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“Every time my students do a trick they have learned somewhere, I say what they are really doing out loud.” -Julie Reulbach
Nix 'Hungry' Inequality Symbols:

Instead use the correct language frequently enough students think these symbols are just as familiar as the equal sign.

Download the Book for a full explanation.
Nix Butterfly Method:

$fraction addition butterfly$

Instead have students practice with fraction bars or other manipulatives to see why they need a common denominator.

Download the Book for a full explanation.

Preface

1 Introduction

2 Operations

    2.1 Nix: Total Means Add
    2.2 Nix: Bigger Bottom, Better Borrow
    2.3 Nix: Add a Zero (Multiplying by 10)
    2.4 Nix: Five or More Go up a Floor, aka 0-4 Hit the Floor, 5-9 Make the Climb
    2.5 Nix: Turtle Multiplication
    2.6 Nix: Does McDonald's Sell Cheeseburgers, aka Dad, Mom, Sister, Brother
    2.7 Nix: Ball to the Wall
    2.8 Nix: PEMDAS, BIDMAS

3 Proportional Reasoning

    3.1 Nix: Butterfly Method, Jesus Fish
    3.2 Nix: The Man on the Horse
    3.3 Nix: Make Mixed Numbers MAD
    3.4 Nix: Backflip and Cartwheel
    3.5 Nix: Cross Multiply (Fraction Division)
    3.6 Nix: Flip and Multiply, Same-Change-Flip
    3.7 Nix: Cross Multiply (Solving Proportions)
    3.8 Nix: Dr. Pepper
    3.9 Nix: New Formulas for Each Conversion
    3.10 Nix: Formula Triangle
    3.11 Nix: Outers over Inners

4 Geometry and Measurement

    4.1 Nix: Perimeter is the Outside
    4.2 Nix: Rectangles Have Two Long Sides and Two Short Sides
    4.3 Nix: Squares Have Four Equal Sides
    4.4 Nix: Obtuse Angles are Big
    4.5 Nix: a² + b²= c²
    4.6 Nix: The Angle of Inclination Is the Same as the Angle of Depression
    4.7 Formula: Areas of Quadrilaterals, Triangles
    4.8 Formula: Surface Area
    4.9 Formula: Volume
    4.10 Formula: Distance Formula

5 Number Systems

   5.1 Nix: Absolute Value Makes a Number Positive
   5.2 Nix: Same-Change-Change, Keep-Change-Change (Integer Addition)
    5.3 Nix: Two Negatives Make a Positive (Integer Subtraction)
    5.4 Nix: Two Negatives Make a Positive (Integer Multiplication)
    5.5 Nix: Move the Decimal (Scientific Notation)
    5.6 Nix: Jailbreak Radicals, aka You Need a Partner to Go to the Party
    5.7 Nix: Exponent Over Radical

6 Equations and Inequalities

    6.1 Nix: 'Hungry' Inequality Symbols
    6.2 Nix: Take or Move to the Other Side
    6.3 Nix: Switch the Side and Switch the Sign
    6.4 Nix: Cancel
    6.5 Nix: Follow the Arrow (Graphing Inequalities)
    6.6 Nix: The Square Root and the Square Cancel
    6.7 Nix: Land of Gor
    6.8 Nix: Log Circle
    6.9 Nix: The Log and the Exponent Cancel

7 Functions

    7.1 Nix: Rise over Run as the Definition of Slope
    7.2 Nix: OK vs. NO Slope
    7.3 Nix: What is b?
    7.4 Nix: The Inside Does the Opposite
    7.5 Nix: All Students Take Calculus a.k.a. CAST
    7.6 Nix: FOIL
    7.7 Nix: Slide and Divide, a.k.a. Throw the Football
    7.8 Nix: Synthetic Division

8 Conclusion

A Index of Tricks by Standards

B Types of Tricks

    B.1 Imprecise Language
    B.2 Methods Eliminating Options
    B.3 Tricks Students Misinterpret
    B.4 Math as Magic, Not Logic

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