Entrance Slip: Oct 21st

 Learning The Grammar of Animacy

There are two things I like to talk about when talking about terminology in science and mathematics.

1. Origine of the terminology, such as prefixes and how some terms are derived from various cultures.

2. How to approach the teaching of the terminology. A word could be completely new to the student, or they may already have a slightly different definition of the word that is out of the context of science.

In the case of number 2, I do not know if the two cases require different approaches in teaching because, in the end, the student will require a concrete understanding of the word, so perhaps how you decide to assist the student in learning or experiencing such words does not matter. 

Personally speaking, etymology always has been interesting for me, because it shows the way of thinking of the time period of that particular culture. It is true that all the scientific words are euro-centric but on the other hand, things were named after someone or whoever discovered came up with words however they see fit. Honestly, I have no issue with this, because I know that words only exist if people use them. There are words that get put up in the dictionary because enough population of people uses them, even the word itself has only existed for few years. There are cultural words such as Kimchi or Bibimbap that get put in the dictionary because there is enough awareness of the words and could represent new ideas that did not exist in this part of the world. (and yes I am of Korean heritage so I chose those words) I also think that indigenous words such as puhpowee could hold their own once people become aware of it because they represent something that had no 'name' for its Euro-centric ideas. I think this is one way to indigenize my classroom. Students can learn traditional European scientific words as well as these words to reinforce one another. It is not like the usage of these words are irrelevant, because students can always cite these words into their essay or projects and may help them communicate better and efficiently without using too many words to describe.