Though many math teachers stick to the plain and simple curriculum, Jane Gillespie spends much of her time testing new calculator products from Texas Instruments with her students. She teaches students how to use them and brings results back to meetings with her.
Gillespie spent the week of April 20-25 in Washington DC at a conference for math educators, learning to use the new graphing calculator, Ti-Nspire. The teachers ranged from kindergarten to college.
Gillespie went to the National Council Council on Supervisors of Mathematics [NCSM] Tuesday and Wednesday, and from Thursday to Sunday she went to the National Council of Mathematics [NCTM]. The conferences were held at the Washington DC Convention Center.
In DC, Gillespie spent time not only listening at the conferences, but also sharing things she has learned. She taught people about the calculators and gave results about what her students think of them.
“I did small presentations at the Texas Instruments booth,” Gillespie said. “Sharing my experiences in the classroom using the handhelds and teaching the teachers how to use them ? about 30 to 50 people at a time.”
Gillespie not only spent time at these meetings at the capitol, but she also traveled around the city and visited famous landmarks, including the Mall, Capitol Building, Lincoln Monument and the White House.
“I think it’s important for people to see our nation’s capitol,” Gillespie said. “I felt really blessed to be able to see these things. I was essentially working for them [Texas Instruments] so the trip was practically free. I was surprised about how many people were out; tons of joggers and schoolkids on the mall. To see all the monuments and memorials ? it’s a lot of our nation’s history.”
Though Gillespie is a new teacher this year, many students claim to be fans of her style. Tynin Fries, ’14, says she enjoys her class because Gillespie is relatable and not too strict.
“She lets us fix our tests if we don’t do too well,” Fries said. “I’ve learned a lot in her class this year ? more than any other year in math.”
Another student, Timothy Mount, ’14, finds her class to be very helpful and her style simple and clean. He says her class has helped him out a lot this year and that she is great at explaining.
“She has the time to explain to you about the problems,” Mount said, “and what we’re going over. She would actually like to explain it to you. She’s a very kind person.”
Gillespie has been working with these new calculators, Ti-Nspire, this year and testing them on her students. She says she finds them more exciting and easier to work with than other calculators in the past.
“There’s so many cool things about them,” Gillespie said. “I like them the best because you can put activities on them and then students can explore the math for themselves. They can learn it on their own. They’re more like mini-computers than calculators.”
For more information, e-mail Gillespie.
