Help kids find success in math class

My name is Bryan Campanelli and I have been a mathematics teacher for 25 years. I love TEACHING math, not how to pass tests. I love teaching kids how to think, how to assess, how to manipulate concepts. Math is not a set of rules to follow, it is something that you can talk about, think about, and manipulate.

As time has gone on, the use of technology in the classroom has grown exponentially, as it should. I do not teach in the same style of classroom I was taught in 30 years ago. Data analysis has become a much larger part of what we teach and do. Analytical geometry, analyzing graphs, and modeling data has also become more important. There are numerous free resources for my students to use to do these things; to analyze data, to calculate summary statistics, to graph, to SEE what is happening on a graph and to help relate to the algebra they are doing on their paper, namely desmos.com. Desmos is amazing, it is so intuitive and easy for the students to use. What it is really good at though is graphing. Often the students need to graph and calculate something. Also, desmos only provides a certain level of precision.

The TI - 84 calculator is the tool that can do it all, whether it be graphing, calculating, creating regression models for data sets, working with matrices, working with vectors or polar coordinates, everything. This tool is used by College Board, it is used on the AP Exams and it is the suggested tool for many of the textbooks and other teacher resources we use. It is suggested because it is very good at everything.

These calculators cost in the neighborhood of $150. Some students' families can afford them, some cannot. I have found an emulator that I give to my students to use online but this is an open resource that students cannot use on an AP exam or in other secure testing situations and students need access to their own laptop to be able to use the emulator I provide. Additionally, using a whole computer as your calculator is cumbersome, it takes up your whole desk. Really, they need their own calculator in their hand.

What I am hoping to provide is an opportunity for ALL of my students to have access to this tool. I am hoping to secure enough funding to purchase a class set of these calculators. While yes students would be able to use them in class, it would be my hope that I could also check them out to students to use at home when they cannot access the online emulator that I have for them.

These calculators are amazing. They are a great tool for teaching and learning mathematics and they also make any student feel like what they are doing is more important than when they use their less capable phone calculator. Your donation is effectively purchasing one of these calculators for a student that otherwise would not be to access one.

A class set of 40 calculators and charging stations for them will cost over $6000.