Summer in Utah

Time for a little summer update, I guess.

1. I am in beautiful Utah! --Park City, to be exact. After the two intense weeks at KSI, the math program (thus far) in Park City has seemed much more like a vacation. I have not yet had any major "Aha!" moments about teaching since my arrival in Park City, but part of that could be because I was so overwhelmed with "Aha!" moments in Jersey and my plate is now already full of things that I want to try out for next year. In any case, PCMI is a fun math vacation for me, because they have allotted copious amounts of time for us to sit and grapple with superbly scaffolded math problems -- ones that are hard (and thus fun and addicting) for me. :) *doing the mathgeek snort*

In the evenings, there are usually great optional things, like when I went to one kite-building session with one of our fellow math tweeps, Barb! Last weekend, I was busy enjoying the nature and town life around us -- very different from our experience in Jersey during KSI (which was mostly workworkwork, even on the weekends)!

2. On the teaching front, I found out that I'll be teaching grades 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 next year at my new school!!!!! I am pretty sure that actually means 5 preps (definitely 1 class per grade), and I'm terrified and SUPER EXCITED at the same time. (My certification is grades 7 through 12, so this will fill in all the holes in my resume if I can pull it off.) I have plans to sit down and to make a GIANT matrix of Big Ideas vs. grade levels and to brainstorm concrete projects or activities within each topic, so that I won't feel zapped of energy to be creative next year when I'm in the thick of it.

3. I move to Germany SO SOON! I am keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get the apartment we want. It's next to a high-demand, very happening neighborhood and is just under an hour of commute to work for me. If this doesn't work, I'll have less than 10 days when we arrive in Germany to find another place. That can get stressful very fast.

I've already subscribed to all the Berlin swing dance emails; never mind that they're in a language I don't understand. I can't wait to begin our life anew!! :)