As a mathematician, I am thankful for shortcuts. I think part of the reason that I have always loved math so much is because I recognize and implement shortcuts. I love to look for patterns in numbers and procedures. I try to share these tips and tricks with my eighth grade math students whenever I can. I want to share with you a little gem I recently discovered from a colleague. My Accelerated Algebra 1 students are currently writing linear equations. Given a point and the slope, students are practicing writing linear equations in slope intercept, point-slope, and standard form. Naturally, standard form always caused the biggest headache (and low quiz grades). But fear no more! Check out this awesome strategy that utilizes proportions:Step 1: Rearrange the point-slope form to isolate the m.
Step 2: Input (x, y) and m.
Step 3: Cross multiply.
Step 4: Arrange to form Ax+By=C.
Voila! No messy fractions to clear, few steps, and a beautiful final answer!
Check out my resources related to writing linear equations here.
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