A Calculator for Every Student

Funded May 7, 2024

Thanks to your generosity, I now have a set of 36 Casio graphing calculators available for students to use in my classroom. My students have already benefited greatly from this. In an era of anxiety and uncertainty, schools have moved away from time limits on things like basic mathematical operations (multiplication, division, addition, etc.). There are good points on both sides of that particular argument, but my students arrive at the high school level needing a great deal of time to do these basic mathematical operations. In a single problem for my class, a student will likely need to add and subtract a few times, multiply and/or divide at some point, and maybe do some of that with fractions or decimals, and perhaps do all of that multiple times. I am not trying to teach them basic mathematical operations, I am trying to teach them how to work with and manipulate equations with variables, among other things. It is such a relief to be able to tell my students things like: "I know that you could do that off to the side and you could get there, but I don't want you to practice long division with decimals right now, I want you to practice solving for the variable. Go ahead and use your calculator and let's talk about if that answer makes sense for this word problem."

The benefit for my older students is even greater. My juniors are the group that will be doing the most standardized testing this year. Those tests are timed and they will have barely a minute per problem. Many of my students who could easily do well if they had more time never would have been successful under those circumstances. They still have to know what to do with the calculators, but they can move faster. The juniors can use the calculators to factor trinomials and simplify radicals and all sorts of things, and that means they will have the time to accurately demonstrate what they know when they take their state tests this year.

You have helped level the playing field. Students that walked into my classroom set up for failure have a real shot. My students who struggle and take a long time with basic multiplication can still learn to solve multi-step equations, and interpret graphs, and a variety of other algebra skills. You have helped enable them to focus on what they are learning here and now instead of remaining trapped by the disjointed education they have received during recent years. You have allowed me to spend more time teaching high school math instead of reviewing multiplication and fractions. Thank you for investing in my current and future students; I promise that these wonderful teenagers are worth it.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Barley