My students are doing okay with factoring overall, but it has been a struggle. This is the graphic organizer I ended up using this year: Students find it helpful, which is a good thing. I like/hate it. I want them to be able to factor without it. Here are some things I am thinking of changing for next year: 1. Fewer methods: Reduce the number of factoring strategies, so students have less to sort through. I am thinking I could teach trinomials with ax^2 first, and then apply that method to trinomials where a=1. Students should be able to adapt to the simpler situation, and they'll have one less method to remember. 2. Figure out how to connect the type of polynomial with the name of the method and how that method is completed: I am currently expecting students to see a trinomial, then identify that it has a leading coefficient, then recognize that they should use the "airplane" method, and then remember how to do the airplane method. So complicated! It is kind of amazing that any of them can do this at all. One of my students pointed out that the arrows I am drawing for the "airplane" method resemble a trident. What if I renamed the "airplane" method the "trident" method? That seems like a better connection between the original expression and what you do with it. (Trinomial = Trident method?). 3. School-wide consistency: There are only three math teachers in our school. Why haven't we done this already? No idea. We definitely need to get together and agree on an approach to factoring so that students aren't seeing a completely new process from year to year. 4. Find a hook: I haven't figured out how to motivate factoring beyond, "You are going to need to use this all kinds of ways later this year and next year". All things to keep in mind for next time . . . Unless . . . Is there a magic factoring wand that I don't know about?
