Posts from — April 2008

This week, I’ve taken Greg Tang’s advice from the NCTM Conference and started working with the kids on different bases. And by different bases, I mean different ways of looking at the number systems we use. One of the biggest reasons why kids don’t get math in general is because the numbers themselves don’t make sense to them. For example, a child who looks at 1,234 can tell me that it’s more than 1000, but when it comes to dividing, they can’t tell me how many 100s or even why the 3 isn’t just a 3 but a 30. Using Greg Tang’s advice then (to work in different number systems and hope they can develop rules that are applicable to the base 10 number system that they’re already familiar with).

At first, the whole idea of trying binary and tertiary number systems was ludicrous. Why would I want to teach them something about these number systems when they hardly get their own? Fair enough. Once I flipped it on them and told them it was a game, and the rules were that you could only use the digits lower than the base number, they ate it up. A hook. So for base two, they said,

0, 1, 2, … 10, 11, 12 … 20, … 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000 … (eventually they got it right)

So we finally crossed that counting barrier. Now that we were actually in the shore of where I wanted to get them, I tried seeing if they could do it for base 3. Same results.

0, 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 112, 120 … (they were much better at this one after seeing that last one)

Then I asked them to help me make some rules, and all three classes basically saw the same patterns (after some good questions on my part, honestly):

1. We start with the number 0.

2. We work with all the digits less than the base number.

3. Once we get to the base number in that row, we use the next row, and start from 0 again in that first row.

So far so good. Today, we tried to turn numbers in base 2 to their corresponding number in base 10. Again, I give them a oversimplified version of the place value system we already established and maybe they’ll come to some conclusions about how to arrive at our conversions. I made little boxes around the number and put the number representing the place value over it (not the name, but the actual number) just to make it easier for them to see.

Example:

110 in base 2 equals 6 in base 10. Why? Because 1 is in the 4s place, the next 1 is in the 2s place, and 0 is in the 1’s place, so we have 1 4, 1 2, and 0 1s i.e. we have a total of 6.

Then one of my kids yells out,

“So what you’re saying is that we multiply the place value by what’s in the box?”

SUCCESS! Hopefully he saw the sign. (har har har). Yes, I’m a math teacher. I’m allowed a corny joke here and there.

jose, who loves teaching math when the kids are actually learning something …

Wow, I just reached my 200th post. I’m excited. When I had my 100th post, I didn’t really celebrate it. I think I surpassed my 100th, 200th, and 300th in a really small window of time. I’ve been blogging since 2003, back when even some of my closest associates didn’t think too highly of me writing my blog, or maybe it was just me doing anything, but that’s besides the point. Since the transition to my own managed site, the former host of my thoughts has given tons of shine to cats who wrote like me (with comments nearing 150-200!) and I’ve maintained a good 6-7 comment average, not including my own. Yet, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Nope, not one.

OK, maybe a couple of things:

1. I might have responded to some comments more thoroughly.

2. I would have reserved some of the blogs for articles instead, like “It Was All A Dream,” for example.

3. I might have asked more of those broad and deep questions that people ask.

4. I might have told less people about what I write.

5. I might have stretched my fingers more often in the middle of blogging.

But really, when it comes down to it, it’s my blog. My voice, my time, and my writing. Today, coincidentally, someone asked me if they could guest-post on my blog. I took one good look at their blog and noticed that they didn’t put any heart or character into their blog. I take a LOT of time writing a post, almost too much some might say. Everytime I put my fingers to the keyboard, I think of myself first, and think about whether or not I’d want to read or for that matter subscribe to these thoughts. My thoughts are definitely not for the weak of mind, and I have a tendency of attacking issues head-on, even if I don’t address the person directly. I’m open to many opinions, but I don’t compromise myself just because I might lose favor with some well-known bloggers.

I’ve even had people come here trying to find out information about me that really they could have just asked me themselves. But as I’ve said before, this is NOT a confessional, it’s a blog. I may post my thoughts, but far be it from me to spill my guts about every and anything. I like parts of my life being private, because the more you think you can trust someone with your life, the more mistrust there is. I’ve also had a couple of dissenters, who still read because it must get their jollies off.

