Calculators or not .... high school math

Texas Instruments is one of the leading manufacturers of calculator technology. They make amazing little tools! And they are very smart about their marketing. Texas Instruments has insured that every student in every Math class in Texas public high schools has access to one of their graphing calculators. Every high school Math classroom has a classroom set (28 or more) of TI-83's or TI-84's or better.



The state mandated TAKS test also has a requirement that every student taking the Math portion of the high school level test must have access to a graphing calculator. And here is the kicker .... many of the TAKS test questions are written so that a graphing calculator is actually almost necessary for success on the test. Teachers are STRONGLY encouraged to teach with the calculators and Texas Instruments is very generous with their training and extra little devices to enable engaging teaching with their technology.



If you will go to my Sample Videos page and look at Question #50, you will see just one of the tools which all teachers have to use. This device, called an Emulator, can be projected from the teacher's computer onto a board in front of the classroom. It is a wonderful teaching tool! In fact, Texas-Instruments has dozens of wonderful teaching tools and they are working very hard to get them into the hands of every public school Math teacher in Texas and probably everywhere else in the USA.



The point I am attempting to make is that for 4 long years of Math education, every public school high school student has daily access to a TI-graphing calculator. Students are also encouraged to buy their own to use on their homework at home. Many of the Math textbooks include instructions on how to write programs for your calculator and how to use your calculator to do the lessons.



But probably one of the most addictive AND comforting things about using a TI-graphing calculator is that .... (Drum roll, please) ... it does fractions for you! It adds them, it subtracts them, it multiplies and divides them ... and it will give you a reduced fraction for the answer! What's not to love?



Through the 4 years of high school math, now required of all students, our kids have constant access to a graphing calculator. It actually becomes a source of "security" for them. Do they use it all the time? No. Do they need it all the time? No. But take it away from them and ask them to do a Math problem and panic sets in.



Which leads me to my next article ..... coming soon ... "Calculators or not ... College Placement Tests".