The Floor

If you have not done so take a moment before your next session to check out the floor! The building where our sessions are being held is tiled in a particular fashion that I figure most will recognize. The floor I am referring too is the one with the 200-level rooms. If you climb up the steps and look over the railing onto the floor you get a good view of it. Happy pattern finding!

reflections on the conference so far...

Well I have been getting a lot of grief about not posting a blog, so here it is in a stream of consciousness outburst... Ready?

The drive to Wells became most beautiful as I drove along the east side of the lake down Route 90. I felt the excitement bubbling up within my psyche. I was once again going to meet and greet and work with people I hadn't seen for many months. My ear-to-ear smile probably made the people who saw me wonder, "What's he got to be so happy about?"
The picnic on the upper field (near a golf course, I hear ;o) had that typical good feeling we all get when we we're enjoying good food with good people and laughing just because we are together. It's a feeling that occurs in so many communities every summer and it can't be beat.Several of the other posts have mentioned our Keynote on Monday morning, so I won't bore you by repeating everything they wrote. Nor will I bore the reader here with details of the meeting I attended discussing our plans for next Summer's STEM Conference in Oswego... but PLEASE keep your ears and eyes open for information as it comes out because I guarantee, you won't want to miss next Summer's gathering of Science, Tech Ed, Engineering, and Math educators.

The food here is pretty good and we're getting plenty of it, when we want it. The college folk have been great and THANKS go to Frank and his team for the great job! Huzzah!

I've been taking sporadic photos of events happening in and around the conference and you'll see some of them soon on the AMTNYS web site. If I get the chance, maybe even here on the blog. If anyone does not like how they look in the photos I post, well thems the breaks I guess. ;o)

The presenters have gone to a lot of trouble to bring high quality professional development to us and it shows. NOT ONE person I have spoken with has been disappointed. I personally have sat in on and enjoyed presentations by Eric O'Brien, Jim Matthews, Frank Sobierajski, and Maria DiCarlo. I hope those who sat in on my workshop were not disappointed in the content and quality, but it's hard for me to know, being oblivious and all. ;o)

The weather here has turned out to be rain-free which is a nice surprise considering the forcast we were expecting. The banquet is tonight and afterwards the telescope will go back out for anyone interested in being blinded by the full moon, enjoying the moons of Jupiter, or looking at unusual star groupings. (The brightness of the moon washes out many of the dimmer objects in the rich night sky available from this dark Central NY site.)

And hey... don't forget to pick something up at the Scholarship Sales Table. We need your support. And hey again... the ice cream social gathering last night was delicious. And oh, by the way... the Monday game night was a memorable one (if you didn't have too much champaigne) with high the exitement levels exhibited.

I really think the best part of our Summer Conference is the comradery and the laid-back pace that allows us to relax, reflect, and renew our committment to quality math education.

TTFN!

Mathivators is waiting for YOU!

Blogs, Wikis and other technical stuff

A small group of us were sitting in Weld Hall (our residence for the conference) on the second floor in what I suppose is called either the common area or the living room. Bob Hazen had his computer out and was talking technology with us. We started, I think, with blogs such as this one. He was explaining how to invite authors - actually I think his becoming an author on this AMTNYS blog is how it all started - how to keep things private, moderate posts and all sort of cool stuff. He showed us many blog sites that are specific to educators and meant to be used with one's students. We learned the difference between a blog and a wiki and a few good sites for each. I have a ridiculous amount of bookmarked pages set as such in barely 20 minutes. In any case, if you do a search you can easily find his website and his blog about blogging...or you can pull him aside and ask. Those that are interested can join me tomorrow at Kate's session on blogging. I am sure we'll get even more information there.

The point of this post though was not merely to tell a story, but to pick up on what someone said while we sat in the living room talking about all of this. Basically, ours was not a session in the program, it was not planned on or expected, yet those of us there got a lot out of our conversation with Bob today. Interactions like these they happen often at events like these. They can be incredibly helpful and meaningful. They can teach us a great deal. Spontaneous teachable moments...and the more one is at such events the more likely they are to pick up some great information, engage is some meaningful conversation, spark some sort of interest.

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.