July 19, 2013
Dear Student,
Math is not scary. Math is not worthless or to be hated. Math is everywhere and in everything. There isn’t a single item or action that doesn’t include math in some way. Math will never let you down. It remains consistent in all cultures and all situations. If you had 2 pencils in one hand and two in the other, if (or when) they discover life on Mars, when you hand all your pencils to the Martian, the Martian will still have 4 pencils. (2+2=4) It never changes. The concepts you learn this semester will stay with you today and appear many times in your lifetime. Understanding math will open doors to success in the future.
While learning math, I want you to consider math as a foreign language. A language with its own symbols and lexicon. Pay attention to your vocabulary as many words that you understand as one thing mean something completely different in a math context. View math symbols as vocabulary as well. Every symbol has its own set of vocabulary that can be acted on and manipulated. This is essential to learning math as much as nouns and verbs are essential to learning English.
To support the learning of the language of math, you will encounter much reading and writing during this semester. Like an English class, you will be exposed to nouns and verbs as they appear in a math context. You will be forming sentences through formulas and computations. You may even encounter math themed books and journals. When you encounter these examples of literacy, like in English, make sure you pay attention to form and vocabulary. But literacy does not stop in the math classroom. The reading and writing in the math class is universal. It will help you in other non-math subjects. Reading and writing skills used in other non-math courses will enhance your math. Therefor, read and write as much as you can. Check out books from the library. Read newspapers. Read webpages. Read bumper stickers and license plates and infer the meaning the owner is trying to make. Write posts to blogs. Write letters to parents and friends. Write letters to the editors of newspapers or your congressman. Do everything you can to read and write for literacy is truly important to success in the future.
Yours in mathematic literacy,
Mr. Gerringer
