Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More Michigan

The training has continued through the week. It is an introductory math training for our curriculum, but the other teacher, Hilaree, and I are getting a few good tidbits here and there. Yesterday and Monday were very nice, with temps in the upper 70's-mid 80's. Today, we had showers, but it was still very warm out, and the rain was warm. It was a strange feeling. Yesterday I spotted a black squirrel, and took a picture. I thought it was very unique. Today walking across campus, I saw four more. Either that black squirrel is very fast, or they are not as unique as I thought. Maybe they are some grad student's project on genetics. After the conference today, we spotted one of the authors, Glenda Lappan. I had previously met her two years ago in Everett at another math conference. She actually remembered me from then! We had our picture taken with her to show our students in the Fall. Kind of corny, but also kind of cool. There are some beautiful botanical gardens on campus. The plants are all arranged taxonomically, and also are very beautiful.



Monday, June 23, 2008

Math Training in East Lansing



Yesterday I spent the entire day traveling from Seattle to Detroit, then Detroit to Lansing Michigan. Lansing is the state capital and home to Michigan State University (The Spartans). It is also home to the developers of our math curriculum, Connected Mathematics. I am here with another teacher, for a 5 day training which will give me an in-depth look at the program, and give me the official credential to be a trainer for the district.

Traveling was not too bad yesterday, just a bore. we spent 3 hours in Detroit waiting for the connecting flight to be ready. The Detroit airport is very cool. There is an elevated, indoor train which you can ride along the length of the main terminal. There is also an amazing light/sound tunnel. It is probably 300 yards long, and music plays while lights in the walls and ceiling give an impressive show. I took some photos, but then found this video which gives a better idea.



Today is the first day of training. I really hope it is worthwhile, and not just an introduction course.