When it comes to the concept of keeping my writing simple, yet making sure that it is of "academic," caliber, I must say that I become more confident as this class progresses. To be perfectly honest, feeling as if I do not have to bloat my writing with "big words and extraneous ideas," as mentioned, makes me more sure of what it is I am trying to do. I always felt as if my writing is too simple, and as if it would always lack the grand vocabulary and ideas that I would need to be a good academic writer. Now, I have come to the realization that at times, when used incorrectly and to appear more academic than one may really be, that these big words and ideas do not add to the paper, but take from it. What it comes down to, is being secure in what I want to say, and realizing how I want to say it. If I can focus on these two things, I really believe that I can keep my writing simple, yet professional. My downfall always comes in trying to take on a topic that is too broad. With assignment three I really am trying to make my thesis as specific as possible, while still allowing room to dive deep into the topic.
I would say that my biggest strengths at the moment are meta-cognition, and engagement in my topic. I really care about the power and influence a teacher can have over their students, and I am very excited to be researching it for myself. With that said, I am lacking in Creativity. I am currently working on ways to look at Mathematics in education from different angles, and to really break down what influences student success the most.
