Comments Regarding InTime Videos

I watched a couple of videos that showed students using graphing calculators to connect some mathematical concepts together. Fortunately, graphing calculators are a technology that is very common at the high school level. In fact, they are so common that they are often overlooked when taking a technology inventory. Teaching students with these calculators has taken some adjustment. They are capable of many things that used to be done on paper. So I have to decide whether some of the paper and pencil acitvities that I learned are now obsolete. What is it that students should know how to do without a calculator. For example, there is a process for find the square roots of numbers on paper. But for many years, calculators have been able to perform that function. Does that mean that the paper and pencil method shouldn't be taught anymore? Actually yes. However, this does not apply to all the capapbilities of a calculator. For example, many students are coming to high school without the ability to do simple math without a calculator. This is an example of calculator overuse and abuse by a teacher. In summary, technology is great, but we have to constantly evaluate proper use and monitor for overuse.