Welcome to Ms. Hartson’s Homepage at Inter-lakes Middle Tier

“We probably underestimate the capacity of every child as a learner.”

As a teacher of mathematics for over 25 years and as a learner myself I keep the above belief statement in my mind each day as I approach my lessons with 7th graders. I love mathematics and I also want my students to love and enjoy math. One of my goals each year is for each student to meet success and more importantly to see the value of this subject. I think math is that entity that provides order to the world and through my lessons I try to lead my students to make connection between our daily skill practice and math in the “real “world.

Math in grade seven is a combination of review of the basics calculation skills and practice with pre-algebra concepts. Emphasis is placed on mastery of key fraction skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Other areas of study include integers, percents, decimals, ratios, and rates. A study of geometric shapes both 2 and 3 dimensional will  include calculation of perimeter, area, surface area and volume. Projects will be used to blend real world mathematics to learning of various skills. Everyday the lessons will be a blend of basic skill practice with new lessons that are part of the 7^th grade curriculum. Sometimes skills will be difficult to grasp and at other times skills will be easy to acquire. Which ever I try to keep in mind that learning is process and not just the answer or product. My expectations are that each student demonstrate excellent effort during class and at all times remember their responsibilities as a learner.