TI-Nspire For Dummies
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Mathematical concepts can be represented in multiple ways, and TI-Nspire does a great job of accommodating these different representations. The Notes application allows the written or verbal representation of mathematical concepts. The Calculator application is well-suited for algebraic representations. The Graphs, Geometry, and Data & Statistics applications provide graphical and geometric representations. The Lists & Spreadsheet application specializes in numeric representations.

Taken together, the seven core TI-Nspire applications can be used to create dynamically linked documents that allow users to see math in multiple ways.

In many ways, the Notes application is the perfect complement to the other six TI-Nspire applications. For example, if you are a teacher writing an activity for use by students, the Notes application can be used to interject instructions, which eliminates the need for paper notes to accompany activities. Plus, going paperless is better for the environment! The Notes application also provides a place for teachers to pose questions and for students to type their responses.

Here is a summary of three key ways to use the Notes application:

  • As the name suggests, the Notes application is a place to interject notes within a document. It can be used to give instructions such as “Advance to the next page and graph a function that. . . .” Notes pages provide a great way to enhance the continuity of a document and also eliminate the need for instructions on paper.

  • The Notes application provides a place to pose and answer questions. In a classroom setting, students can type their responses directly into the Notes application. At the conclusion of an activity, students can save their work and submit it to the teacher. Now the teacher has complete electronic documentation of student work (especially with the help of the TI-Nspire Navigator).

  • Sometimes, teachers use the Notes application in conjunction with a paper worksheet. Students may follow instructions or prompts contained within the Notes application and use a worksheet to provide paper documentation of their thoughts and ideas as well as answers to specific questions. Using Notes in conjunction with a student worksheet is a good option for those educators who prefer to keep student work and assessments in paper form.

The Notes application comes with the tools to allow users to customize their documents for a variety of purposes.

About This Article

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About the book authors:

Jeff McCalla teaches Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus at St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis. He is a T3 instructor for Texas Instruments and co- founder of the TI-Nspire SuperUser group. Steve Ouellette wrote the first edition of TI-Nspire For Dummies as well as CliffsNotes® Guide to TI-Nspire.

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