Summer Slide: Running a Restaurant With Pre-Algebra Middle School Math

This class is taught in English.

7.RP.A.3
Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems. Examples: simple interest, tax, markups and markdowns, gratuities and 
commissions, fees, percent increase and decrease, percent error. 

7.EE.B.4
Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.

7.RP.A.2.a
Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship, e.g., by testing for equivalent ratios in a table or graphing on a coordinate plane and observing whether the graph is a straight line through the origin.

7.NS.A.3
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving the four operations with rational numbers.Computations with rational numbers extend the rules for manipulating fractions to complex fractions. 

7.SP.B.4
Use measures of center and measures of variability for numerical data from random samples to draw informal comparative inferences about two populations. For example, decide whether the words in a chapter of a seventh-grade science book are generally longer than the words in a chapter of a fourth-grade science book.


7.G.A.1
Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.

7.G.B.4
Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems; give an informal derivation of the relationship between the circumference and area of a circle.


7.G.B.6
Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms.

7.NS.A.2.d
Convert a rational number to a decimal using long division; know that the decimal form of a rational number terminates in 0s or eventually repeats.

Professional Experience:
I have been a math tutor for over 12 years and have worked with students from ages 5-25 in small group and academic settings including serving as a primary teacher for home educated learners. I have received training and tutoring certification/awards from nationally recognized organizations. I was a group supplemental instruction leader for math at the collegiate level for four years at ETSU including working with dual enrolled and accelerated learners. I have taught and tutored math up to a graduate level in algebra, geometry, probability, and quantitative reasoning. 
Academic Experience: 
Constructivism and Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education
	This graduate level online course for educators used practical examples and empirical research to connect the educational philosophy of constructivism to best practices in STEM education and demonstrated online teaching strategies for this endeavor. It highlighted the power of solving problems through building and applying understandings rather than rote processes which influences the problem-centered curriculum This class also addressed common misconceptions or alternative schemas students develop for math and science prior to instruction and provided ideas for experiments and explorations to adjust these conceptions. 
Math 1410 Numbers, Concepts, and Algebra for Math Teachers
      This in-person semester long coursed prepared students to teach common core mathematics to students in grades kindergarten through eight including early access to algebra. It included practical teaching experience, ensuring the personal math conceptual fluency of each educator, and demonstrating expertise on the Praxis math exam for educators. 
Math 1420: Logic, Problems, and Geometry for Math Teachers
      This in-person semester long course prepared teacher candidates to teach common core mathematics to students in grades kindergarten through eighth including advanced ideas of logic, problem solving, and geometry using a constructivist lens. 

2 hours 30 minutes per week in class, and maybe some time outside of class.

The scope and sequence of this course is based on the open source Illustrative Mathematics curriculum and has been adapted for 2e, neurodiverse, and home-based learners. Illustrated Mathematics is licensed under a creative commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Pedagological Resources:
Gravemeijer, K. (2020). A socio-constructivist elaboration of realistic mathematics education. In National reflections on the Netherlands didactics of mathematics (pp. 217-233). Springer, Cham.
Vintere, A. (2018). A constructivist approach to the teaching of mathematics to boost competences needed for sustainable development. Rural Sustainability Research, 39(334), 1-7.
Briscoe, L., & Van Kesteren, J. (2018). THE ART OF MATH. Gazette-Ontario Association for Mathematics, 57(2), 21-24.