Category Archives: T³

Back to School with TI-Nspire Navigator

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Update the OS on the Handheld

  1. Download the latest OS for you TI-Nspire handhelds from TI-Nspire™ Technology | Software Updates | Texas Instruments
  2. Connect the handhelds to your computer via the docking station or with navigator hats.
  3. In the TI-Npsire CX Premium Teacher Software, go to Tools >Transfer Tool >Add to Transfer List. Select your OS and start the transfer.
  4. After the handhelds have restarted, choose your language and font size on each handheld.

Rename your Handhelds in the Premium Teacher Software

  1. With the Content Tab selected and the handhelds in the docking station, right click on the name of a handheld and select Rename.
  2. Look for two green flashing lights on the docking station. This will indicate the selected handheld.
  3. Give the handheld a new name based on its position in the docking station.
    Example: Calculator 07.
  4. Lift the renamed handheld from the docking station so the lights stop blinking.
  5. Repeat this process until all handhelds have been renamed. Then place all the handhelds back into the docking station for charging.

This makes it easy to quickly identify any handhelds that are not connected to the network.  By selecting Connected Handhelds in the Content Tab, you can sort your handhelds by name.

Upload your Classes into the Premium Teacher Software

  1. Create one CSV file for all your classes with the following columns:
    • Class Name
      Example: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc
    • First Name
    • Last Name
    • Student ID
  2. With the Class Tab selected go to Class >Add Classes >Upload a CVS file >Next >Browse to select your file >Next.
  3. Map the fields and click Next.
  4. You will see a message that your class(es) and student profiles have been successfully created. Click OK.

In this example, students will use their student ID as both their username and password to login.

Add a Teacher Icon to your Classes

  1. Go to File >Settings >Teacher Preferences
  2. Give yourself a Username and Password and select Add teacher to classroom view.

This is helpful if you want to be a Live Presenter.

Texas Teachers: Press-to-Test for STAAR

Handhelds are required to be in Press-to-Test for the administration of the STAAR test. The following instructions are current as of May 2024.

The directions below will:

  • Disable CAS
  • Limit geometry functions
  • Disable implicit graphing, conic templates, conic analysis and geometric conics
  • Disable inequality graphing
  • Disable Polynomial Root Finder and Simultaneous Equation Solver

Check the TEA STAAR Calculator Policy for any updates.

  1. Go to Tools >Prepare Handhelds >Send Press-to-Test >Enter Test Code…
  2. Enter the Test Code 0000-9486 and click Next.

What T3 Means To Me

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Inspires My Teaching

At our first TLC (teacher leader cadre) meeting, one of our instructors Jeff Lukens had us purposefully play with temperature probes.  After a few minutes of play, we made connections to math and science.  This inspired me to bring probes into my classroom.  I have written and received two grants from the Pearland ISD Education Foundation and the Pearland High School PTA for CBR2 motion detectors, dual-range force sensors, temperature probes, and gas-pressure sensors.  Now our PAP Algebra 2 students are able to collect data to model linear, quadratic, exponential, and rational functions and make connections to the real-world.

Several workshops I have attended incorporate the TI-Navigator into the presentation.  I have also increased my use of the TI-Navigator in my classroom through quick polls, sending and collecting documents, screen capture, and live presenter.

Inspires My Learning

I do not tweet a lot, but I regularly follow #T3Learns on Twitter.  I have grown professionally by reading and reflecting on the books for the book studies before the T3 International Conference and books suggested by Jennifer Wilson and Jill Gough.

T3 provides the best professional development, whether it is face-to-face or via webinar.  I always leave with something that I can take back to my department or my class.  As mentioned in a previous post, I was inspired to get my computer science certification after attending a mini PD day on coding with the TI-Innovator hub.

Inspiring Others

The math teachers in my district use the TI-Nspire CX.  I want our teachers to embrace the handheld as a learning tool.  I train teachers new to our district on the features of the TI-Nspire CX.  Even though our science departments still have TI-83+ and TI-84+, our students are now coming to science having only used the TI-Nspire CX, so I have also trained our district’s physics teachers.  This year I am going to work with the AP Chemistry teacher on my campus on integrating the TI-Nspire CX into her course.

I presented at the T3 International Conference (T3IC) in Chicago, IL in March on BreakoutEDU using the TI-Nspire CX.  As a first-time presenter at the conference, I was shocked that I was given such a large room for my session.  The room was packed (~80 people), and the session went very well.  I received positive feedback from several attendees.

While at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching (CAMT) in Fort Worth, TX in July, I was waiting for a session to begin.  The presenter was walking around before her session started, and she stopped to ask me if I was presenting at CAMT.  Unfortunately for her, I had just given my first presentation, and she had a presentation the next day at the same time as my second session.  She had attended and was inspired by the breakout at T3IC and wanted to come to my session at CAMT.  Luckily, I was presenting the same thing at CAMT that I had done at T3IC, so she wasn’t missing anything new.

Just the Beginning

I have only been a T3 Instructor for a year, so this is just the beginning.  I cannot wait to see how the T3 community continues to inspire my teaching and learning and how I can inspire others as well.

To learn more about T3, visit https://education.ti.com/en/professional-development/t3-our-mission.

Computer Science Certified

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The T³ community inspired me to become certified to teach computer science.

Background

I took Pre-AP Computer Science my sophomore year of high school.  I really enjoyed the class, so I signed up to take AP Computer Science the following year.  I was the only girl in my AP Computer Science class.  Nevertheless, I still enjoyed computer science.

I have always known that I was going to be a teacher.  I decided that I was going to be a math teacher during my junior year of high school.  My mom and I visited with an adviser at Texas A&M University the summer before my senior year of high school.  The adviser suggested that I pursue alternative certification for teaching and get a BS in applied mathematics.  The BS degree did not require a minor, but my mom wanted me to have something to fall back on if teaching did not work out.  I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2004 with a BS in applied mathematics and a minor in computer science.

Mini PD Day

Fast forward to October 2016.  I attended a mini PD for T³ instructors on coding and the TI-Innovator hub.  We worked through several of the activities at TI Codes.  I had not done any coding in 12 years, but I was quickly reminded how much I enjoyed coding in the six hours I spent with other instructors.

Certification

Upon returning to my district, I was speaking with the math/science advanced academics specialist about my experience at the mini PD and told her that I might like to get my computer science certification.  She told me that there was money available from the state of Texas to encourage Texas teachers to obtain computer science certification.  She sent me the information about WeTeach_CS.

In June, I took and passed the TExES Computer Science 241 test.  I am now certified to teach computer science.

Although I will not be teaching computer science this year, I hope to incorporate some 10 minutes of code into my classes, and hopefully, inspire a love of coding in my students.

What have you been inspired to do as a result of your professional development?