Word for the Day: Saturday, November 30, 2013

The Word for Today (Saturday) is Expansion.  Philosophy of expansion?  Or an expanded philosophy?  Both work well, but be careful about expansion, itself as, in some cases, especially when applied to the middle of the body, it can have unpleasant consequences.

Words for the Day: Friday, November 29, 2013

The Words for Today (Friday) are Trust and Faith.  As a philosophy, these are good, as I can say I trust the Lord, and have Faith in the Universe.  However, where human beings are involved, be careful.  Trust must be earned, and Faith should never be blind.  Thank you.

Word for the Day: Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Word for Today (Thursday) is Gratitude.  A philosophy of gratitude is outstanding, and easy:  Just thank those who help you, when they do so!

One special note:  These Words cycle every 49 days, which doesn't even come close to evenly dividing into a year.  So it's quite special, when this Word comes up on the Thanksgiving Holiday.  This is the second time I actually remember this occurring.

Word for the Day: Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Word for Today (Wednesday) is Equality.  Philosophy of equality?  Certainly, as long as it's done on a "positive level", which I interpret as, "Equal Opportunity to All".

Please note that there is a not-so-nice "philosophy" of equality, which shows up as forced conformity.  Some private schools come to mind (with, for example, their uniforms), as well as some totalitarian governments.

Word for the Day: Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Word for Today (Tuesday) is Prudence.  Philosophy of Prudence?  When taking one more look at Google's "define prudence", I saw one thing that stands out:  Common sense.  That's definitely something we need more of, in this world!

Word for the Day: Monday, November 25, 2013

The Word for Today (Monday) is Innocence.  Innocent philosophy?  Philosophy of innocence?  Philosophy of being innocent?  (The third one includes being ruthlessly honest with yourself and, as practical, honest with others).

Word for the Day: Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Word for Today (Sunday) is Forgiveness.  And I have a great deal of compassion for you, if you feel the need to ask forgiveness for your philosophy.  :-)

Weekly Theme: Week of November 24-30, 2013

The Theme for this Week is Philosophy.  A question I don't hear asked often (at least in this form):  "What is your philosophy?"  When I ask Google to define it, I get, "the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence..."  So (if you care to comment), what is your philosophy?

Word for the Day: Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Word for Today (Saturday) is Authenticity.  Authentic education?  Absolutely!  My interpretation of this is teaching the truth, to the best of your ability.  (One example of a non-authentic education would be a totalitarian government deliberately teaching lies, that help put it in a positive light).

Word for the Day: Friday, November 22, 2013

The Word for Today (Friday) is Interpretation.  How does this tie in with our Theme?  Two directions:  It's always a good idea to take time, to interpret what you experience in a classroom, which makes a great study aid.  On the other side, learning multiple languages helps to make Interpreter a good career path.

Word for the Day: Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Word for Today (Thursday) is Socialization.  And yes, educational environments are also social environments.  And so is the Internet.  But I consider in-person to be better than computer socialization.

Word for the Day: Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Word for Today (Wednesday) is Concentration.  I've heard, many times, "You get what you concentrate on".  And I believe this includes educational environments, where degree of concentration might influence your grade.

Word for the Day: Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Word for Today (Tuesday) is Acceptability.  What might cause Education to be classified as acceptable or not?  Oh well, besides the nature of the subject matter being taught?

Word for the Day: Monday, November 18, 2013

The Word for Today (Monday) is Generosity.  To tie in our Theme, my opinion is that the best way to teach generosity is to be generous yourself.  And, in general, I also believe that a little generosity goes a long ways to make a better world.

Word for the Day: Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Word for Today (Sunday) is Sharing.  And teaching (one half of the Themes) is a type of sharing.  Share and share alike, I say.  :-)

Weekly Themes: Week of November 17-23, 2013

The Themes for this Week are Education and Teaching.  A noun and a verb:  The concept is education, and the way you do it is to teach.  :-)

The funny part of this, in my opinion, is that all of life is the education, and all the people around me are the teachers.

Words for the Day: Saturday, November 16, 2013

The Words for Today (Saturday) are Overview and Perspective.  Otherwise known as the Big Picture, or the Cliffs Notes of reality, in my opinion, these help in the retention of any topic being studied.

