And the equation is. . .

I don't get why students have so much trouble writing equations of lines.  It's not just my kids, is it?

Yesterday in Algebra 2 we talked about three forms of a line (slope-intercept, standard, and point-slope).  If it were up to me, I'd just do slope-intercept, but standard can be nice when we graph.  Especially when it comes to linear programming.

I know the kids have seen these before (at least in Algebra 1, and I'm pretty sure in geometry, too) and yet the memory level is soooo low.  Instead of doing a plain ol' worksheet today on reviewing them, I made it more of a collaborative activity.  I got the kids in groups of 5 (had them pick a piece of paper from A - E) and then each group was given 6 index cards with different problems on them.  Some of the problems said to write the equation in standard form, some said slope-intercept.  They spent time in their groups working on each problem with support (hopefully) from each other.  During the last 5 - 10 minutes of class I gave them a card with the answers on it.  I think some kids got their problems figured out doing this... we'll see!

Don't you just love those graphing index cards?  I found them at Staples (thanks to @druinok, who posted about them here) and got myself a couple of packs.  These are the 3 x 5s, but I also got a pack of 4 x 6s.  I'm thinking that these would be something good to use when we get to trig equations in Precalc.