Occupational Dialects

I have had two lessons today on jargon - one receiving and the other giving.
It's not until you are placed in the occupational world of another that you realise how much topic specific vocab is used, and how much you don't understand about what others do and say.

Our Leadership Team attended a course this morning - "Accounting for Non-Accountants" (I think this is a polite way of saying "Accounting for Dummies"). Very important knowledge to have in this day and age of self governing schools, but I must say, was a bit like chewing chalk for me. Funny though, that Lisa and I fell into wanna-get-it-right-teacher-pleaser roles. And I do feel like we came away with some new learning; some working knowledge of terms we may have heard but never fully understood before.

Tonight I had to deliver my 2010 Literacy Student Achievement report to our Board of Trustees. In order to make the message clear for Board members - all very intelligent folk - the jargon that I use in my everyday education life has to be demystified and explained. Stanines, summative and diagnostic testing, OTJs - oops no sorry, now OBJs...

Seems that English is full of occupational dialects.
My head is tired now so I can't think of a witty way to finish this off.
So... goodbye