With all that said, I’m thankful for the constant comments and feedback I get. My blog’s never been more successful, and it’s given me more encouragement to make those manuscripts happen, and also given me a flexibility I may not have had before. Thank you all, because you force me to expand my vocabulary, to respond to and report on topics that I love or that I’ve yet to fully have the answers to myself, but most importantly, for making me understand how my writing may continue to influence your lives much like your writings influence mine.

Electronically, we’re sharing our most human experiences. And the strongest way for me to thank you is to continuing to write, an acknowledgment of your continued participation in our conversations …

jose, to the 500th post and beyond …

Visiting the nation’s capital this weekend really gave me a lot of perspective on some current events as well as world history as a whole. Let me address those as succinctly as possible, should I write a longer post about some of the issues that arose.

1. Yes, I heard about the Sean Bell trial. I heard about it as soon as it happened. I’m still seething from the events that happened. I’ll be wearing black tomorrow for certain. More importantly, though, I’ll continue to voice my dissident opinions about the injustices that occur daily on the part of this (lack of) justice system. When will the genocide and police brutality end? If we can’t have justice for the few, imagine what they’ll do to the many. No justice, no peace …

2. I visited the Holocaust Museum, and I’ve visited the Holocaust Museum in Detroit, MI, but this experience was different. The experience was a little more interactive. Not to give everything away, but once you go in there, you pick up a “passport” detailing the life of an actual Holocaust survivor. You start from the top and spiral your way down, reading about European and world history during that time period along the way. My first thought was really how excellent the exhibit was. It was really well thought out, and accessible to both children and adults. I read most of what I saw at the exhibit, but more than anything, it just made the material I read come alive. (more on this tomorrow)

4. We went to the Vietnam War Memorial, too, and noticed first, how the structure itself is constructed in a wedge, almost like a ditch, even. Hmm …

5. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, and the scene was packed with all types of people wanting to get their picture taken with Mr. Lincoln’s edifice. Yet, a fraction of those people really read the inscriptions on the inner walls of the structure, and a smaller fraction of those went downstairs and inside, where many of his quotes about slavery and the union are highlighted. At first, we see a man who could care less whether he ends slavery or not, so long as they preserve the Union. Then, we see a progression from that point of view to seeing that slavery is the key to true human freedom. (As to whether or not that’s been resolved is a whole ‘nother matter.)

6. In there, and almost in direct juxtaposition, is a section dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., who recalls Lincoln in his seminal speech, “I Have a Dream.” Also highlighted was Marian Anderson, who performed on the steps in 1939, a momentous occasion in a time when overt segregation and racism were law.

7. Speaking of mass murder, on Saturday night, we stayed at the Washington Hilton Hotel, a pretty nice hotel near Embassy Row. We went out for some food, when we see tons of police and Secret Service men all over. Then we hear people on a bullhorn screaming something indiscernible. We saw a banner that read “Arrest Bush.” For some reason, I booked my hotel at the same time as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, whose guest of honor was none other than Dubya! Wow! I haven’t been that close to a president since the 90s when Bill Clinton drove by my hood. I’m not scared of the president, but that night, my girl and I had some terrible nightmares. I’m about 99% convinced that it was because the devil himself was downstairs, singing his cowboy songs.

jose, who thinks we need to reconsider reclining chairs on buses and planes …

I once heard of a young man who thought so critically, and was so intelligent, he had to wear headphones just to tranquilize him. As if the thoughts he had in his head wouldn’t even let him socialize normally with others. I can only imagine how loud he had to put his headphones just to drown out those thoughts about the world. Confucius once said that the more you know, the more you realize you know nothing, but I add, that the more you think you know, the more inclined you are to ignore the human aspects of the things you know. It’s more than the “ignorance is bliss” conjecture; it’s the inability to go out and enjoy the one life we’re given (or for some of you, the life that you’re given presently).