Word for the Day: Friday, November 15, 2013

The Word for Today (Friday) is Reflection.  I just put "define reflection" into google, getting one meaning, "serious thought or consideration".  And I believe that would help retention, in an academic situation. 

Note on other meaning (mirror):  We can all be mirrors to each other. 

Word for the Day: Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Word for Today (Thursday) is Study.  And how does this connect with Retention (our Theme)?  Depends on how you study.  For example, I wouldn't expect much retention, if the study method includes the drinking of alcohol.

Word for the Day: Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Word for Today (Wednesday) is Absorption.  This one's in science fiction:  Take a pill, go to bed, have some sort of educational podcast playing while you are asleep and, "magically", you are now an expert in the topic of the night!

The question that should be asked in these fiction stories:  Did you retain what you learned overnight? 

Word for the Day: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Word for Today (Tuesday) is Review.  So how does this tie in with Retention?  Review helps me retain what I did, leading to the review, whether it's academic (classroom, reading assignment, or a lab experiment), or work related (staff meeting, looking over an assignment by a co-worker, or [most important] reviewing my own work, prior to submitting it).

Word for the Day: Monday, November 11, 2013

The Word for Today (Monday) is Experimentation.  I remember, in my High School Chemistry class, retaining [Theme] what I learned in laboratory experiments, much easier than what I read in the chemistry textbook.  (But the textbook had a great use:  Reference material for what I was finding in the experiments).

Word for the Day: Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Word for Today (Sunday) is Recognition.  In general, it's good to recognize those who help you in your life.  As far as recognizing retention, I'm not so sure, especially if a medical meaning of retention is used, such as water retention.  I believe our Theme will work better with some of the other Words.

Weekly Theme: Week of November 10-16, 2013

The Theme for this Week is Retention.  Since this is a Scholar Theme, I'm pretty sure that "water retention" is not the desired connotation. So how does one retain what he/she learns?  In my opinion, the key is, "learning by doing".

Word for the Day: Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Word for Today (Saturday) is Resolve.  And yes, I can combine this, in a sentence, with our Theme:  "I resolve to preserve my resolve".  In general, note that resolutions can be made any time in a year.

Word for the Day: Friday, November 8, 2013

The Word for Today (Friday) is Courage.  How do you preserve your courage?  How about the courage to preserve?  Actually, the latter is more likely, especially if the "item" being preserved is controversial. 

Words for the Day: Thursday, November 7, 2013

The Words for Today (Thursday) are Strength and Empowerment.  Preservation (our Theme), can require certain amounts of both strength and power, depending on what is being preserved.  But this can go the other direction, also, where certain practices, such as working out, diet and yoga can be used to preserve your own strength and power. 

Word for the Day: Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Word for Today (Wednesday) is Competence.  How does preservation relate to competence?  Are we, as a species competent to preserve ourselves, if we keep entertaining War, as an option?  I thought not!

A general comment:  An important thing is to always be competent to be yourself. 

Word for the Day: Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Word for Today (Tuesday) is Endurance.  The definition suggests hardships. A possible example of a hardship is attempting to preserve something, such as people with fertility issues attempting to procreate (so they can take part in preserving our species). 

Word for the Day: Monday, November 4, 2013

The Word for Today (Monday) is Fertility.  How does this fit with Preservation (our Theme)?  The "conventional meaning" of Fertility does tend to preserve a species.  And another usage of fertility, a "fertile imagination" can preserve creativity.  I like how this works. 

Word for the Day: Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Word for Today (Sunday) is Stability.  The act of preserving something appears to be related to putting it into a state of stability.  Another way of putting this:  Stability helps one to preserve something. 

Weekly Theme: Week of November 3-9, 2013

The Theme for this Week is Preservation.  What does it mean to preserve something?  Preserve it from what?  The funniest thing?  The Word that fits best appears to be today's (Sunday's).

Word for the Day: Saturday, November 2, 2013

The Word for Today (Saturday) is Release.  Is this "supposed" to be a release from analysis (our Theme)?  I think not.  More like a release from what gets in the way of analysis, such as inflexible thinking. 

Word for the Day: Friday, November 1, 2013

The Word for Today (Friday) is Aspiration.  If you want to tie this to Analysis (our Theme), one way to do it is to aspire to be the best analyst you can.  But note that this Word has many meanings, including medical ones.