Thursday, October 5, 2017

Not a Real Word


Some classes I cover more than others. (I hear there are going to be a lot of English curriculum trainings this year...) So, this particular PLUS class and I are well-known to each other.

The day's lesson was about vocabulary. They were to take words like team, values, character, and role model and define them "through a PLUS lens". (That is, they were to give examples of those qualities in action.)

I had a list. The lesson plan said to assign a word to each student. So, I did. I went down the class roster and down the list of words. And they were okay with this. Well, everyone except one student.

He got assigned "paradigm".

"That's not a real word."

Since the assignment had them creating a Google slide for the word, the students had computers. And I had just spelled the word for the boy. (Never mind that the word was in the book that was open in front of him.)

He had typed the word into Google, and the definition was right there on the screen in front of him.


So, yeah, of course I just made the word up... *eye roll*

He eventually completed the assignment. I think. But not after he challenged me to use the word in a sentence. (Which I did. Not a great sentence, mind you, but passable.)

How about you? Want to try to use paradigm in a sentence?

21 comments:

  1. lol. I think my sentence would have been "Paradigm is a real word." 😛 I mean seriously. The assignment was to learn the word, right? I think he can come up with his own sentence. Or maybe I'm just mean? Guess that's why I'm not a sub.

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    1. No, not really. They were assuming they knew the words (the other words were like the other ones listed) and were just applying them to a different situation.

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  2. I dislike the new paradigm for political debate, it is mean and coarse. do i get extra credit?

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  3. It's not used a lot these days, is it? I think I've seen it in a video game and...that's it. I bet the look on his face was priceless, though.

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  4. The students could not measure up to the paradigm the teacher had set. I've observed multiple occasions where kids looked confused after a "big" word was used. I often forget how much my vocabulary has grown since I was their age.

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    1. It's good to use big words around kiddos. It helps expand their vocabularies.

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  5. "I think this kid needs to shift his paradigm."

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  6. Poor kid, that's a tough word and no, I don't want to use it in a sentence!

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  7. Does the paradigm of parenting in this generation surpass the paradigm of parenting in our generation? Or has there been a paradigm shift?

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  8. I have to disqualify myself from writing a sentence; I looked up the definition of the word; would that be cheating?

    betty

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  9. That one sits on a dusty shelf in my brain - I doubt I've ever used it out loud.

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    1. I have. But it's a useful term when talking about the history of science.

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  10. "Paradigm" is a song by Avenged Sevenfold. ~grin~ Every time I hear the word (quite often by favorite YouTube contributor Styxhexenhammer666) the music pops up in my brain. Thanks for stopping by my humble blog. I failed to mention that last year's dental appointment card remained on my nightstand. How silly of me.

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    1. I really need to get a good look at the members of that band. Because I have a funny connection to one of the band members (via a family member). ("Oh, the rock star is visiting his mother today...")

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  11. Hi Liz .. I'd say it's commonly used today in the approach of stating there's a paradigm shift ... but can see why he got a bit bottled by it ... ! Cheers Hilary

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    1. Thought you'd enjoy this post ... popped up just now - co-incidence?!
      https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2017/10/08/see-the-paradigm-outside-st-pancras-station/

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  12. The last time I heard that word was at University. I think it was a bit overused there. The paradigm at university is to use weasel words like paradigm.

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