Brag (verb) to say in a boastful manner. “I finished first,” she bragged"
synonyms: boast, crow, swagger, swank, bluster, gloat, show off;
Bragging is often thought of as a negative thing. According to a Psychology Today (7/28/12) article by Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, “Almost no one likes a showoff but almost everyone likes to show off, at least a little. Some showing off happens by accident and some in a deliberate attempt to manipulate others. In either case, though, you run the risk of looking a bit too satisfied with yourself if not downright conceited.” I agree - for the most part. One should not speak or write about one’s self or brag about one’s money, status, intellect, house, job, marriage, children etc.
Brag, the word’s origin itself is a little sketchy: Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘boastful’): of unknown origin (French braguer is recorded only later). Mid-14th c. Middle English braggen (“to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully”) of unknown origin. Possibly related to the early-14th c. Middle English adjective brag (“prideful, spirited”), probably from Celtic. or Old Norse bragr (“best, foremost; poetry”); or through Old English from Old Norse braka (“to creak”).
In other words...who knows?
As much as I enjoy having nice things, going nice places, doing well at tasks, I am not particularly ostentatious about them. (I hope.) So, I won’t do any of those nasty braggy things. You will, however, find me most days, bragging about my colleagues, my students, and my school district.
My school district educates and graduates students of the highest caliber, who are not just college-ready, but they are kind, compassionate, accepting, and understanding. These are traits that are both naturally part of their characters and full-to-the-brim from the memories that my colleagues have made with them during class lessons, field trip adventures, during after-school clubs, extra-help, and simple hallway conversations. East Williston teachers build relationships that last well past the 13 years of public education. Our teachers stay in touch with graduates long after the day they graduate and later they become friends (and sometimes colleagues!)
Our school district has a special ed teacher who has students who not only pass regents exams - but excel! Our Life Skills program welcomes students from other districts with special needs. Our school district has Siemens Award Competitors, Intel Competitors, Robotics Competitors, Mock Trial Competitors, National History Day Competitors, and Forensics Competitors...and many, many winners! It really isn’t so much about the winning though, it is the hours of preparation and experimentation and working as a group or an individual with your teachers and your peers. It’s learning to win or lose with grace, and to accept either and go on to prepare for the next competition with hope.
I have colleagues who are so brilliant, but so self-effacing, among them are attorneys, doctoral students, people with several master’s degrees, doctorates and who have worked in several other prestigious fields before turning to a life of academia and anonymity. I also have colleagues who are unafraid to ask me for help with technology when they need it and share their successes when they find it! This is worth bragging about! People who admit they don’t “know it all” and would like to know more! My “colleague-students” have taken an idea, a plan, a question and used what they learned and made their teaching better, stronger, or simply easier, more accessible and more fun!
We in East Williston celebrate the Earth! We not only teach about recycling and ways to conserve, but we also practice what we preach with our Environmental Action Club. This is students and teachers working together. We collect bikes (hundreds of them) and send them to Africa so that kids can get to school and adults to work. The elementary kids have Earth Day Celebrations every other year! They spend the whole day learning outside of the classroom about Earth-centric topics in groups that are different from their daily work and classroom environment.
The elementary kids have put on a circus, and the middle school students put on a musical each year. The high school students put on a play and a musical each year… the music students in all schools have concerts many times throughout the year and as the students grow - so does the talent! Directed, of course by our faculty! Our own students and teachers create beauty and art where there was nothing! Paintings, plays, music, sculptures… you name it they’ve made it!
We celebrate diversity. We celebrate service. We celebrate weddings. We celebrate new babies. We celebrate birthdays - staff and student alike. We celebrate retirements. We celebrate firsts and lasts. We celebrate commencements and new beginnings. We celebrate at every opportunity, because truly, life is hard enough without leaving out the celebrations!
