A calculator is a wonderful thing...unless you are a Math teacher who is trying to get your students to use their brains!! Sigh...It has not taken me long to take note of my students' dependence on their calculators. Yes, technology is wonderful, blah, blah, blah...but being able to think for yourself and actually UNDERSTAND the concepts of Math is even better! I am reviewing for the Target Test we have coming up next week, and today we were working on fractions, decimals and percents. Do we really need a "Simplify" button on our calculator? Can we really not simplify 3/9 by ourselves?! I am having to go back to the basics of things my kids have been doing since forever because they haven't forgotten how to do it. They have forgotten how to put it in the calculator! They don't understand WHAT the calculator is doing. So, when I ask them how much a sweater that costs $30 is that's on sale for 10% off, they don't know what to do. They want to know where the % sign is on the calculator and what to do with it! Again, I am not saying I never use a calculator nor that I don't think they are useful. I am questioning, though, why the importance of learning what button to push has superseded the importance of learning how to think! Yes, calculators are accessible as well as a lot of technology now days, but is having Mental Math skills not important? If you answer yes, I don't want to ever hear you complain when the carhop at Sonic can't give you correct change because you gave them anything other than what is on the bottom of their receipt, telling them what to give back. Critical thinking is a big issue in schools, and we wonder why...Basic understanding comes before critical thinking. Can calculators really replace the building blocks of Math I'm supposed to be teaching in order to then get my students to think deeper? Yes, Dr. Zimmerly, I am having cognitive conflict.
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