In Denmark the state pays the pupils to go to school (if you 18 or older) so I used the money I got from the state to buy my TI-89.
Really a great system...getting paid to study:)

I would have to agree with you :)

(I have multiple scholarships, which paid for about 140% of my educational expenses this semester.)

Wow they pay you to study? What's their incentive for paying people for that? That's pretty cool. Here the only pay from my study is getting good grades so that I can pay the college of my choice $30,000 a year to go there for four years after high school, and then a corresponding job afterwards.

In Denmark we have the philosophy, that everyone is entitled to an education. Everybody! When you are in school you don't have time to have a regular job so the state will help you with your expenses. The concept is known as SU which means "State educational support" and is proportional to your parents income and if you are living at home.

In former Yugoslavia all schools were free, but military schools were one step beyond. Students of military Academy, or military technical faculty got free clothes, books, food and were also payed to cover yet some costs. However, as reward you had to stay in Army, or military industry for several years.

I feel sorry for people who get calculators stolen. At my high school, if you ever stole anything from someone, they would just pound you and take it back. So stealing items was not a viable option.

Now in college, there is no such code of honor, and if you like your calc, keep it on you at all times. Even when getting up to retrieve something from a printer, people take their backpacks with them, just to keep an eye on their things.

I have only heard of one calc being stolen this year, and that was when the fool left it on the desk in math and forgot it. Gee...wonder where it went?

In short, guard your calc with your life, your heart, your mind and your sacred honor. That shiny new 89 looks good now, but someone is thinking it would look better in their backpack.

Knight/Rocket's 2/12.5 bits.

I have to agree with you...

I must agree that was extremely insightful and inspiring.
I would kindly, like to thank you for those words.

I have had my only calculator stolen.
My parents took a loan from the bank to buy my TI-83

It got stolen

Life sux

I wanted to end mine that day

My parents worked so hard just for that one

I cried and cried

No, I am not bullshitting

Life sux

It sux for these people that have to put up with this

It is said to see what society has come to that we as a society come to it as normal to steal these things

I cannot not believe it.

It saddens me greatly

Ajai Sharma

your parents had to take a loan from a bank to buy a $90 calculator? first, that's just weird. and second, why would a bank make a loan for that little amount of money?

I think it's a way he wanted to transmit the effort they made to buy that calc. It's obvious no bank in the world is giving 90 U$S loans. It's just figured sence.

I had to work very hard. It got stolen. It sucked

I worked very hard, that is what I meant.

I am a lower class (economically)

Living in the suburbs of Downtown San Diego in a crappy apartment.

The amount I worked is inconceivable and it got stolen.

I have no calculator, I have no money, I have... nothing

Life is hard for people

We shouldnt have to worry about people stealing our stuff.

Ajai Sharma

>>I feel sorry for people who get calculators stolen. At my high school, if you ever stole anything from someone, they would just pound you and take it back. So stealing items was not a viable option.

And how would they know someone took it? Isn't that the whole point of stealing? If they know you have it that's called "borrowing."

Good point. however, in smaller schools it could be obvious when someone steals something. If you see a boy with an stolen calc doing calculations in classroom, for example. Well, he could bring the stolen calc to his home and use it there, and nobody will find it. Or sell it and buy another, but it's not that advanced.

It was well known that there were only three or four people who stole calcs, so wliminating people who did not was an easy process. I only know of one theft that went unsolved in my four years of high school, and that was because the likely thief transferred schools before he received his retribution.

I first got my 83 in 6th grade for my birthday. In seventh grade, we went to Circuit City and I spent about 15 minutes begging my dad to buy a TI-86. After naming several reasons, he bought it. Then, I got my TI-89 in 8th grade for Christmas. Now I'm in 9th grade and don't plan to get another. Gee...... isn't the TI-89 just GREAT in Algebra 2?? :)

why would u need an 83 in 6th grade and an 89 in 8th?

I'm 2 years ahead in math.

I'm two years ahead here too.

