Jenn Writes

Tag: learning

  • Word Wednesday 5th edition

    Word Wednesday 5th edition

    Another Word Wednesday is upon us, and this time my problem is picking which word I want to do – I had 3 words lined up and then I read Alexander McCall Smith’s book The Sunday Philosophy Club and I picked up 5 or 6 new words whilst reading. I am always pleasantly surprised when a book in a new series not only gives me great entertainment but also challenges my vocabulary.  I’ve put sticky notes in the book for when I come around to needing more fodder for this feature. I’m also going to review the book on here at some point because it wasn’t what I expected, and yet it was more than I expected. 

    Plus the book cover looks really cool.

    The cover of the book The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith There are drawings of a man doing a handstand, a crossword puzzle book, and a teapot on the front
    The cover combines elements of the book

    The best thing about a novel set in Edinburgh is that you can imagine the characters speaking in a lovely Scottish accent. In fact I haven’t stopped thinking in a Scottish accent since I finished the book. Today’s Word Wednesday word sounds really awesome with a Scottish accent. In fact I can hear the main character, Isabel Dalhousie saying the word. So without further perendination on my part, today’s word is behoove. It behooves  met to note that it is appropriate that I picked a word that is Old English in its origins instead of Latin or Greek.

    %{include image.html url=“/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/coollogo_com-191502642.png” alt=“Stylized word Behoove” description=“Behoove”}

    Behoove comes from the Old English word behoof which means use, advantage, or benefit. Behoof is one of those wonderful Old English words that comes from stealing bits and pieces of other languages – in this case Dutch, Middle High German, and German. The origins are as follows: Dutch behoef, Middle High German bihuof “useful thing,” German Behuf “advantage, or benefit”. The first known use of the word was before the year 1200, so it’s definitely Old English. I find behoove a fun word to say in either a fake (and really bad) Scottish accent or in my regular un-accented voice. I should note, that the word rhymes with move or prove and not with rove or grove as is commonly thought. It makes me feel regal to use the word, “it behooves one to wave to the Queen when one is in London”.  I’m going to try and insinuate behoove into my everyday conversations as often as possible. 

    Behoove (bih-hoov) Verb (transitive and intransitive) 

    i) (transitive) To be necessary, proper, or advantageous. 

    ii) (intransitive) To be necessary, fit, or proper. 

     

  • Word Wednesday – Again!

    Word Wednesday – Again!

    I swear I’m going to get a non Word Wednesday post up soon – life has been hectic and I’ve got a bunch of drafts started but haven’t managed to finish any of them.  I’m also working on a new site so watch for that announcement coming very soon!

    I make no secret of the fact that I’m a bibliophile. I LOVE books. I love holding them, reading them, reviewing them, talking about them, pretty much anything to do with books. In fact, today’s Word Wednesday word came out of a book I read recently. I keep a notebook beside me when I read and write down any really cool words I read so that I can use them in my own writing. (I know, I’m a giant word nerd and I’m proud of it!)

    I loved the fact that I had to go look up what this word meant – I had pretty much figured it out from the contextual cues but I still like to look up new words to ensure that they mean what I think they mean. (*Said in my best Inigo Montoya voice)

    Without further ado, today’s word is:

    Stylized text Infandous
    Infandous – isn’t it an awesome word?

    Infandous – the word isn’t even IN most dictionaries today, it’s that out of use.  Of course, having a subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary comes in really handy at times like this. (To be fair, the book I found it in was pretty old so I’m not surprised there were some words that are obsolete in it.)

    Infandous – another word with a Latin root. This time the root is infantus – meaning abominable or unspeakable. This is also the same root as infant (or one who does not speak) which makes me laugh since the definition of infandous  is “too odious to be expressed or mentioned”.  Which is not what I think of when I hear the word infant!

    Infandous – (In-‘FAN’-dus) Adjective. Something too odious or abominable to be mentioned.

    So if you’re looking for a word that is no longer in use and need to describe something that is too horrible to mention, try using infandous. Sometimes, the old words are better than anything we have now.

  • #WordWednesday

    #WordWednesday

    Okay, So I know that #WordlessWednesday is a thing, but I’m a writer by trade and I love using the perfect word for the situation so I’m going to try to do some #WordWednesday posts where I talk about a word and how it is used and / or misused. Maybe it will be a regular thing or maybe it will happen once a month.  I’m not sure – but I love words and I love learning more about my favourite words.

    Some of the words, I’ll choose because of the way they sound, others because I like the usage, others because I’ve stumbled across them and either had to look them up or work out the meaning for myself. This one I think I first learned while perusing (another fun word), Wordsmith.com ’s Word of the Day archives a few years ago.

