Is PEMDAS the correct way to teach order of operations?

Is PEMDAS the correct way to teach order of operations?

 A lot of people will learn the way to solve order of operations problems as PEMDAS, but is that the correct way to teach it?

When solving this equation with PEMDAS, a lot of people will think that you should do multiplication first, because that is the way it is in PEMDAS ( Parentheses -> Exponents -> Multiplication -> Division -> Addition -> Subtraction ) . However, we know its wrong, and that you have to do which ever one comes first i.e. multiplication or division, addition or subtraction. So, what would be the correct way to teach order of operations?

GEMS: The correct way to teach order of operations.

The correct way to teach order of operations would be GEMS. The G stands for grouping, which includes parentheses as well as absolute value signs and other forms of grouping. The E stands for exponents. The M stands for multiplication and division, and so whichever one comes first. The S stands for subtraction and addition, and do whichever comes first.

Now let's try to solve that same equation, but this time we use GEMS.

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