13 Rules that Expire

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The deeper I get into the education field, the more I realize that I have more to learn. Learning how to teach new math concepts is actually a little confusing for me. I grew up with it one way. Now that I'm an adult and about to teach myself, I'm learning that they way I learned is actually not the best. Education is an ever growing and ever changing field.

13 Rules

A breakdown of the 13 Rules:

1. When you multiply a number by ten, just add a zero to the end of the number---while this is true quite often, and can simplify many problems, this particular rule is talking about exceptions, like with fractions/decimals. This is definitely not a rule we can follow when addressing these problems.
2. Use keywords to solve word problems---students need to be sure to look at the entire problems. Key words can be helpful, but they must pay attention to the entire problem.
3. You cannot take a bigger number from a smaller number---kids learn later in their education that this is actually true. So while we teach whole number subtraction in elementary school, we cannot make a blanket statement like this.
4. Addition and multiplication make numbers bigger---This is another thing that coincides with decimals and fractions. Multiplication and addition may just do the reverse.
5. Subtraction and division make numbers smaller---This is not true when dividing negatives, and sometimes with fractions. Numbers can actually come out quite larger.
6. You always divide the larger number by the smaller number---This is just completely false, and students don't even realize they do this regularly because it is not presented as a mathematical problem.
7. Two negatives make a positive---integers can throw this rule through the loop.
8. Multiply everything inside the parentheses by the number outside the parentheses---PEMDAS. If the numbers within the parentheses are being added then this statement is true. However, when the numbers are being multiplied in the parentheses, then they must be multiplied first with each other, and then multiplied by the outside number.
9. Improper fractions should always be written as a mixed number---"This rule can certainly help students understand that positive mixed numbers can represent a value greater than one whole, but it can be troublesome when students are working within a specific mathematical context or real-world situation that requires them to use improper fractions."
10. The number you say first in counting is always less than the number that comes next---When we put a relationship with that number, it could be quite the opposite, like "three dozen eggs is more than eight eggs, and three feet is more than eight inches."
11. The longer the number, the larger the number---0.12345 is much smaller that 0.6. Negative numbers, even in the thousands, will always be smaller than 1. The length of the number has no real bearing on it's size.
12. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally---In a way, order matters. Parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. However, multiplication and division hold the same weight, as does addition and subtraction. There are problems where both are present and you can take different routes to anser WITHOUT it effecting the outcome. For example, 3^2 – 4(2 + 7) + 8 ÷ 4. This problem can be addressed first by solving the exponents, the addition problem within the parentheses, or simplifying the division section. This problem cannot continue, though, until 2+7 has been solved and that has been multiplied by 4.
13. The equal sign means Find the answer or Write the answer---The equal sign means that both sides are equivalent. 3+4=7 means that 3+4 is the same as 7.

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