Train ride to see Marc

After all of my things left on the moving truck, I took one more train ride to Albany, New York to Marc, Heidi, Ashlyn, and Morgan.  While there we went camping at Walters Glen and hiked the gorge.  It was fun.  The camp ground had lots of great camp sites with place for tents, picnic table, and fire pits.  There were also showers and flush toilets close by.  Morgan's favorite was the swimming pool.  Here are some pictures of our adventures.

Morgan let me braid her hair.

Heidi putting up her tent.

There were stairs cut into the trail, lots and lots of stairs.

There were at least 8 waterfalls.

Lots of beautiful pools cut into the rock.

Checking out a blister.

Last week at NSF

After I got back from Korea, I had one week to finish up my fellowship at NSF.  It was full of goodbyes, cleaning out my desk, computer, and office, awards, and a goodbye party.  Turning in my security badge the last day really made it final.  I could not enter the building again without my badge.  This has been such an experience to live in DC and work at NSF and be a part of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship for two years.  I still cannot believe I got to do it, but I am so glad I did.  Maybe I will write a book some day.

My team received the Director's Collaboration Award for the CS Bytes and Bites Publication.

Dr. Suresh, Director of National Science Foundation congratulating me on the award.

My mentor and friend, Harriet Taylor.  I will be forever grateful to her for making this NSF fellowship possible for me.

My division have a party for me and and others that were leaving.  It is a tradition for my division, that when someone leaves they write and sing an original song for the occasion.  

The day before I was leaving, someone broke into my apartment and made a mess of my boxes that I had already for shipping.

The final day, my things are being loaded on the truck for shipping to Boise, Idaho.

Post-Congress Workshop

One of the most exciting opportunities that I had as an Einstein Fellow was the invite to participate in a three day post Congress workshop with U.S. and Korean educators.  There were 20 from the U.S. and about 30 from Korea.  We met at the National University of Korea and the focus of the workshop was on curriculum and classroom implementation.  The format of our meetings was for U.S. to start with a 30 minute overview of our education system, followed by small group discussion for 10 minutes, then large group question and discussion for an hour and a half.  Then the Koreans would have a 30 minute presentation with small and large group discussion.  This pattern continued for two and a half days.  We talked about curriculum, textbooks, classrooms, teacher preparation and more.  The Koreans had a hard time understanding our system of local control with districts and school boards and the limited influence of state and Federal.  They have national curriculum and textbooks, so every school teaches the same thing and uses the same books.  I could write a whole paper on what I learned (and I am writing it and will provide a link to it when I finish if you are interested).

Food was a big deal and I have several pictures of my eating experiences.  A small group of us also ventured out at night to try our hand at karaoke.

National University of Korea where the workshop was held.

Some of the Korean teachers at the workshop.

One evening we all went to eat roast duck Korean style.  The tables were low and we sat on the floor on little mats.

Koreans have lots of little dishes for sauces and pickles and other sides.  It is communal eating and everyone eats out of the same dishes.

Night life on Friday night.  The three people on the bottom left are with me.  We were looking for someplace that had karaoke.  They would not let me take any more pictures that evening.  "What happens in Korea, stays in Korea."

Lunch at the university wit the Korean and U.S. teams.

International Congress of Mathematical Education

The reason I was in Korea was to attend the International Congress of Mathematical Education.  It was a great experience.  I brought a poster to present on Programs where teachers, students, and researchers partner together.  I highlighted three such programs that have been very successful and are funded by NSF.  It was pretty cool to present at an International conference.

I was able to meet with several Korean teachers and we had long conversations about what classrooms and schools are like in each country.  They were so kind and gracious and took us to eat.  Teachers in Korea work very hard and is very prestigious to be a teacher.  For every twenty students that apply to be a teacher, only one is chosen.  It is very difficult to get to be a teacher.  The college courses required are much more vigorous than for teachers in the U.S.  

One day of the congress was for cultural excisions.  For mine, we took a bullet train to the center section of Korea in the rural areas away from the large cities.  We visited a Buddhist temple, a summer resort area for royalty, and an ancient observatory that is very famous in Korea.

 

Korea

In September 2011, I applied for a travel grant through the University of Michigan to travel to Seoul, Korea to attend the International Congress of Mathematical Education July 8-15.  In January I was notified that I had gotten the grant, so on July 6 I boarded a plane headed to Seoul.  It was a 13 hour flight from Detroit.  I arrived in Korea on Friday and had all day Saturday to explore.

The street I walked down to get to the Palace.

This was our tour guide of the Royal Palace.

The secondary home of the King.

After the tour of the Palace we had a tour of the "Secret Gardens".

This tree was said to be more than 750 years old.  It was gnarled and bent, but still alive and green.

My first Korean meal.

4th of July DC style

This was my second 4th of July in DC.  It is definitely a special place to be on Independence Day.  I did not see the parade this year, but met with friends for a potluck/barbecue before walking to the Capitol lawn for the music and fireworks.

It was over 100 degrees.  On my walk home it was still over 90 degrees.  The 4th of July in our nation's capitol is one more of my favorite memories of living in Washington, DC.

Neglecting my blogging

It has been a long time since I have made a new post to this blog.  It is not because nothing has been happening for me to write about.  The exact opposite is true.  So much has happened and I got behind.  I didn't want to write about the new adventures until I documented the older events.  Well, I just got further and further behind.  So... I am just going to post when I get a chance and things may, or may not  be chronologically correct. Stay tuned for several posts on my trip to Korea and the International Congress of Mathematics Education, my last days in DC, apartment break-in, and trip to upstate NY and more.  I have lots of great pictures to share with you.

Also,  in the next month or so, I will be starting a new blog about my new adventures back in the classroom at Boise High School and life after the Einstein Fellowship.  Come back to check for new posts soon.