Exit Slip Sep 21

 From today's class blog's discussion board, I agree with Karishma's groups post about how teaching instrumental math earlier helps to build confidence. I feel that building confidence is especially important in math because it is essential to fighting off the negative stigma surrounding math. People too easily fall into the mindset that they are not math literate and building math confidence prevents that. Therefore, it is a good idea to use an easy-to-understand, instrumental approach when introducing mathematical concepts. Skemp also seems to agree with this approach because it is the same approach he uses in his article when he describes finding his way around a new town.

However, I disagree with their analogy that someone can be a good writer without knowing proper syntax. When I think about the novel War and Peace, which is arguably the greatest novel ever written, I am reminded that it has been translated into English numerous times. This is because the quality of the English version depends so much on the quality of the translator's writing and their individual understanding and mastery of English syntax. So, to be a good writer, good syntax really is required. I don’t think I would enjoy reading a book with poor syntax. Vocabulary, however, is very different. Ernest Hemmingway, one of America's greatest writers, was criticized for never sending his readers to a dictionary, which is another way of saying his vocabulary was lacking. So, one can be a good writer without having a rich vocabulary.