Order of Operations

Simplifying equations can be tricky for students. Ofcourse, there is the infamous P.E.M.D.A.S acronym for what order to take care of the symbols and operations.  Here is my way of remembering P.E.M.D.A.S
P=Party!
E=Eat
M=Movers
D=Dancers
A=Action
S=Sound
This method of teaching order of operations applies to an older student. I tell my students to look at the equation. It's like a crazy party that needs to get shut down.
Look at the parenthesis first. See those guys? They are the biggest trouble makers-they need to go first. They are screaming, "take care of me" first! Do all the operations inside of them first.
Then we look at the exponents...they want to get their hands on as much food as they can. Dangerous! Get rid of them next by multiplying them.
Alright, now look at those multiplication and divisions. They are the dancers & movers at this party. But they only go left to right! Start at the left and solve away to get them out of the party. Dance them right out of the room! Finally, we have all the addition and subtraction. They are the last bit of action and sound. Starting at the left, add and subtract until they go.