Wait for Me!

Cross-posted at f(t)!

I can't believe it took me until Tuesday night to post!

I delivered my workshop on Monday morning about blogging for PD. All details here. I was surprised and charmed that the people who decided to attend, with a few exceptions, had very little experience with even reading blogs! We spent the majority of the workshop allowing them to explore what's out there, and setting up Google Reader. I was also surprised that the highest barrier to participating in professional blogs is fear of privacy violation. A fear I totally respect, and want to spend more time discussing at the next session tomorrow morning.

I got to attend a number of fantastic sessions - I got some new ideas for math games (for little kids, but good ones can be extended to older kids), learned about some exciting resources to bring astronomy into a math classroom, and I might have picked up both a knitting and a quilting habit.

Today I took a stimulating trip to Watkins Glen for a leisurely walk down the Gorge Trail (it was gorge-ous), an unexpected dinner at Moosewood, and a failed attempt to hit the Cornell Dairy Barn. As a bonus, we only *almost* ran out of gas on the way home. And there was excellent ice cream when we got back anyway.

Phew! I'm tired.

First time attendee

Today was my first day at the summer AMTNYS, ever! I have only attended the one in the fall once, so it was very interesting to see the difference. The fall AMTNYS is quite overwhelming, while the summer version is exactly as the say, relaxing, refreshing, and renewing. I attended the sequel to the Nspire - Integration in the Classroom, even though I missed the first session on Monday. What a great experience! Chris Monahan did an excellent job keeping his patience with Kate and I, the only two there. Talk about a lot of one-on-one time with the instructor! He showed us what lessons plans look like on the Nspire, how to use them, and then how to creat our own. It was very casual, yet very informative. I went home with a wealth of new ideas, and after practicing some on my own Nspire, a wealth of questions. Chris Monahan so kindly gave us his email information and welcomed any and all questions that we might have.



The registration was very friendly, even though I was a day late, and the vendors were there, but not the overwhelming amount like in the fall. There seems to be a constant supply of food and everyone is so relaxed and able to talk. Not that people weren't willing to help in the fall, but they have much more time to spend with you. It was an all around great experience, and worthe the hour and a half trip each way that I drove. I will make the three hour round trip again tomorrow and can't wait!

Puzzle Night

Puzzle night was fun. I got on the phone with my family sometime in the night and was going on and on about it. I could see the head shaking, she must be crazy stares right through the phone. I ended (after a few hints to do so which I had ignored) with an "I know what I want for Christmas" ... the night was fun, there were a lot of intriguing puzzles, some good chatting and so forth. There was a puzzle I worked at a very long time - wooden pieces fitting into a parallelogram whose sides are metal rods; wooden pieces have holes so after putting them in place there are metal rods that fit into the holes but cannot overlap - felt good to get it.

Now, if you are up for some frustration and the opportunity to be a hero to all ask Frank for the little wooden box. It consists of two pieces which somehow can be taken apart. There are instructions which help not at all and a string of people who have tried and not succeeded yet.

Until later.

Monday

Monday began with breakfast at 7am in the main building's dining hall. Frank had said it looked like where the students eat in the Harry Potter movies. I've only seen one & haven't read any (you can throw the books at my head later on) but I agree anyway. There is a rather old clock hanging on the wall. Some believe it is moving but not on the right time; others that it is not moving at all (I think these folks might be right) but it is interesting to look either way.

We then had a keynote address by Tom Chapin. He mixed songs into his lecture...though I felt less like it was a lecture and more like it was a story. His songs were excellent and he took the time to answer questions, play things people requested and interact with the crowd.

I went to three sessions yesterday. Session 1 was about puzzling mathematics. What I most enjoyed about the math in that one was a problem where there is a square piece of wood (we did 10 inches on each side) and you have to cut right triangles our of the corners in order to create a regular octagon. This would be better with a picture...I might try to upload one later. If you don't get to see John Titterton's session do yourself a favor and ask him to sing you one of his math-themed songs.

