Edutopia – Kelly Baum-Sehon
“Whether we love them or hate them, calculators are here to stay—gone are the days when we could tell students, “You won’t always have a calculator.” We have to rethink what it means to teach kids how to do basic math in the calculator age. I’ve spent years figuring out how to incorporate calculators into my teaching in ways that teach my middle school students important skills like number sense, estimation, and problem-solving. Through trial and error, I have created and taught lessons that integrate calculators as a central tool in developing students’ mathematical curiosity, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency. Two of my favorite lessons cover what many consider basic middle school concepts: percentages and fraction operations.” (more)