Past projects 2
Calculators Needed!
Funded Oct 31, 2022Thank you, thank you for contributing to our classroom. I'm looking at the 12 calculators that are currently being used by 35 students in some classes. It's just not enough and the current calculators don't really have enough functions for an Algebra class. Know that my kids will have different math experience with your gift.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mayer
Scientific Calculators for My Awesome Title 1 School Algebra Class
Funded Aug 9, 2018I hardly know where to begin to describe the impact having a classroom set of calculators has on my classroom. I teach high school level math classes to my 8th grade students. They are brilliant and hard-working but frequently don't have the resources to purchase scientific calculators. Each student has the same tool which also makes instruction relatively seamless. I can consider the concept I am teaching and explain the use of the calculators just one time. That may not sound like a big deal but in a classroom of 40 students being able to give the same instruction to the entire group allows me many extra minutes to focus on the objective of the day.....rather than which button to hit for 5 different calculators.
There are many functions that these scientific calculators have that my previous 4 function calculators did not. Even something as basic as using exponents is now an option for my students. In my Geometry class, we study trigonometry.....these calculators also have sin, cos and tan functions which again my previous calculators did not. For the past few years, we have used trig tables (pretty old school) which put my students at a disadvantage during standards based testing. They really need to have experience using those functions on a calculator.
The last thing that I think is often underestimated is just having new technology helps the students understand how much I value their time and their experience in my classroom. I told them that the school/district doesn't have resources to provide technology for their classroom use but it was so important to me, that I reached out to a group of people to ask for help. And there was a group of friends and friends of schools who cared enough about their education to help out with the purchase. I greatly appreciate your help in changing my classroom this year. And it will make a significant difference in my students' experience as well.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Mayer