Sometimes, we’re so encumbered with being the deepest thinker, the best polemicist, or the most potent orator that we forget to feel something for another. Many would recall how I rode on a high horse for the majority of my college career, in part because of the influences around me and their high expectations for every and anything, but also it was a personal crusade to change the way people thought. While it was well-intentioned, it was also taxing to my intimate life, and often while I thought I was giving the proper motivation to some, I was really demoralizing them. Sometimes I would avoid dealing with some issues in favor of this greater goal for some common good.

I think of my ex-roommate Howard, whose now doing really well for himself in the greater Boston area. We seemed like polar opposites. He was neat, I was a little messy. He was mostly Republican, and I was liberal, but bordering on anarchism. He focused on his school work hard, and I focused on my extra-curricular activities. He lived in the Syracuse area for the majority of his life, and I was from NYC. He owned most of Master P’s CD collection, and I couldn’t stand Master P except for “Make Em Say Uhhhh!” Oh yeah, and he’s White and I’m a Black –Latino.

While I was out there protesting, calling people on their crap, reading up on every and anything related to the Ma’at and the Maa’fa (i.e. the African Slave Trade / Holocaust), organizing events, petitioning to become the education chair (and de facto president) of La LUCHA, and speaking out against White privilege in clandestine meetings, I was also having deep conversations with Howard about love (and lack thereof), sports, and even politics. As these conversations became more frequent during our senior year, I saw how much of my misdirected anger at people who also have their own battles really hurt my arguments for unity and peace. For every time I got angry because I barely made it financially at SU, I also had to check myself, because his family had to work just as hard without the benefits of financial aid. With some of the knuckleheads we had on campus, he might have had an argument for wondering why he didn’t get their financial aid since they were wasting it.

We’re there in our living room, maybe playing NBA Street, or wondering what our then girlfriends thought of us, but we’re there learning lessons about people we may not have known as much about. At times, we went through some struggles getting adjusted to each other’s lifestyles, but that’s what growing looks like. I taught him a little about how to stay on beat, and he gave me my first glass of Blue Moon, my favorite beer on Earth. We weren’t Jack and Cola, or Crockett and Tubbs, but out of the few roommates I have had, he’s probably my favorite.

I couldn’t have arrived at that point if I stuck with my often divisive extremism. I still protested, and held my ground on many issues related to racism, economic stratification, sexism, etc., but I also grew, considering the other person’s experiences and valuing their own humanity. I don’t believe in compromising one’s self for the sake of pleasing others. But there is something to be said for the man (or woman) who can mature and delve deeper into the human experience before he / she says something they don’t understand.

When we think about Human Rights in this or any country, the first step in becoming an advocate for social change is to look at oneself. Understand more thoroughly where you’re coming from and how the experiences you’ve had have molded you into the person you are. Once that’s settled, then other people’s arguments become easier to analyze. You won’t necessarily agree, but it’s much more imperative to listen and understand than to walk around with a pair of headphones, guarding you from your own fear and thus your humanity …

Jose, who along with Wayne, acknowledges Human Rights Day today …

I love blog carnivals, because every time one comes up, not only do new and experienced people check out my rants, I also learn a lot from the plethora of posts (and the education carnival is growing by the month!) A month back, The Tempered Radical wrote an excellent piece about separating work behaviors from academics, and while I agreed, I also found myself thinking hard about the merits and demerits of this and other pillars of my classroom. I’m usually on the left in every issue that comes up with education, but sometimes I’ll veer somewhere near the middle, a frightening thought for someone who engages in protests and anarchist revelry every so often.

For example, let’s take TTR’s argument. He states,

We feel it’s important that the number grades you see represent academic ability only because then you as parents are given an accurate indicator of their knowledge and skill in each content area.  When grades are inflated because a child “works hard” or deflated because a child “misbehaves” or “fails to turn in assignments,” then parents never truly have a clear picture of what their children actually know.

