I began using a graphing calculator my freshman year of high school. It was a TI-82. I remember being impressed with its ability to quickly graph equations. I also liked how I could see my previous work on the screen and edit typos.
Prior to working with a graphing calculator I had to do my graphs by hand and calculations one step at a time. I would often make a mistake and have to start from the beginning. This slow step-by-step process is a fine and important step in developing a solid foundation in math but it does take a lot of time and is not necessary after those skills are well developed.
Now with a graphing calculator, I could investigate quickly the structure of an equation. Getting to understand not only how to graph but learning all that a graph can tell you. What happens when you take your base equation and add 3 to it? Will it shift left, right, up, down, stretch, compress, flip...?
I'm a visual thinker. So seeing equations as graphs and seeing situations presented graphically made math make so much more sense. I remember that while sometimes I would get flustered by an equation, I could always figure out how to solve it using technology. Even if I didn't yet have the algebraic skills, my familiarity with technology and graphing made it so I could still figure out a path forward or verify my work. If I had forgotten a rule, I could do a quick investigation by running through a few easier examples until I figured it out again. This made math seem more like a fun challenge in which I had multiple tools for and made the experience a whole lot less stressful.
Throughout high school I continued playing around with my calculator. It wasn't long before I realized it could be programed and those programs could be shared with other students. That opened up both the world of calculator games and my interest in learning how to program. My teacher's always allowed us to have graphing calculator for our tests. So my friends and I would create and share physics programs, games and math programs. A few of them continued on into computer science. I bet all of them still have a graphing calculator at home.
