Stick It in a Box: Polynomial Multiplication and Division Made Easy

Each session will start with warm-up problems, giving learners time to settle in. After going over the warm-up problems together, as well as any questions on homework problems, we will cover the day's main topic:
Session 1: Multiplying Polynomials
Session 2: Factoring Polynomials
Session 3: Dividing Polynomials
Session 4: Completing the Square

During group activities, learners will interact with the teacher and each other through verbal discussion and slides designed to be written on and organize our thinking, not just looked at. (Learners can either annotate from within Zoom, which will be reset as we move between slides but preserved in the session recording, or request the Explain Everything link, which will let them write directly on the board. Learners' contributions will be monitored for appropriateness, safety, and accuracy.)

Consistent regular attendance is expected. I will not remove learners from class for missing group activity sessions, but they must take responsibility for catching up, by watching the session video and doing all work. I will be available to help if they find anything tricky.

Mathematical prerequisites and target audience: Expected learners are somewhere in their high school algebra learning journey; most of the core topics are introduced mid-to-late in a typical Algebra 1 class (the exception is polynomial division, which is often omitted until Precalculus), but practiced and elaborated on throughout Algebra 2 and Precalculus, so learners later in the algebra learning process will still see new connections as well as finding ways to make their work easier. Previous familiarity with the distributive property is a must! Learners who became acquainted with the box method for multi-digit multiplication will find extending it to polynomial multiplication easier, but learners who did not can still grasp this method.

Technology prerequisites: Learners must be able to follow links and switch between the Zoom meeting and a browser window, or have support for these technology tasks immediately at hand.