Why I Carry A Graphing Calculator....

I only began packing the day before my flight, but I worked remarkably efficiently choosing what items to bring. I had to balance clothes, medical care, and supplies for the school in Ghana in which I would be teaching math and science for the coming year, all the while keeping the load reasonably light for traveling to other countries afterward. When I came across my graphing calculator, this atypical efficiency was replaced with what all of you who know me are more familiar with--decision paralysis. I considered the possibilities: Would this item seem starkly worthless if I'm teaching primarily addition and subtraction? Might there be some kids with proper schooling who already are on to algebra? What if the next Einstein is simply waiting in Bakua, Ghana for a graphing calculator? With this last thought, and a new found conviction, I took my glittery-blue TI83+ and shoved it into my already full suitcase. Perhaps it would be a waste, but perhaps Young Einstein would be waiting. In any case, it had been at my side all through high school and college, so I saw know reason why I should abandon my faithful friend on the eve of the next chapter of my life.