectors.”

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

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The Lost Generation

Posted on September 2, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Lost Generation: Group of U.S. writers who came of age during World War I and established their reputations in the 1920s; more broadly, the entire post-World War I generation. The term was coined by Gertrude Stein in a remark to Ernest Hemingway. The writers considered themselves ‘lost’ because their inherited values could not operate in the postwar world and they felt spiritually alienated from a country they considered hopelessly provincial and emotionally barren, The term embraces Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings, Archibald Macleish, and Hart Crane, among others.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, New York City, Quotes

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Monograph

Posted on August 30, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Monograph: A catalogue of artworks comprising one artist’s production. Compare catalogue raisonne.”

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

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Term of Art: Semantic Cueing

Posted on August 23, 2024 | Leave a comment

“semantic cueing: A strategy used to help an individual retrieve or read a word by giving hints with words of similar meaning. For example, it an individual is trying to remember the word compliment, giving the semantic cue praise may help make a meaningful connection to the word in question.

Similarly, cueing can be used to help an individual read an individual word. For example, if a reader stumbles on the word psychologist, an instructor may give the semantic cue a therapist or a doctor for your mind rather than providing a phonetic or decoding cue, such as ‘psych is pronounced sike.’”

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

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Book of Answers: Auld Lang Syne

Posted on August 16, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Who wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne’? Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-96) put this traditional song into its present form in The Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803).”

Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.

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