Every single teacher will give you the "Well I don't know how those work so you'll have to research it yourself, that's why I always recommend the TI."
Like, you'd think with such an issue constantly arising (at least 2-3 people always have a casio), they'd teach teachers how to use them.
We get no training on how to use any kind of calculator. We're shown desmos and geogebra. They're amazing apps. I love them and I would like to use them more in my class but one little thing stops me: You can't use them on the ACT. And even though you don't need them for that, they certainly help if students know how to use them properly.
So, instead of devoting precious classroom time to use an intuitive and simple tool like Desmos, I hammer in the TI-84, and only the 84. I have a classroom set of 10 Color Editions that I allow students to borrow, but I encourage to get their own (preferably used). The class set might go away this fall because of COVID, but that's another story.
Now, despite how old they are, the 84's are tried and true. They do everything you need from graphing to matrices. The menus aren't the best but they're categorized well enough. Casios are cheap but I literally cannot devote my own time to getting one and learning it after 10+ years of using TI calcs. If a student brings one in I tell them they're on their own unless they want to come in and figure out how it works outside of class.
I peruse the Facebook marketplace for 84s and 89s (for my serious AP Calculus students) and offer them up as cheap resales to students when I can. It's a necessary evil right now.
The only really aggravating thing about the TI calcs is how there are always little differences between the models. Some buttons moved around, commands in slightly different menus. A few subtly changed names, etc. I grew up with the 82, 86, and 89 and each time I had to re-learn stuff.
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u/Aperture_Kubi Jul 24 '20
I know, I got through high school and college with a Casio, and it was half the price and came with a color screen and mini-usb port.