HIJACKED WORDS

What if our vocabulary is all skewed?  What if the words were hijacked, marketed and politicized so that they are left empty as simple buzzwords?

hijacked word #1 - Don't mistake "common" for "standardized." Common is always horizontal. Standardized is always hierarchical

hijacked word #2 Don't confuse "accountability" with "micromanage." True accountability is trust and transparency not rules and regulations.

hijacked word #3 - Don't confuse "professional" with "market-driven." To profess requires courageously following a calling. It's not about a shirt and a tie and a binder full of notes.

hijacked word #4 - Don't confuse "unity" with "uniformity." We can all be in the same book without being on the same page.

hijacked word #5 - Don't confuse "fundamentals" with "fundamentalism." Phonics are necessary. Memorizing state capitals is superfluous.

hijacked word #6 - "Curriculum" originally meant "journey." Now we've made it into a map forcing children into Kettle-Korn-esque tourists.

hijacked word #7 - Don't confuse "collaboration" with "meetings." True collaboration happens over a pint, not under florescent lights while holding binders.

hijacked word #8 - "assessment" and "test." Assessments are authentic, tests are items designed to make children pray.

hijacked word #9 (actually a phrase): "for the children" is most often used to justify the exact thing that will harm a child's mind.

hijacked word #10 - "educate" originally meant "to draw out."  Don't confuse a process with an institution.

hijacked word #11 - a "consequence" is what happens naturally.  If I touch the stove, I am burned.  Detention is a punishment.  Stickers are bribes.  Threatening to kick a kid out of class is extortion.  Let's get our vocabulary straight.

hijacked word #12 - "absolute necessity" - my computer isn't an absolute necessity.  Food is, though Gandhi stretched this a bit.  Air certainly is. And, if you're John Lennon, all you really need is love.

hijacked word #13 - if you are trying to sell me something, you're a sales rep, not a consultant.  Let's be real (though it might be more fun to be artificial or fantasy-based.  I've always wanted to be a gnome)