tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091979517567705761.post9059290350633827689..comments2023-10-03T04:20:03.184-06:00Comments on Math = Love: Reviewing the Distributive PropertySarah Carter (@mathequalslove)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11839095945000612533noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091979517567705761.post-26537001676165388182015-10-23T19:36:54.879-05:002015-10-23T19:36:54.879-05:00I'm currently teaching seniors in a remedial m...I'm currently teaching seniors in a remedial math course. It's designed to help them satisfy 1 standardized test requirement for graduation (psat score, accuplacer, etc). Yes; it is bs. Regardless, it's long been my opinion that the distributive property leads to more errors than assists. Especially when it comes to exponents and their supposed rules. I've clarified more misconceptions writing expressions like (x+3)^2 as (x+3)(x+3) than I should have to. I feel like teaching to distribute teaches students a rule and does not teach the concept of squaring, or doubling. Rules are easy to mix up. If I were to teach Algebra 1 again, I may try just applying definitions of coefficients and allowing students to uncover the shortcuts of rules on their own. I certainly will apply that approach to exponents.<br />Great discussion topic.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977959247436835113noreply@blogger.com