7th grade (Alg 1) - 83, school loaned - they gave it to me at the beginning of the year, I gave it back at the end. amazing how simple that is.

8th grade (Alg 2/Geometry) - 82 (I took the course at home through an online thing, and all I had was my sister's 82)

9th grade (Pre-Calculus) - 86, my mom bought it

10th grade (AP Calc AB) - same 86, thinking about an 89, probably won't get it though

I am in the IB program. They say that we are taking college courses with an emphasis on college math. The courses are incredibly easy, they don't deserve to be called college courses.

9th grade - Algebra 2
10th grade - Geometry/trig
11th grade - Precalc/trig
12th grade - Calculus

I am in 11th grade now, and I have a TI-83 and TI-89.
I got the 83 at the beginning of 9th grade only because the teacher said that they would help greatly, she was wrong. I won the 89 in a math competition. In precalc I rarely use a graphing calculator, I rely mostly on a scientific calculator(it has everything you need) or pencil and paper.

Algebra 2 in 9th grade is NOT 2 years ahead in math. The only one of you that is really ahead (as compared to above average in the schools [yes schoolS, see below] I go to is the Matt A up there that took Pre-Calc in 9th.

I took Pre-Algebra in 6th, but it was pretty much the same course as the Algebra 1 I have helped friends with. The teacher let us go at our own speed, so I was done half-way through the year. So in 7th grade they put me in Geometry. I was the top grade in my class of 8th and 9th graders 3 out of 4 quarters. In 8th grade I took Algebra 2, and was top grade all 4 quarters. This year has been a pain though. I'm taking Pre-calculus, which is only available at the high school (9th grade is still at the Junior High here), so I go to two schools (I go back to junior high after I take math at the high school). I was the top grade in my class 1st quarter this year. Also, because of a schedule conflict of going to two schools, I have to take 2 classes at the high school, so I'm also taking A.P. Computer Science (of which I easily know more than the teacher, he's a dimwit). Next year I'm taking A.P. Calculus BC. The BC is where I have Matt A beat; he is only taking AB, the easier of the two.

Just so I'm halfway on the main topic, I got my 89 in 7th grade with my own money I made from fixing peoples computers.

I'm remarkably similar to you. I took Algebra 1-2 in 6th, Honors Geometry in 7th, Honors Algebra 3-4 in 8th, and now Honors Precalculus in 9th. Of course, I am what most people would consider a "nerd." I love math obsessively and I memorize digits of pi in my spare time. I also skipped 2nd grade.

7th grade - Algebra I (honors)

8th grade - Geometry (honors) and Algebra II credit-by-exam

9th grade (with enough credits for 10th) - Precal (honors)

11th grade - AP Calculus BC

12th grade - AP Statistics and Calculus III

now - Differential Equations
next semester - Discrete Math

My math classes are similar to both of yours.

6th grade: Algebra
7th grade: Geometry and some stuff with logic and proofs
8th grade: Trigonometry (walked over to the high school for classes, which is next to our middle school)
9th grade: Pre-Calculus
10th grade: AP Calculus BC
11th grade: Calculus III (currently)
12th grade: ????? (Differential Equations possibly, at a local college)

And about the nerd comment, that isn't to be unexpected, as this is a calculator discussion board. =-) Nerds are cool (many anyway). 3.1415 92653 58979 32384 62643 38327 95028 84197 16939 93751 05820 97494 45923...

3.1415926535897932384626433832795 0288419716939937510582097494 45923078164062862089 986280348253421170679821480865 1328230664709384460955058223172 :) Sorry about the spaces, but words longer than 40 characters apparently aren't allowed in postings. (What's with that?)

Actually, yes it is. In our school district, Algebra I is the primary course for 9th grade.
I took Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, and am in Algebra II now in 9th (all honors, and top average too :)
So, maybe your courses are arranged differently in your district. The order ours is in is pre-algebra, Aalgebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, pre-cal, cal, statistics.