PCMI Bound
Barely decompressed from the end of a harrowing school year, I am off to Utah for PCMI, the mega Math Teacher conference. I’ve been fortunate to be accepted with a scholarship after my second go round at applying, and thus am waiting at the airport for my rebooked flight to Salt Lake City. Why rebooked? A series of unfortunate events, as they say – a wrong turn on the way to airport, almost putting me on the Verazzano Bridge rather than the Belt Parkway, which made me miss baggage check, and a double scrutiny by security – those graphing calculators, you know – caused me to miss my flight, the first I have taken in many years. Yes, dear readers, I am a flying phobe. I had picked the earliest direct flight possible to avoid having an expanse of time at the airport during which my anxiety could begin to brew.
A kind agent rebooked me on a flight not too far in the future, and waived the rebooking fee as I somewhat hysterically told her my tale of woe at security. My husband returned to the airport with my large bag (he was going to somehow figure out how to ship it to me), which as it turned out was overweight. We tried removing things, but worn out by the mornings events, I opted to shove everything in to the bag and pay the fee.
So I have re-checked in to my flight, bag all tagged and on the vast conveyor which will hopefully put it on the right plan, using my complimentary 30 minutes of wi-fi to write my first post in 2 months. I purchased a book of Sudoku which are too difficult at the moment, and I am debating the timing of using my happy pills so I can be preferably asleep for the bulk of the flight.
It’s been a year in which I tried to do too much – way too much – and achieved a bunch of it at the expense of my free time and personal life. I completed an online Multivariable Calculus class, earning me enough higher math credits to apply to the Math for America Master Teacher program. I met several financial goals required to maintain my home [long non-bloggy story] through a lot of private tutoring and per session work for the Department of Education. I improved the Regents performance of my Algebra 2 students – a goal which was important to my school, and to my students’ transcripts. And my Geometry Fundamentals class – all three sections of it – completed the Mondo Choice Board final, further refined from last year’s launch. Oh – and last but certainly not least, I have made my attendance at PCMI happen.
As I mentioned, this all came at the cost of my personal life, the reparation of which will take time, but the summer is long (although never quite long enough…). I’ve learned a lot this year about what works and what doesn’t, what I can do and what I can’t, and I’m ready, for the moment, to set all the what ifs and ‘what I should be doing’ thoughts, and immerse myself in what I am sure will be an unforgettable personal and professional experience.
I just have to get on the damn plane.
Her Mathness 
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