That being said, we also understand that work behaviors—-coming to school prepared, completing homework assignments on time, following directions, being motivated and excited, participating in classroom conversations—are absolutely essential to a student’s success.  In fact, in many ways, a student’s work behaviors is a more accurate indicator of how successful they will be in the future.

I agree to a certain extent. A fellow teacher of mine made a poignant statement about 2 students we used to teach when she said, “Student A will definitely make it because, in spite of his inability to focus now, his mother and father are on his case, and that’ll turn into him being responsible. Student B on the other hand, intelligent as he is, prefers lazy and doesn’t have anyone at home really checking up on him, so there’s a higher chance that he won’t do well.” Deep but true.

But it brings me to thinking about how best to incorporate TTR’s argument into the numerical grade. Unfortunately, if parents aren’t responding to the work behavior rubrics as they should, then we need to shift the grading policy so it accurately describes everything going on in the classroom. That’s why I’m somewhere in the middle on that.

While I’m at it, I also see a plethora of blogs (including this one) discussing high stakes testing, and frankly, I’m not that much on the fence about the issue. To the contrary, I think the way high stakes testing has affected NYC (and many other cities) schools has been detrimental to everyone but the people who get to manipulate the statistics for their own political gain instead of actually treating the problem. Of course, we also see an influx of third-party members dictating how kids will be tested despite the state standards being written out in clear form.

What seems to be missing from all this discussion, though, is the need for true national standards, and a real national test. No matter what anyone says, one of the big reasons why this country doesn’t have it all together is because states and districts get to dictate what their community needs mathematically rather than a national agenda for what certain students should know by certain grades. I agree that not all 6th graders are made alike, but we have to give a 6th grader a common ground from one state to the next, particularly because for students whose parents are constantly on the move.

But these ideas and others, which I’ll develop in part 2 on Thursday, are theorems and really have been up for discussion possibly since the beginning of education, but I do find myself agreeing with parts of a lot of solid arguments, often contradictory, but usually in line with my thinking at that point and time. If I squint really hard though, I start to see that some of our arguments can really take its own shape, and hopefully if everyone kinda squints, we can focus on our goal: teaching the kids.

jose, who can’t believe he’s publishing this late …

Last night, my girl and I saw 88 Minutes, which I found to be a good enough movie to keep my attention. While watching the previews, I noticed a very environmental theme (that they almost literally shoved in our faces). There was talk about carbon footprints, recycling, and all the other buzzwords associated with environment-friendly groups. My overall feeling with that kind of advertisement is that, despite how eco-friendly these corporations want to look, the truth is that these entities don’t care so much for how the Earth is treated except when it behooves them to do so.

For example, someone on the big screen said that we should pressure our government officials to find alternative sources of energy, but I can without a shadow of a doubt say that these resources have been available since the 90s, if not earlier. As a matter of fact, I believe the first solar cells were made in 1883, and since then, we’ve had the ability to harness the sun’s energy and thus reduce the carbon output for some time. Yet, the sun is not a resource that can be easily monopolized or conquered. Thus, not many people have really invested in its power except for their own institution. Then again, if they’re able to sell us back tap water for $1.25, then there’s no telling how they’ll sell us back our natural resources.

I’m not going so far as to say that corporations shouldn’t help raise the social consciousness of people all around them, and maybe take heed of the current trends within society, but knowing everything I know about these companies, the wasted products, the tons of layoffs, the outsourcing and near-slave wages, and the ridiculous profit margins while the rest of us suffer from the increased cost of living, I just can’t see corporations as “eco-friendly” no matter how hard I try.

