This Vocabulary blog was a great learning tool that encouraged me to be mindful of my own word learning throughout this semester. When looking through and reflecting on my blog, I realized that I had selected a range of words from a variety of sources. As I went through the semester, I noticed that more of my words came from texts that I engaged in from this course and from the other course I was taking, LTED 612 Literacy and the Diverse Learner. Many of my words also related to the field of education. I think I chose these types of words because it connected to and could be utilized in my current position as a teacher. I had some familiarity with several of the words I selected, but wanted to develop my understanding of these words by exploring them further.
This blog encouraged me to be a more active and reflective reader. I usually read a text with my highlighter poised and my colored pen ready to make notes and comments in the margins. Because I had to search for and identify words that I wanted to learn more about, I found myself reading with another purpose. Once I found the words I wanted to include in my blog, I had to further investigate and reflect upon the importance of knowing and understanding these words. This word learning process helped me to extend my foundational understanding of a lot of these words and increased my awareness of words I was not familiar with. Keeping track of these words in a blog made it easy for me to go back and revisit my previous posts. Essentially, the process and the medium through which this blog was created helped to facilitate my word learning.
The vocabulary tests were also an important part of the word learning process. It encouraged me to go back through my blog to find a word to nominate for the tests, as well as revisit the blogs of my classmates to learn more about the words they nominated. The vocabulary tests also encouraged me to recognize and understand words that my peers were exploring. As Ruddell and Shearer (2002) discuss, this strategy aids in cultivating a learning community. We visited each others vocabulary blogs to observe each others individual word learning, but also gain more understanding of the words others selected for ourselves. I found that my classmates had selected words that I had little or no familiarity with, which also helped my word learning. After the first vocabulary test, I began creating flash cards to help me review the words for the test. These cards helped me study and memorize the spelling and meaning of these words, as well as how to use them in the appropriate contexts.
I will continue to use elements of this strategy to further develop my word learning. It would be great if I could keep up with my vocabulary blog, but I do not know if that is feasible. If nothing else, I will approach texts with the goal of identifying unfamiliar words, monitor my understanding of these words, and using various resources to determine their meanings. I think this strategy is a great tool to encourage myself, and my students, to take more ownership of their own learning and be more active in the learning process. Like Martha, in Ruddell and Shearer’s (2002) article, “Extraordinary,” “tremendous,” “exhilarating,” “magnificent”: Middle school at-risk students become avid word learners with the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS), I became “convinced of the power of inviting students to choose their own spelling and vocabulary words” (p. 353). I will definitely consider using this strategy in my classroom.
Ruddell, M.R. & Shearer, B. A. (2002). “Extraordinary,” “tremendous,” “exhilarating,”
“magnificent”: Middle school at-risk students become avid word learners with the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS). Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(5), 352-363.
