Chebucto Regional Softball Club

This student wants to "invent a new zero" so. Watch out everyone. Math is about to get a lot more... IDK ... but MORE.

The nice thing that happened in class today:

Grade 5 students solve a puzzle where they put cuneiform numbers in order (there is no guidance, just work with the symbols, how do you order them?)

I told them they are like archeologists cracking a code. They did it!

"But where is zero?"
"It wasn't invented yet." I said this seriously. I mean ... it's true.

Later that day the same student asked if it was a joke. I got to tell them no! Zero had to be invented. Everything had to be invented!

@rk @dancingtreefrog

I will use any damn thing like a number, watch me go.

@Catfish_Man

We have done that. I need them to be able to encode characters in binary, or understand how the system we write does that.

@dancingtreefrog

Thing is then when we get to hex they are upset that A and F are not "digits" but ... maybe.

Bases. (decimal, binary etc) are best explained through examples.

"You can only write three symbols in base 3. These are: 0, 1, 2"

So you count: 0, 1, 2, 10, 11, 12 ...

I think the word "symbols" is confusing, but so is "characters"? Students don't think of numbers or letters as "symbols" or characters. The card sorting puzzle helps with this. But I'm always refining the language:

How would you put this as plainly as possible?

@Jgreene

This is a personal attack.

@SvenGeier

now that you mention it.

@Harleck

I think desmos can fill that role. It’s pretty good. Give it a chance.

I’m just a little frustrated to be the only person who is laser focused on how much it has changed: and what those changes might mean for our courses!

@Avner @freya

Unexpected changes in a user interface are also a safety concern. People may have strict procedures based upon an in interface working in a certain way.

Furthermore, I think it’s an accessibility issue. I know several blind people who count on certain touch-screen buttons presenting in the same location and doing the same thing.

@poleguy @mhstoixeiwmenopip

Students have no access to an LLM when their device is in test mode. The college board has issued specifications that (in theory) any OS developer could implement so they could be approved as a testing device.

it’s all very “other brands are available” per British television standards.

As a teacher, my primary concern is ensuring that students can maximize the effectiveness of whatever tools are permitted.

@mjustm

Yes. It's just not what I hoped for... and syntactically a little odd.

@LunaDragofelis @poleguy

They are NOT "required to have an iPhone"

It's a browser-based application.

When taking the SAT you can take it on a computer or on paper. Paper is being phased out. If the test is on a computer desmos runs on the same machine.

If a student is taking the test on paper the SCHOOL should provide a device that can run desmos or the student may use the approve graphing calculators the TI 84 is the most popular but there are others.

This guide I've made is meant to show just how powerful of a tool we have been handed.

Too many math teachers are thinking it's just like the TI calculators they have been using for years.

It's not. It is VERY different.

Most of the math teachers I talk to are shocked when they get to the "calculus" section and don't seem to grasp the implications of the things it does with fractions.

Desmos Hacks n Tricks

Explore math with our beautiful, free online graphing calculator. Graph functions, plot points, visualize algebraic equations, add sliders, animate graphs, and more.

Desmos (www.desmos.com)

I don't know if desmos is "better" we are no longer buying graphing calculators for students. I have been trying to get the faculty to pay more attention to this issue.

Getting my hands on a calculator is what *MADE* me a math person. I think it's incredibly important.

Since students will have this software during the test they need to use it regularly as they learn. I'm also annoyed that few faculty seem to understand this.

@mhstoixeiwmenopip @poleguy

They are not "required to have iphones"

The school should provide a device that can run the software. This could be a laptop or ipad.

For the test it needs to be the "locked down" version (no saved programs) but any device that can run the SAT test can also run desmos.

But it's a little messy.

Desmos makes noise now???

Fractal Kitty (@fractalkitty@mathstodon.xyz)

I had fun making sounds in desmos to go with this: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/qezi3o36sc?ref=fractalkitty.com #desmos

Mathstodon (mathstodon.xyz)

@unfa

Why are people looking for alternatives to desmos? Did something go down?

#desmos is out of control. Here is my guide to all of the features I've found so far. You can make logic gates in there. You can do lists and iterate things:

Desmos Hacks n Tricks

Explore math with our beautiful, free online graphing calculator. Graph functions, plot points, visualize algebraic equations, add sliders, animate graphs, and more.

Desmos (www.desmos.com)

They've added summation and it's a little strange sometimes how it works. This threw me. You set i to be a list and it give you three answers. It won't evaluate it if you don't set an upper bound.

I'm excited but also a little horrified that this is the new SAT calculator. It's just so feature-rich.

@sahqon

This seems reasonable, but would you recommend such a course of action to your less tech savvy older relatives?

My mom has a natural and good tech instinct to click "no" when her computer asks her to update. However, she's had so many viruses and the easiest way to clear them out is if she just keeps the windows OS updated.

She uses the computer for the web and as a word-processor. I'm annoyed such basic computing is so dangerous and complex.