The Post That I Did Not Want to Write

But first, Theresa, asked me to explain PEMDAS which stands for Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, or the order of operations.

I'll use / to indicate division.

What is 5 + 30 /5?

If you answered 7, you are wrong. So that we always get the same answer for calculations, we have a certain order of operations to follow. Mathematicians like for things to be precise. We do not like gray areas.

According to the order of operations, division is done before addition, so

5 + 30/5 = 5 + 6 = 11

The order of operations is applied in this manner:

Please = parenthesis -- do everything in grouping symbols, following the order of operations, of course!

Excuse = exponents -- apply all exponents

My = multiplication
Dear = division
Start on the left and work towards the right, doing all multiplication and division

Aunt = addition
Sally = subtraction
Start on the left and work towards the right, doing all addition and subtraction

So, why did I not want to write this post. After all, I love teaching math. I am on a one-woman self-appointed crusade to improve the world's attitude about math.

After 20 years of teaching math, I am going over to the dark side and will become an administrator next month. I've been flirting with the dark side and administrative work for some time now by being a department chair. Our school is in transition right now with some key people retiring and I have been asked to take on the role of Associate Dean. I have been promised that I can return to teaching after a year, but right now, all I can think of is the knitting time that I am missing this summer since I will be at work instead of at home in my PJ's.