    Stylized word Perendinate
    Today’s #WordWednesday word is perendinate

    Okay, so I’m a total Latin geek – I took it in high school and in university simply because I love learning new words and Latin is a great basis for that – and any word that makes me think back to those Latin root words is going to make my day. I remembered when we learned that in Latin, cras means tomorrow.  Suddenly the word procrastinate made a lot more sense – it literally means to put off until tomorrow. Which is all well and good, but what if you want to put something off until the day AFTER tomorrow? Surely there’s no English word for that right?  Except there is! You guessed it, that word that means to put something off until the day after tomorrow is perendinate.  The Latin root of this word is obviously dies or day. From there we get perendie which means “on the day after tomorrow” and ta-da – to perendinate is the action (verb form) of this, which means to put something off until the day after tomorrow.

    a grey felt journal with the words to do list on it
    What’s on your to-do list?

    So, to butcher an old proverb, never procrastinate when you could perendinate instead.

    Perendinate – (puh-REN-di-nayt) Verb. To put off until the day after tomorrow.

    There you go. Now use it wisely and impress your friends and family.

  • The Walls Have Ears…

    The Walls Have Ears…

    One of the things that brings me joy is my work with children and teens who have Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). When I tell people that I tutor and coach people with ASD I often get quizzical looks or outright questions of why I would want to do something like that.

    I often get asked “How do you deal with the behaviours?”. The same way I would deal with the behaviours in a child without ASD.  I look for the cause. Behaviours are not the problem – they are the symptom of a problem. The child who cannot sit still is not fidgeting because they want to be disruptive, they are fidgeting because something is making them uncomfortable and they don’t have another way to express it.  One of the most common symptoms of ASD is a delay or difference in communication. Some children with ASD never speak, some will talk your ear off about their favourite topic but be unable to answer questions about their day or make casual conversation. If a child with ASD is exhibiting a behaviour such as crying, screaming, or pulling at their clothing, I try to figure out what is causing them to be upset. Something isn’t right in their world and they are trying to communicate that with me.  Often the behaviours will disappear when the root cause is dealt with.  That’s not to say I don’t get frustrated.  When you’ve been bitten for the fourth time in 30 minutes by a 10 year old with a very strong jaw, you can lose a little perspective, but I try to remember to detach myself and attempt to figure out what the behaviour is telling me.

    There is a misconception that people with ASD are not capapble of expressing love, or any emotion, or that they are locked inside their own world and refuse to come out.  In my 8 years of experience working with numerous children on the spectrum, I have never found a child who can’t or won’t express love or gratitude or happiness. Some express it in ways that are different from what you would expect from a neurotypical child but it is still a valid expression of emotion. I have had some of the best, warmest, hugs from kids with ASD so no, not all kids with ASD are incapable of showing emotion.

    And sometimes, they break your heart.  Recently, I was doing a tutoring session with a boy who has Autism. We were talking about different ways to solve a math problem, and why it’s good to have more than one way of doing something.  All of a sudden, he turned to me and said “I don’t think like other people. I wish I did, so they wouldn’t think I’m dumb”. My heart just ached. It turns out he’s been having issues in school that his parents, EA, the teacher, and I missed. He has had a few group projects lately and there have been some tensions in the group (as there are with all group projects) that have been made worse by him underreacting or overreacting to a situation.  The situations have been dealt with but the perceptions of his classmates have been altered.  Some think he is weird. Some think he is loud. At least one of them thinks he is dumb.  How do I know this?  Because this sweet, wonderful boy overheard some of his classmates talking about him at recess. He is very quiet when he wants to be, and has learned the art of blending into the background in order to disappear when he is stressed out. He tells me he was sitting beside the stairs to a portable at recess and overheard some of his classmates complaining about being “stuck” in a group with him – they went on to say that he has “crazy ideas”, and “doesn’t help in the right way” (what IS the right way? Isn’t all help good?) and “must be stupid since he doesn’t talk much”.  I asked him when this conversation took place – over a month ago.  He has been carrying this around for the last month, afraid to give voice to it lest another person agree with his classmates.

    I pushed aside the math homework, we had a chat about how differences in thinking are what make the world a better place to live in, how some of the greatest minds in history have been people who think differently, and about how what we see and hear is not the only truth.  I explained that his classmates were wrong about him, and that they were wrong to talk about him (or anyone) behind his back. We discussed how he could handle a similar incident in the future.  We made a plan.  I wrote a note for his EA and teacher, letting him read it before I printed it off, and he and I had a talk with his mom so that all of his support team were on the same page.  He doesn’t want anyone to talk to the classmates in question, and I can’t really blame him for that.  He’s feeling better about himself and his teacher and EA are going to talk to the whole class about ways to make everyone feel welcome and why saying mean things isn’t okay even if you don’t think the person is there to hear it. He’s also going to take on a specific role in future group projects – he likes to listen and is good at taking notes so he suggested that he would make a good recorder. This gives him a specific task that he can excel at which should help his self esteem and help his classmates see his strengths instead of his challenges.  I hope the strategy works and I’m honoured that he felt safe enough with me to tell me of his heartache.  I know I can’t protect the kids I work with from having their feelings hurt, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could.

