Thursday, 1/7/16: Taking the Square Root Both Sides

There are four strategies for solving quadratic equations:

• Factoring / Zero Product Property
• GCF / Distributive Property
• Difference of Squares
• Perfect Square Trinomials
• Factoring by Grouping
• Diamond Trash
• Taking the square root both sides
• Completing the square
• Quadratic formula

I'm repeatedly hammering away at the five factoring strategies.  Parents, your son or daughter should be able to repeat the five factoring strategies (GCF, etc.) to you off of the top of their head.  If he or she can't, lock him or her into a room until he or she can!  Every year my students leave here knowing those strategies like the back of one's hand.

Your son or daughter won't necessarily be able to state the four ways of solving a quadratic equation yet, but should be able to do so by mid week.  I'm really hammering these four strategies (factoring, taking square root, etc.) home now.

We've been in review mode with all of the above this week, to get students' heads back into these strategies.  Today I got a chance to strengthen the second strategy for solving quadratic equations, taking the square root both sides.  Tomorrow and Monday, it will be a solid presentation of completing the square and Tuesday and Wednesday of next week it will be a solid presentation of the quadratic formula, including its derivation.  (In fact students have to know the derivation by memory, and that will be my first quiz this semester, given the week after next.)

We're between lessons and it was counterproductive for me to formally assign work tonight.  But I'll be assigning completing the square homework over the weekend.  Tonight, students can be previewing lessons 16-4 and 16-5, on pages 587 - 602.

There is an after-school class for Per.6 tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 8, until 4:00.