Thoughts? Solutions? Throw them in the box …

jose, who’s off to his first poetry event (that I’m not performing in) in over 6 months or so …

p.s. - a poem …

spiders creep in, surely and steadily spinning their webs of doubt across the mobile units trying to devour them slowly, creeping and spinning while we try to decipher the intricate patterns set around and across us, the spider spins with more legs, quicker, stickier, and stronger becomes that web, tick tap tick tap tick tap, let the hypnosis ring in your ear until all traces of your existence surround you, envelop you, and the king spider places his piece in for the checkmate … be ready to counter spider, spin your own web, before your role goes from predator to prey …

My notes for Sunday:

1. Isiah Thomas is FIRED! Out, out, out! I haven’t wanted a former All-Star point guard out of the Knicks since … Stephon Marbury. No really, there’s too much clutter in that team. With Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley’s inductions to the Hall of Fame, I’m about 99% sure that I prefer to make it really close and fail than never to have even been in consideration for a championship at all. How’s that for dedication?

2. I can’t conceive any scenario where someone marries into a rival team. Let me explain. Hypothetically, let’s say that there was a lady who went from a Knicks fan to a Heat fan in the middle of the 90s just because the husband was a Heat fan. Sorry, but that just doesn’t fly with me, not that I want to control who cheers for what, but there’s just something … wrong about it. Same goes for Red Sox to Yankees transfers, etc. If the teams aren’t intense rivals, though, I’m not mad at the switch.

3. I don’t know about you, but I just love watching square dancing.

No, really, it’s interesting. At first, it’s all about showing everyone that you can really dance all by yourself. Then, you get into a few formations in the hopes of courting the partner across from you, and hoping to avoid the partner adjacent to the one you want. Then, for a few seconds, if you succeed, then you get a good 5-6 seconds to dance with them, and then you gotta let go of them. Of course, there’s also a subtle dance-off between different people in the group trying to show off who’s the best dancer in the crowd, and who has the best move, but it’s so subtle because there’s all this activity happening on the floor already. Meanwhile, outside observers are all either impressed by the intricacies of the whole dance or confused because they wonder how they’ll participate in this mess.

I bring this up, because that’s pretty much how I felt this week. Not just crazy insane, but insane crazy. I’m just trying to do my job, but of course, everyone wants to get into a square dance. We can twirl and spin around the issues all we want, but when the dance is over, reality sets in, and we gotta face each other. I’m all for square dancing, but at the cost of what our focus is? No. Apropos metaphor? Definitely.

Off to the gym. I’ll be commenting on your pages soon. Peace …

jose, counting down to the Glow In The Dark tour …

p.s. - To interested parties: I’m not saying you can’t read my blog, but I am saying that you’re not going to find anything here that you can’t just straight ask me. As many confessions as I have here, this is not a confessional. It’s a blog. Check my rights.

Excuse the double negative, my people, but a brotha’s got a little less patience for fools than usual.

Imagine me watching ESPN today, when I see a segment about 4-time All-Star (possibly more if not for the Jeter-A-Rod-Garciaparra collective from a few years back) and future Hall of Famer Miguel Tejada, now a member of the Houston Astros, but whose image has been tainted by the Mitchell Report for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Let’s assume that that’s all behind him; dude’s hitting .328 with 3 homeruns and 11 RBIs. In other words, still stellar numbers for this man. No Oriole, Astros, or A’s fan can deny him that.

He alleged he was 32 at the time of the interview. Just then, the interviewer has his original birth certificate from the Dominican government, and says, “I want you to explain this to me.” It turns out Miguel’s actually closer to 34 according to that document. Of course, Miguel felt embarrassed by the situation and left, then issued a public apology to the team and ownership for the little fib, but that’s not what bothers me. Frankly, what was ESPN thinking by trying to ridicule the crap out of him by giving him his original birth certificate on national television? There’s a fine line between real reporting and gossip-mongering, and I’d call this gossip-mongering.

Yes, Tejada lied. He was 19 when he was encouraged to tell scouts that he was 17, thinking knowing that teams wouldn’t take him if they didn’t see a lengthy future for him. A couple of decades later, we see how that young man’s become one of the more popular players in the league, a hard worker, and someone who made it far from the poverty many baseball players experience in Dominican Republic. Rather than make the interview an educational piece, possibly collaborating with Tejada to discuss the pressures of teenage youth in Central and South American countries to report lower ages, they bash the player and hold him responsible even when frankly no one else really cares, when his age really never gave him some performance-enhancing benefit, or when ESPN is a conduit for those behaviors of exploitation continue to occur.