Session 2 was all about games young thinkers play (also the title of the session). These games were so simple in some cases (meaning there was not a whole lot of set up or pieces one has to go hunting places for and so forth), yet they really hit at some important concepts in elementary school mathematics (I might even say middle school) and the great thing about it was with some adjusting you could use them with older students. I am definitely using some as warm-ups with my pre-service elementary school teachers. Oh and though they were for "young thinkers" us adults got some fun out of them as well. That session was by Mary Altieri and there is another similar one by Mickey Jo later in the week.

The last session given by Alan Alterman (the man who was walking around with the t-shirt that had pi on it and the words "irrational but well rounded" ... we did this problem called the painted cube problem which is a really rich problem. We did other things and got a cd full of problems and such but the painted cube problem was fascinating.

The night ended with puzzles...but I will save that for the next post. If you went to some good sessions why not let the rest of us know? Thanks and until soon.

Monday the First Full Day

Well the first full day of the summer institute has come and gone. From what I can tell everyone has had a great time. Tom Chapin's keynote address in story and song was excellent. He had to study algebra during the summer, with his grandmother while his brothers and friends played. He even learned to like it.

The sessions went well as we avoided a major obstacle as some rooms became off limits to us just before the start of the first session. But with some quick thinking things went off without a hitch.

The guys from STANYS and NYSTEA met with AMTNYS people go try to pull off a STEM conference next summer. That is an up hill climb and a lot of work to pull it off in a year.

The Monday puzzle party was a great success. Mary made squares for each of us, but she neglected to put them together. Five pieces one square--this was the toughest puzzle from 2007--it wasn't much easier this year either. But the most frustrating puzzle of the this year's puzzle night was a wood block which consisted of two pieces but no one was able to take them apart--see picture above.

Many new friendships were made today. And I heard whispers of math talk late into the night. Whoever said math conferences weren't fun and productive, didn't know about the summer institute.

--fts

Sunday

The ride up on the train was long but as I slept through half of it and read through the other half it went quite quickly. Krysta, Frank's daughter, kindly picked me up from the station and drove me to the college. MANY, MANY THANKS KRYSTA! At the college I met a number of folks and chatted a bit before our 5:45pm meeting. The meeting was followed by a picnic where we sat opposite a large field of grass and watched the sun starting to set as we ate. The sky turned a remarkable colors as we finished our meal. At dinner I learned what state has the lowest highest point, the highest capital (in terms of elevation) and where the next Summer Institute will (or maybe it is still might) be held...you can bug me or ask around if you're interested in determining the accuracy of your guesses. After that we went down by the lake where there was a nice fire burning. There was chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows for those who were interested and some decent conversation. Tomorrow we're up at 7am for breakfast and the keynote after that. I'll keep you posted. Until soon.

Preparing for the conference

It is the day before I leave for my first ever AMTNYS Summer Math Institute. I am quite looking forward to it. Despite being a member of AMTNYS for a good many years, I have never attended the event. I presently teach a math course for pre-service elementary school teachers. Having taught high school math, I feel a real need to find activities and ideas that are geared toward younger students as I have considerably less experience with that. I downloaded the program and there are many sessions devoted to mathematics at all levels that sound worthwhile. There's also time for some fun planned in like the picnic and puzzle night. Finally, I just downloaded the song "Not on the Test" by Tom Chapin who will be giving a keynote address. It's fantastic. I urge you to check it out as it definitely speaks to what is going on in education and has a nice rhythm to it.

A few bloggers have given thanks to Frank. Let me join in and say the same. The e-mails about our lodging, puzzle night, activities and so forth are getting me quite excited about the event and it is clear from them that Frank is working hard to make sure all is in order. It'll be nice to actually meet you :)

My bags are packed for tomorrow and I am hopeful it will be a great week. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. Oh and if anyone's interested I packed my tennis racket and am looking forward to a few matches. Any takers?

Until soon.