My school is sending me to New Orleans this week for the National Council of Teachers of Math Annual Conference. I am beyond excited! I'm a nervous traveler, not because I'm afraid to fly or explore, but because I'm a planner worried about forgetting something and overwhelmed with all that has to be done before I leave.
I thought that, as a way to re-fire up this old blog, I would focus on my goals for this trip!
Goal 1: To learn from this first-time experience. I know I won't do everything right. I might not make it to every session I want to see. I might wear the wrong shoes or get lost. So with the inevitable things that go wrong, I will see them as learning opportunities for next time. Oh, how I hope there is a next time!
Goal 2: To bring back information for my friends to use. I have a list of requests from one teacher regarding exhibits. I will try to learn some things for my geometry team. My big goal is to possibly present my experience/new ideas at our state NDCTM conference next spring.
Goal 3: To blog about the sessions I attend. This will support Goal 2 and help me by summarizing the likely overload of information I'll encounter. I've also offered to share my recaps with Dan Meyer (see Goal 4), and he's given me some guidelines and focus on what to write.
Goal 4: To make some personal celebrity sightings. I follow a lot of math teachers on Twitter, and should probably have an autograph pen handy. If I can, I'll attend some planned gatherings of these fine people, although I feel more like a stalker than a part of the group.
Goal 5: To challenge my brain. I've never been disappointed in this respect at our state conference. I live for thinking about math in new ways. I'm hoping to learn something compelling and accessible enough to bring back to my math clubbers!
Goal 6: To use at least one new idea in the next few weeks back home. Sometimes all the great things I learn get stuffed in a binder and forgotten. If I get that new idea in the works immediately, it becomes part of my repertoire. If I have time to plan for my students at the conference, that will be a major bonus.
Of course, I hope to eat some fine foods of the South and enjoy a little vacation from family responsibilities. I'm lucky to be going with two colleagues who I consider friends. New Orleans, here we come!
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