Statement of Personal Growth

The Bakers Choice book was something I have never seen or worked with before. There were several times where I was stuck on a couple problems throughout the unit, but I was able to persevere and get through it. Typical math prompts only provide one answer without any deep thinking involved. Bakers Choice provides open ended questions that allow for complex thinking and most importantly the application of already understood mathematical concepts. Before starting this unit I of course knew how to graph inequalities and linear functions. I even knew how to spot the feasible region, without realizing that it was actually called a feasible region. Before Baker's Choice, I never actually knew what linear programing entailed. I now realize that linear programming is only an umbrella term that allows students to develop constraints within regular linear functions and inequalities, which are another form of a linear function. Typical linear programming problems involve maximizing profit, which is mainly what we encountered in this unit. Everyone wants to know how to maximize profit, which is why maximizing profits can greatly be applied to math and gain interest in the subject matter as well. In the profitable pictures problem, there were only 2 constraints that were used. This resulted in two linear functions that represented inequalities. The two lines had one intersection point, which coincidentally was the location that satisfied the constraints of the problem while yielding the highest amount of profit. This problem made a lot of sense to me because it is obvious that where two lines intersect should yield your best value, which in this case it did. This combination yielded the highest amount of profit. This problem was very meaningful to me because I was able to apply what I already knew about looking for a place of intersection and seeing why the intersection point of two linear inequalities represents the best possible combination. It was almost as if everything clicked in my brain. This Baker's Choice unit can be helpful in any Algebra class or integrated math class that incorporates the investigations of linear equations and linear inequalities. This unit really gives students the opportunity to think in a complex manner that will deepen their understanding. I also think it is very important to present this unit as a group activity, because multiple opinions and conjectures are needed to effectively understand these problems. This unit is also more complex, and it will be important to use group collaboration to ensure that the students who are behind don't get further behind in class.