I
love my calculator collection! I am a happy nerd with my different calculators,
I tend to stick with the Texas Instruments, but have owned a few outside of
that family. This is my current stash of calculators:
TI-83 - this was mine from High School
TI-82 - my high school had classroom sets
of these, and I recently found a bargain at Goodwill for 5 bucks! Obviously, I
couldn't pass that up!
TI-86 - my absolute ALL TIME favorite
calculator! I completely love this calculator. It was stolen a few years ago,
fortunately despite it being discontinued several years ago I was able to find
another on eBay.
TI-Nspire
Touchpad (with the TI-84 Plus keypad)
- I got this one at a FREE Pre-service teacher professional development
opportunity. This one has both the TI-Nspire platform AND the TI-84 Plus
capabilities with the switch of a faceplate! Super awesome system. The Nspire
platform is awesome, it is essentially a handheld computer with file storage
capability and the ability to have multiple screens.
TI-30
XIIS - this is the
scientific calculator that Ohio uses for their OGT, so it was recommended to my
students.
TI-30XS
- this one is pretty cool
because it simplifies radicals.
TI-34
– Nothing
special going on with this one.
TI-30XA
- I got this one to
be able to help some of my students who had this model or something similar.
This one has the one line display, which is tricky for students to understand
HOW the numbers are being interpreted by the calculator.
I
totally judge a calculator by how it responds to a negative number squared,
meaning if I type into a calculator -8^2 and the calculator
responds with -64, I like that calculator. If it gives me anything else, I
question everything about the calculator!
We are in a year of transition.
New standards, new assessments and new policies. While we will still be
administering the same Ohio Graduation Test and Ohio Achievement Assessment
this school year, next year's assessments will be dramatically different: new
standards to assess, new method of testing (all computer based), and new
calculator policies.
The
PARCC Calculator Policy can be found at http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCApprovedCalculatorPolicy-July%202012.pdf
For
the PARCC assessments our 6th and 7th Grade students will have access to a four
function calculator with a square root function. I believe it will look similar
to this online calculator but will also include the square root ability.
Our
8th Grade students will have access to a Scientific Calculator. There are many
different ideas of what the Scientific Calculator will look like, but this is
an example of what it MIGHT look like. (This is what the scientific calculator
looks like on ALEKS.)
Finally,
our students in high school mathematics courses will be given access to a
Graphing Calculator, PARCC has said that the functionality will be similar to
that of the TI-84. Despite the fact that PARCC released the additional
information about what the calculator will be modeled after, I believe this one
is the most difficult to predict. It could look like the Scientific Calculator
with additional graphing/tables functionality or it could look totally
different. Below is a sample of what it could look like, but as I stated, this
one is the most difficult to predict.
If
we are being asked to assess students in "real-world" situations, the
reality is that we all do carry around calculators with us all the time. In the
past when teachers said, "What are you going to do? Carry a calculator
around everywhere you go?" We never envisioned that ever being a reality,
however with cell phones it really has become that reality. That said, there
are tasks that need to be done without a calculator. We need to teach students
when it is appropriate to use this tool, and we need to teach them to be
"smarter" than the calculator. Students need to have good number sense
to be able to assess if the answer on the calculator is valid.
The
fifth Standard of Mathematical Practice is "Use appropriate tools
strategically." This would undoubtedly include calculators. We need to be
teaching students WHEN it is appropriate to use a calculator, and when it would
be best not to use the calculator. One of the major shifts in the calculator
policy is that the PARCC Assessments will give students access to their
appropriate calculator for some questions and then on other questions there will
be no calculator available.
For
these reasons, I believe we need to be assessing students in the classroom with
both calculator sections and non-calculator sections. We need to have teaching
days with and without the calculator. Encouraging students to do problems
without the calculator, then checking their answer with a calculator.
For
anyone interested, this hydro calculator is high on my list of wants…what?! A
calculator that runs on water just sounds too cool!
Happy
calculating!
