MsGeek.Org v2.0

The ongoing saga of a woman in the process of reinvention.
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http://msgeekdotorg.blogspot.com/



Heard the Word of Blog?

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Just a quick note to say that I talked to Frank Gonzales at Woodbury University, and my application was approved. "It's good that we got this done early...one less thing to sweat when it gets close to next Fall."

I was supposed to take a test for Math 112 today, but DSPS didn't get the test in time. So, I'll be doing it next Monday. I intend to take the next three tests in quick succession as well: the "Algebraic Topics" in the Math 112 text just so happen to cover topics I've been dealing with right now in Math 113. So one reinforces the other. I should be done with all the tests and the Final by the end of November.

If I do a Master's Thesis, I think it might be about Math Anxiety/Avoidance, the Affective Filter, and theoretical ways one can work around this formidable obstacle. I believe that the farther along I get in Mathematics proper (as opposed to Arithmetic...there is a difference) the better I'm doing and the less Affective issues I have. I do strongly believe that the educational theory I learned in Education 203 and I'm also working with in Linguistics 1 can be applied to Arithmetic and Mathematics, provided you deal with the subject in a similar way to how you deal with teaching a foreign language.

If you get students when it's early on in their education (K-3) you have the advantage of utilizing the miracle of language acquisition to get this new language across to students. This seems to be consonant with the way LAUSD is beginning to look at Math instruction already. Unfortunately I'm a little long in the tooth for this approach, so I have to learn Math like an adult learns a foreign language.

Anyway, this might be a bit technical for the blog...sorry. Let me just sum up by saying that I personally am feeling a lot more comfortable with Math, and these theoretical experiments I'm doing on myself are paying off. I might not go into Woodbury with all the Math requirements I need, but I will definately transfer there newly equipped to handle it better.