07Jun 2017 by Julie Shouse Riggins
TI – A Partner with Educators for over 25 years

TI – A Partner with Educators for over 25 years

Professional Learning
I wanted to respond to some recent negativity toward TI calculators.  For 25 years TI has supported teachers and students to provide cutting edge technology that enhances student understanding of abstract math concepts.  My first year teaching was 1994.  I and other teachers in the early 90’s were “wowed” by the ability to enter a function into y= on that blue TI-81 and instantly see a numerical and graphical representation of any function we wanted – WOW!   If you think TI has not changed or evolved over the last 25 years, you are hugely mistaken.  Perhaps what is more true, is the number of teachers and district leaders who have not evolved to support the new, dynamic technologies of Texas Instruments: the TI-Nspire, the Nspire Navigator, and the Innovator…
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28Apr 2015 by Julie Shouse Riggins
The Lesson That Helped Me Be a Presidential Award Winner

The Lesson That Helped Me Be a Presidential Award Winner

Lesson Design
I just returned from the most excellent trip to Washington, D.C., where I collaborated with great math and science teachers and shared practices and needs with people from NSF and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Best of all, I shook hands with President Obama when he presented the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) to me! What an incredible experience, and one that I want all of my science and math teacher friends to experience, so I thought I would share a little about the application process and the lesson that I submitted. Presently the application portal is open for K–six and seven–12 in alternating years. There is talk of combining them, however, so you could apply any year regardless of grade.…
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