Affective Dimensions of Writing

Affective Dimensions of Writing

I would consider myself a writer in the sense that I enjoy expressing myself on paper. I like the idea that on paper, you can corect correct any mistakes you may have made. I think that my joy for writing began when I was just a kid. During the summers when I was in Elementary school, my dad would make my two brothers and me lists of things we had to do that day in order to be able to go outside and do whatever we wanted to do. The purpose of these lists was to make sure our minds were still actively engaged in the process of learning. Obviously the list changed from grade to grade. Between Kindergarten and 1^st grade, my list included counting to 150, doing simple math problems such as 4+5, and drawing pictures and writing about the pictures. As I got older, the list became more complex. One thing that was almost always on the list was to write a short story about certain things. For example, my dad would write “Kyle and his two brothers were walking down the road one day. They stumbled upon an abandoned cave, and noticed three magical objects…” My task was to finish the story and to read it to my dad when he got home from work. I loved these experiences because I often made my dad laugh and that made me happy. Writing actually made me happy.

However, my experience in high school was much different. I learned to not enjoy writing as much. Teachers would assign me to write a paper that had little meaning to me. The slightest mistake in grammar, the occasssionallly misspelled word, or the misuse, of a comma would dock me a lot of points. I felt that my ideas and thoughts were not being heard. The only thing the teacher seemed to care about was the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I do understand that grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important, but by being docked so many points on a paper that, against popular belief, took me a long time to write, my mind began to think, “What is the point in putting all this work into writing if my ideas will not be heard.” 

Nevertheless, I began to enjoy writing more during my senior year of high school. I can remember an assignment that the teacher asked us to write about five experiences in our past that shaped the way we are today. I enjoyed the retrospection this assignment gave me. Once again, writing became a way for me to express my ideas (granted by the time I was a senior, I was better with grammar, spelling, and punctuation).

Through my math education process, I have had many experiences with writing in math. Most of my classes have involved a great amount of writing. Most of the writing was done to prove theorems. When many people when they hear the word “proof,” two words come to mind: Geometry and Disgusting. This makes me kind of sad. I have come to learn that proofs can be beautifully written, in more than just Geometry, and proofs are among my favorite things to write. Each step is a logical succession of the idea before it.

I think that my experiences with writing will defiantly shape how I structure opportunities to write. I like the idea of having students write their thoughts when they do various mathematical operations. I like the idea of having students analyze their answers and having students write down what their answers mean. I like the idea of having students read different proofs and write various proofs. Many students feel that mathematics is like magic; “it just works.” I feel that my job is to help students read and write the language of mathematics.

I really like the following video. I think it is a rather comical introduction to writing proofs. I also like how when the man wants to prove to the older couple that 5 goes into 25 5 times, he stands up, goes to the chalkboard, and WRITES his rationale for the way he thinks. Then the older couple WRITES their rationale for why 5 goes into 25 14 times.