But unfortunately, that’s what happens when people don’t speak to people directly. Today, I was confronted with similar situations, though not on public television, but in a forum I nonetheless expected a little professionalism. While I can’t go into specifics, I will say that we need to really reconsider what it means to conduct ourselves in a manner that’s consistent with the expectations we have for others. Therefore, there’s really no need to try and find out my nationality, who my girlfriend is, if I like you or not, or what I do with my private time unless it directly affects the work I’m doing, which I can assure anyone, it won’t. If I was a celebrity, then I’d have no problem seeing my picture all up on MzVirgo or NB, but I’m not. Regardless of whatever energies are thrown towards me, I’m nothing but a professional now. In my growth, no one should expect that this aspect of my career change.

Do I come to bat everyday? Yes. Do I have a blog that might get me in trouble? Sure, but I’m not scared. And no, I’ve never lied about my age, nor have I ever taken performance-enhancing drugs (though I can’t lie about a beer or two), but I can tell you that you should expect nothing but the best from me morning and afternoon when I come into work, 20-30 minutes early as usual. I’m not here to play those games at work. Can’t tell me nothin’ …

jose, who sees a wonderful opportunity to hit Washington DC next week …

edit: my bad COMPLETELY! there’s an ed carnival at The CEA Blog! Must give props …

I have to tell you, I definitely felt like I learned a lot at the conference I keep telling you all about. I discovered a lot about my own teaching and how I’m doing a lot more right than I thought, but also found stuff that I need to work on more diligently. I suppose if I’m going to be in this as a career, I should learn a few things here and there.

Like I mentioned before, I took copious notes at the conference, hoping to not only remember what I was taught but also share with mi gente. I’ll try to make it brief and all notes are available in full if you ask, but here’s my summarized top ten:

1. Teachers don’t do a good enough job helping kids understand abstractly as well as concretely. (courtesy of Greg Tang, author of The Grapes of Math)

I totally see this. For the first decade and a 1/2 of my education, I knew what place value was, but I didn’t understand how it worked until I got into college, when I started learning more about binary systems as a computer science major. We need to push the kids’ thinking, and try to help them become more abstract thinking and give them a foundation for that thinking.

This man’s also the one that said, “What’s the 8th planet in our solar system? What, you don’t know? It’s Planet of the Eights! It’s a joke, don’t you get it?” Well done.

2. One person’s self-evident truth is another person’s unfounded theory. (courtesy of Julian Weissglass)

Weissglass used a historical analysis of the Constitution to concretely explain the last statement. If we understand the Constitution as it was written, then we’ll see that it didn’t apply to a huge section of America’s constitution. In other words, what some at the time may have considered a basic assumption for living may not have been so for another person. Actually, I want to write more about this later on (presses pause until Thursday).

3. Math, art, and technology mesh much more readily if we think a little more deeply. Just ask Leonardo daVinci. (courtesy of Nikki Blair)

4. Not only are we in the business of pushing kids to be better, but making it harder for them to be average. (courtesy of Larry Bradsbury)

If we want to become better teachers, we need a more systematic approach, by defining skills that we want the kids to learn, diagnose student needs, provide appropriate activities, evaluate student learning, reteach if need be, and maintain better student records.

5. Good feedback isn’t an easy task. (courtesy of Laura Maly and Sharon Kolade)

Just like the comments we leave in blogs, writing good comments on posts can change how the original writer improves or understands the task at hand.

6. Sometimes, it’s the kids that are at the highest levels that need the most help. (courtesy of Dr. Joyce Fisher)

With regards to ELLs (English Language Learners), sometimes they’ll be really good at doing math in their own language, but they’ll have a hard time translating that math knowledge into English because not every concept in Spanish has a cognate in English.

