After teaching last 10 years and analyzing student work, I realize that in developmental and Elementary Algebra courses there is a disconnection between the students conceptual understanding in context in contrast to their procedural fluency. In some cases, students can perform the procedure, but do not understand when the procedure is valid. In other cases, students do not understand the definition/concept but were able to perform the correct procedure. In Elementary Algebra classes, I have found that students have difficulty in squaring an algebraic expression. They can square and simplify expressions like (x[superscript 3]y[superscript 4])[superscript 2], but they make mistakes when they simplify expressions like (x[superscript 3] + y[superscript 4)[superscript 2]. After analyzing student work, I have concluded that they did not understand the underlying concept that is squaring an algebraic expression. A visual approach using the "box" technique helps students to understand the concept of squaring an algebraic expression and write each step with correct reasoning.