  • She’s Connected and my BlackBerry

    She’s Connected and my BlackBerry

    You know what I absolutely love hearing when showing off my Bold 9900?  “Wow, I didn’t know a BlackBerry could do THAT”.  I heard that a lot this weekend at the She’s Connected Conference in Toronto.  Mostly it was the simple things like the fact that managing multiple accounts in the Native Twitter Application is so easy.  Or that I could remote control my PlayBook from my Bold 9900 (to be honest, that was me showing off because I had the bluetooth keyboard for the PlayBook and was perfectly capable of typing on that but I like the wow factor of the remote control).  I loved meeting so many fellow BlackBerry devotees and being able to help them use their devices more easily.  It’s not rocket science but there are tips and tricks that will enhance your experience as a member of Team BlackBerry.

    A BlackBerry Bold 9900 with a sticker on it that makes it look like the TARDIS from Doctor Who - a blue police box
    My BlackBerry Bold 9900

    The one question everyone seemed to ask me was if I was excited about the upcoming release of the BlackBerry 10 devices and operating system.  The answer to that was an unequivocal YES!  I am very excited about BlackBerry 10 and can’t wait until it is released!  I still don’t know how I’m going to get a BlackBerry 10 device into my hot little hands but rest assured, it will be done.  I have friends who are developers for BlackBerry and their excitement at what the BB10 OS can do has rubbed off on me.    I truly believe that there is a core market of BlackBerry users who may have switched to another platform who are waiting for an excuse to come back to the BlackBerry fold.  I believe that the BlackBerry 10 Operating System will be the thing to bring them back.  I spoke to quite a few people who either had been BlackBerry users in the past or who were simply curious about the new product launch.  A number of them were at the end of their cell phone contracts and were eligible for a new device, either now or at the beginning of the year.  After chatting with me, many of them are waiting to see what BlackBerry 10 has to offer before deciding what phone to get. I wasn’t out to strong arm people into becoming members of Team BlackBerry but I wanted people to give it a chance.

    BlackBerry isn’t for everyone.  If you want a smartphone to game on, then this isn’t the right solution for you.  However, if you want your phone to work FOR you, and WITH you then you need to consider BlackBerry.  I primarily use my BlackBerry for social media, emails, as a gps, as a camera, and *gasp* to make and receive phone calls  Yes I have a number of very entertaining apps and games, but they’re not the reason I chose my BlackBerry.  I have far more games on my 64 gb PlayBook.

    BlackBerry PlayBook, small rectangular tablet in a case with a full keyboard
    My PlayBook

    Not once all conference did i wish I had a different phone.  My Bold 9900 had no issues connecting to the wifi, releasing the cached wifi info page so I could log in again on the second day, or with maintaining a battery charge throughout the conference.  I don’t want to have to carry around a charger for my phone because it won’t last 10 hours.  I was having too much fun trying to meet up with twitter friends to be hunting for somewhere to plug in my phone.

  • Let Me Introduce Myself.

    Let Me Introduce Myself.

    So I’m super-inspired by all my blogging friends – I want to have a blog that people read and that makes them think twice about their preconceived notions – both about women in sports and maybe about women in general.  I am not, however, sure where to start.

    I guess I should introduce myself.  I’m 31, between jobs at the moment as I have just left my Ph.D program (unfinished) to actually *do* something with my life, and a sports fanatic.   My first passion is the CFL.  I co-host a weekly on-line radio show about the CFL.  I have loved football in all of its incarnations for as long as I can remember.  I also love Open-Wheel racing.  I was 6 when the (then) Molson Indy roared through the streets of Toronto for the first time – I went with my parents and fell in love with the sound of the engines and even the smell of the hot rubber.  Formula One came a bit later but I am no less passionate about it.  I watch baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and basketball when there is no football or racing to watch.

    I am also passionate about social media.  I believe that connecting with other people is one of the greatest gifts of the technological age and that social media is an easy way to meet all sorts of fabulous people I wouldn’t otherwise meet.  I am trying to figure out how to merge these two interests of mine – sports and social media.

    I’m also intrigued by brand blogging.  I have always been the type of person who, when they find something neat, is more than willing to tell everyone within earshot how fabulous it is.  I also am not afraid to tell people when something fails to meet my expectations.  It seems to follow that brand blogging would be a natural extension of my nature – the question is how do I start.  Actually there are more questions – how do I ensure that I can remain true to my moral code while still doing the job expected of a brand blogger?  I don’t think I could endorse something I didn’t truly love.  How could I, in good conscience send my friends off to buy something I think is crap?  I don’t lie well.  Never have – even as a kid my guilty conscience would get the best of me within minutes.  I want to be sure that I won’t be selling myself to the devil in order to get some free stuff.

    I guess that’s enough of an introduction.  I have another post I want to share today so I should get going on that one.

     

    Jenn

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