The Educator's Lifeline

 I have a confession to make. My graphing calculator comes with a bunch of powerful features I've never used. There, I said it! I feel better. The good news is, there are a bunch of resources online to help. The two heavyweights are Texas Instruments and Desmos , and both have amazing free resources for educators. Let's start with TI. In addition to an entire educational hub available on their website, they have downloadable activities for the classroom, professional development webinars, and electronic versions of their product manuals, all free. Because TI calculators are ubiquitous in most of the classrooms I've been in, these resources can really save time and help students focus on the calculator instead of other devices. Nice! Desmos has built their platform around a mission to improve mathematics education for everyone, and their commitment to equity shines through in everything they do. I love their teacher dashboard , where you can browse learning activities and

Shout out to all the elementary math teachers! I have a question for you. Have you ever seen your classroom dynamic change once the geometry unit begins? When I taught fourth grade I noticed something very interesting: many of my learners who had struggled with numbers and basic operations earlier in the year began enjoying math class once the discussion moved to shapes, angles, points and lines because the concepts started to "click" for them. Now, I will tell you I was not surprised. After all, it's my own love for geometry which led me to eventually earn certification to teach high school math. But I loved seeing the shift happen.  I created this 30-card Geometry Bingo Set to help students build on their new understanding. Covering 34 different geometry concepts, it's aligned with the Common Core State Standards for the fourth grade, but can be used with other grades as well for review or enrichment. Kids love games, and I've yet to meet a student who didn'