I gave my anti-PEMDAS monologue to the 6th grade this morning at math. I think it was well-received to say the least. Most of them had tuned out in 5th grade when exposed to the misconception of PEMDAS in the first place. PEMDAS is the most misleading part of math that I have ever heard of. PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction)-- aka-- Order of Operations. I'm pretty sure that one will not be successful in Alg. I w/out attending to precision in the Order of Operations. The acronym PEMDAS implies that first one would evaluate within the parentheses, then evaluate exponents, then multiply, then divide, then add, then subtract. When in actuality, yes one would complete the parenthesis and exponents first, then one should multiply and/or divide (whichever comes first) left to right, then you add and/or subtract (whichever comes first) left to right. To use such an acronym that suggests multiplication would come before division and addition before subtraction is just as offensive as calling a fraction greater than one an improper fraction. PEMDAS- you are improper and incorrect!
Back to today's math lesson: after they wrote the notes down and learned how deceiving and manipulative PEMDAS was towards them and their future math careers, they tried about 6 or 7 independent practice problems from the textbook.
Then I asked, "Who is ready to see into your near future?"
Much to my chagrin, no one raised a hand, no one said, "YES! We never knew you had a crystal ball!"
Alas, I continued on....I took out my Alg. I book and wrote twelve Alg. I Order of Operations problems on the board. There were a few gasps (which I love), some expressions of disbelief (which I love even more), and then it felt like all of the air was sucked out of the room (which is my most favorite thing ever)! After a few seconds, all of the 6th graders started breathing again and decided to rise to the occasion and meet their futures a little bit early. I told them, "This will be the hardest part of your day! Please-- embrace it! I promise we will do buddies, art, computer lab and class meeting the rest of the day, people-- this is it!"
I think they surprised themselves. There were no tears of sadness or joy for that matter. Order of Operations exists in a mathematical world, where you need to Attend To Precision #6 (scroll down) and appreciate the exactness and preciseness of the Order of Operations.