So, that’s why I don’t need to brag about myself. I work in a place that does the bragging for me. I am a tiny part of all that wonderfulness, contributing to the competitions, the learning, the celebrating, and I couldn’t be any more proud!.
synonyms: boast, crow, swagger, swank, bluster, gloat, show off;
Bragging is often thought of as a negative thing. According to a Psychology Today (7/28/12) article by Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, “Almost no one likes a showoff but almost everyone likes to show off, at least a little. Some showing off happens by accident and some in a deliberate attempt to manipulate others. In either case, though, you run the risk of looking a bit too satisfied with yourself if not downright conceited.” I agree - for the most part. One should not speak or write about one’s self or brag about one’s money, status, intellect, house, job, marriage, children etc.
Brag, the word’s origin itself is a little sketchy: Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘boastful’): of unknown origin (French braguer is recorded only later). Mid-14th c. Middle English braggen (“to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully”) of unknown origin. Possibly related to the early-14th c. Middle English adjective brag (“prideful, spirited”), probably from Celtic. or Old Norse bragr (“best, foremost; poetry”); or through Old English from Old Norse braka (“to creak”).
In other words...who knows?
As much as I enjoy having nice things, going nice places, doing well at tasks, I am not particularly ostentatious about them. (I hope.) So, I won’t do any of those nasty braggy things. You will, however, find me most days, bragging about my colleagues, my students, and my school district.
My school district educates and graduates students of the highest caliber, who are not just college-ready, but they are kind, compassionate, accepting, and understanding. These are traits that are both naturally part of their characters and full-to-the-brim from the memories that my colleagues have made with them during class lessons, field trip adventures, during after-school clubs, extra-help, and simple hallway conversations. East Williston teachers build relationships that last well past the 13 years of public education. Our teachers stay in touch with graduates long after the day they graduate and later they become friends (and sometimes colleagues!)
Our school district has a special ed teacher who has students who not only pass regents exams - but excel! Our Life Skills program welcomes students from other districts with special needs. Our school district has Siemens Award Competitors, Intel Competitors, Robotics Competitors, Mock Trial Competitors, National History Day Competitors, and Forensics Competitors...and many, many winners! It really isn’t so much about the winning though, it is the hours of preparation and experimentation and working as a group or an individual with your teachers and your peers. It’s learning to win or lose with grace, and to accept either and go on to prepare for the next competition with hope.
I have colleagues who are so brilliant, but so self-effacing, among them are attorneys, doctoral students, people with several master’s degrees, doctorates and who have worked in several other prestigious fields before turning to a life of academia and anonymity. I also have colleagues who are unafraid to ask me for help with technology when they need it and share their successes when they find it! This is worth bragging about! People who admit they don’t “know it all” and would like to know more! My “colleague-students” have taken an idea, a plan, a question and used what they learned and made their teaching better, stronger, or simply easier, more accessible and more fun!
We in East Williston celebrate the Earth! We not only teach about recycling and ways to conserve, but we also practice what we preach with our Environmental Action Club. This is students and teachers working together. We collect bikes (hundreds of them) and send them to Africa so that kids can get to school and adults to work. The elementary kids have Earth Day Celebrations every other year! They spend the whole day learning outside of the classroom about Earth-centric topics in groups that are different from their daily work and classroom environment.
The elementary kids have put on a circus, and the middle school students put on a musical each year. The high school students put on a play and a musical each year… the music students in all schools have concerts many times throughout the year and as the students grow - so does the talent! Directed, of course by our faculty! Our own students and teachers create beauty and art where there was nothing! Paintings, plays, music, sculptures… you name it they’ve made it!
We celebrate diversity. We celebrate service. We celebrate weddings. We celebrate new babies. We celebrate birthdays - staff and student alike. We celebrate retirements. We celebrate firsts and lasts. We celebrate commencements and new beginnings. We celebrate at every opportunity, because truly, life is hard enough without leaving out the celebrations!
So, that’s why I don’t need to brag about myself. I work in a place that does the bragging for me. I am a tiny part of all that wonderfulness, contributing to the competitions, the learning, the celebrating, and I couldn’t be any more proud!.