I have recently discovered a fascinating progamming language called Python. Although it is very powerful, you can do a lot without very much knowledge, and it looks to me like it could be very useful to mathematics students. At the very least it's desk calculator mode can serve as a vast improvement over a hand calculator, both for doing the normal things that you do with your hand calculator, and for checking your work by doing plenty that your hand calculator can't do. I think in some ways it would be nice if students were allowed to use Python for tests, but this is not yet practical, and our classes would have to be radically altered. But for now at least you can have a go at making Python do you homework for purposes of checking yourself. Besides simply getting Python to do your homework, there are a lot of things you can do with Python to help you understand the material in your class. This is particularly true for algebra, a subject that far too few students properly understand, and this lack of understanding is often a great handicap in later classes. Python also has one wonderful advantage over most computer languages, which is that it is free, so I would like to recommend to all of my students, and anyone else who would like a very good calculator and some extra help with their math class, to dowload it right away. You can find out how to do that for any computer platform you have, PC, Mac, Linux, etc., etc., by going to this page.
I will gradually by writing up some tips for how to use it in your class, both as a fancy calculator, and for increased understanding. There will sometimes be exercises in them that I think might help your mathematics understanding. To provide extra incentive, if you are in one of my classes extra credit is negotiable for them.
(not much yet, but more coming)