It seems unlikely that I will be able to afford a class set of the new TI-Nspire CX handheld calculators anytime soon. In the meantime, I am excited to begin using the teacher software that accompanied my new toy. The Math Nspired website offers a wealth of activities, for use on either the handheld calculator or the computer.
For example, one lesson provides students with the an image of/the formula for the area of a rectangle. Students are then challenged to manipulate this image to derive the formulas for area of a triangle, parallelogram, and trapezoid. Together, the visuals and the inquiry opportunities make for a powerful learning experience!While I wait to win the lottery, I will recommend that our site technology committee purchase one class set of devices for teachers to check out of the library. The software and web-based activities would also make for engaging whole class discussions when paired with an interactive whiteboard, allowing students to interact with and manipulate lines, figures, graphs, equations . . .
