As 2011 winds down, the media will review major political, cultural and social events, select a person of the year, and remind us of top tunes and flicks. One of my favorite announcements is the “Word/Phrase of the Year” and its relevance in my life.

The envelope, please… According to the folks at Merriam-Webster, pragmatic was chosen as “Word of the Year” for 2011.  The American Dialect Society will meet in January to choose their coolest word or phrase of the year. The front-runner according to Linguist Ben Zimmer, chair of the New Words Committee, is occupy. Both words gained popularity in response to the economy. Pragmatic was looked up often on the company's online dictionary site in response to Congress’ debates in August about increasing the nation’s debt ceiling, and again in the fall in crafting deficit-cutting measures. Occupy is an old word invested with new and interesting meanings thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

In the teaching and learning environment, the relationship between theory and practice occupies a lot of space. In college classes and professional development we gain knowledge about various theories but often discover that they are not pragmatic in their implementation. Bridging that gap is a lifetime’s work.  Best and promising practices are identified. But as good as these can be, we run the mistake of making one size fit all. In past years I felt that my students and I occupied our teaching and learning space with a good mix of theory and practice. Dewey, Piaget, Frere, Montessori contributed to my classroom activities and routines. I recognized when children needed to play with the math manipulatives, rehearse their reading and writing, take time to construct meaning and question their understanding of the world.

Today assessment and preparing students for standardized tests occupies too much time spent in school. Likewise, teachers are given mandates, monitored and evaluated on minutia of detail: the wording of an objective, the placement of the objective, expectations to teach the same lesson at the same time in same grades. Administration has occupied the classroom. Although they may deem it pragmatic, it leaves almost no time and space for spontaneous yet authentic teachable moments.

As Congress tries to bring some equity into people’s financial situations, they would do well to keep education (with adequate funding) on the agenda. Many educators can testify to the fact that inequality begins early in a child’s life and education is the single most important means to stop or lesson the gap.

In following  #occupytheclassroom on Twitter, I came across some excellent blogs, tips and resources. I especially liked these 5 pragmatic ways to help teachers make decisions about what is expected of them and their students from Jose Luis Vilson:

1.     Share your work to bolster relationships with colleagues

2.     Start a Twitter to engage in professional development

3.     Get a website, preferably a blog to share lesson plans, bridges to practices, and invite collaboration. . 

4.     Create your own personal learning network to stay connected with those holding common interests

5.     Empower yourself by speaking up about your experiences and take control of the language of what we do.  

Elsewhere in Jose's blog, he notes that, too often, teachers are "preoccupied" about every move they make—fearful that the latest fad or rubric will decide if they are satisfactory in their work.

Next year there will be new words, new fads, and new budgets to deal with. For now, I am going to continue to reflect on these “Words of the Year” to determine how they can help me improve my teaching and learning experiences. Some tasks and routines will have pragmatic solutions that benefit all. Others will require occupation of mind and heart with the content, tools and methods of learning.