7. Broaden the question so more students have entry into the discussion. (courtesy of Marian Small)

This applies to everyone, but if we look at differentiated instruction, sometimes asking a specific question can really limit who will participate in the conversation. For some purposes, it may be good to target the question for a specific answer, but in general, making the question accessible to every student will allow even the low-level students to feel engaged in the conversation. So, for example, instead of asking, “Is 6 a factor of 54?” we might ask, “What relationships can we make between 54 and 6?”

8. Be careful with too many cultural references in your exams. (courtesy of Carol Caref)

Unfortunately, when it comes to tests, they’re often culturally biased without people even realizing it. Those biases can make the difference between students who excel in their tests, and those that understand the math but can’t grasp it because they don’t know what the dimensions of a house look like or how a mortgage works.

Also, I got to see David M. Schwartz work his magic with How Much Is a Million? and Nora Ramirez, president of TODOS (a group for teachers who teach Latino / Hispanic students) not only demo a lesson on proportions, but also explain the values of going her math teacher organization. The conference also gave me a good indication that, overall, I’m on the right track. I just need to keep plugging away.

I was actually a little disappointed that I didn’t see any of the prominent edubloggers either go to the conference or present at the NCTM, but I suppose with time that too shall pass.

jose, who will finally start using his SmartBoard …

I can’t tell you how many preliminary reviews I got about Utah.

Most of them involving race. “Jose, just you being there will significantly increase the population of Black and Latino males there.” After all, Utah has a reputation for a lack of diversity. Some often jokes how Karl Malone and Bryon Russell were the only 2 Black folk in the entire state, and of course I laughed. Outside of the Jazz and their strong Mormon population, I didn’t really know anything about that state.

And I messed up.

I can’t tell whether it was just because the NCTM conference was such a big deal for the city or because I was just happy to be out of town, but Utah was thoroughly impressive. From beginning to end, I would have to rate it a 9 out of 10 in terms of the overall experience. For one, the hotel was awesome. Chase Suite Hotel was great. Complimentary breakfast, free wireless Internet in the main hall, and a suite with a whole living room, a penthouse set up, and individual bathrooms were just some of the highlights of that service. The people manning their stations were extra-cordial. Of course, we had a couple of snags here and there, but the good definitely outweighed the bad.

A restaurant I discovered there was The Training Table. I didn’t know that Utah was big on burgers until I got there. My group walked in, and we just sat there looking at what we assumed to be waitresses, but they wouldn’t move. Then there was this mysterious telephone in our booth. We picked it up, and just told the person on the other side our orders. About 15 minutes later, the phone beeped back at us, and we were a little startled. It was our food, and we had to go get it from the counter. Weird. But it was goooood. That burger was so nice, I had to get some twice. Mmm mmm mmm. Plus, when at my behest, we went back, that root beer float hit me lovely.

The convention itself was good, too, but I won’t get into that until tomorrow (Ed Post Tuesdays). What I will say is that the shuttles were on-time, and willing to stop wherever you needed them to. Even the last shuttle we took let us stop at different spots to take pictures of the scenery. As a matter of fact, I practically have my whole trip on camera. Peep it.

I’m telling you, people, if I actually knew someone out there, I’d be tempted to go back. Maybe.

But don’t think I’m in a hurry to try and move over there. It’s a nice place to visit, but I need that little buzz in my ear, the raw energy, and the everyday hustle-and-bustle of home. Just to tell you the kind of people I was working with there, though, we went to the Olive Garden and as we were sitting down, I was putting some stuff away in another chair. As I was doing that, I told the waitress that she could put down the menus, and she said,

“I can’t do that until the gentleman sits down.”

I blinked, looked around, and said, “Oh my goodness! I love UTAH!”

I must have been hungry or something. Or maybe it was just that awesome. Yeah, I think it’s the latter. Thanks for the hospitality, Utah.

jose, whose back almost went out from all the items he took away from the convention …

p.s. - Yes, that is Malcolm Gladwell in the first picture. And no, that’s not a wig on his head.