From: Sheila.King@f315.n103.z1.fidonet.org (Sheila King)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.math
Subject: AP CALCULUS              
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 22:02:00 PST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:103/315 - Castle of the Four , Diamond Bar CA

Mary,

-> I've been involved with the C2PC project at Ohio State University.

I think I read something in the Mathematics Teacher about a summer
program they were running there to train teachers how to incorporate
tech. into their instruction?? It sounds really exciting. Instruction at
my school is all too traditional, and since it is a Catholic school, we
have very little funding for such extras as tech. (or at least, so the
admin would have you believe--I think it is also a case of priorities.
Admin doesnt' really understand mathematics or how much math instruction
could change with tech, so they figure the traditional methods are good
enough).

-> There is a precalc. textbook published by Demana and Waits
-> (PreCalculus - a Graphing Approach) published by Addison Wesley.

Will have to keep my eye out for a copy of that text if I attend any
conferences this year.

-> My kids that come back that are at colleges that won't let them use
-> the graphing calculator or computer say they feel head and shoulders
-> above the average because of their visualization experiences.

This is good to hear. So they aren't so dependent on the tech. that they
are handicapped when they don't have access to  it? I always figured
there were two possible ways it could go for such students. I am VERY
glad to hear that it has been a real and true asset for them.

-> My precalc. kids are required to purchase a graphing calculator.

Do you require them to get a specific brand/model, or will any graphing
calculator do? There is a new one out for about $40 this year by Casio.
It certainly doesn't do everything that the more expensive ones do, but
it is supposed to be an affordable graphing calculator that every
student can afford.

-> What book are you using for Calc?  I'm still trying to decide how
-> much to cover and in what depth.

Well, the text that has been chosen for our school's calc class is by
Howard Anton. Can't say that I'm especially crazy about the text. As for
what to cover and in what depth..you do have the curriculumn outline
from the AP program, right? It lists what you need to cover. I would
also obtain copies of old exams. They are available through the College
Board. If you need adresses, let me know, as I have them. Also, you
might leave a message in this echo for Tim Brown. He saw my original
plea for HELP for AP Calculus, and sent me a private offer of materials
he uses with his own students. I hope he doesn't mind that I volunteer
him here. I have not been able to take him up on the offer, since it
turns out that I will not be teaching the course after all. I am a bit
disappointed. It would've been challenging, but I always enjoy a good
challenge. My dept. head told me that it looks like my teaching
assignment will be Pre-calc, alg. 2 and honors geom, but he still hasn't
called me back to confirm it. I can't believe that the school is taking
so long to finalize our teaching assigments, and then they expect us to
be preparing for our students in advance. Partly it's because we just
hired two new math teachers at our school last week...

Well, enough for now. I hope you don't mind if I ask you sometime later
about how you use tech. for instruction in you pre-calc class?

Sheila
coming to you from Diamond Bar, CA (in Los Angeles County)
                                  

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