stuck

Hi "y'all"!

Pam and I are stuck in New Orleans. Every flight of every airline in this airport is booked for the rest of the day, and somehow we were the unlucky customers to be bumped out of our seats. Right now, we are waiting to see if any seats open up in a later flight, but there are eight people already ahead of us. We will probably forfeit soon and take the free hotel, meals, and flight vouchers offered so that we leave the airport and stop whining!

I went to a really good session yesterday on energy. I learned about some new materials and experiments to do with my classes. Overall, the NSTA conference experience was great. I really enjoyed sharing my research, hearing about others' research, and bonding with my classmates. New Orleans is wild, and I had so much fun exploring the city with you guys.

Pam and I are considering either going back to the conference, taking a bus tour, or going to the zoo so as not to waste our extra day in NO. We'll let you know how it goes.

All of this is up in the air.

I'm sure by now everyone is on some sort of transport or at home. We had a great time. We split up yesterday but shared our experiences from the day over dinner. Some cool sessions and other activities. I spent a good portion of my day at the New Orleans Zoo. A good friend of mine is an animal trainer at the zoo and got me some unbelievable access to the zoo. I interacted with quite a few animals as well as their trainers. It was really great to see what these trainers and scientists do at their job. I also networked with a fellow that runs a watershed/beayou protection group through his school that his 8th grade students more or less run. He seems like a great teacher and he had 30 students volunteering their time to work at the zoo on a beautiful Saturday afternoon! I got to meet this guy and his family up close.
This sea lion planted a really fishy kiss on my cheek.

De-stressing after our presentations next to the St. Louis Cathedral

All of us have finished our presentations at Teacher Researcher Day! And it was the whole day, although our actual presentation was about an hour. Christy, Pat, and I also did not give out all 30 copies of our handout. The smaller crowd was definitely less intimidating. It was interesting to see what other teacher research is going on all over the country. It's not just us! There are many other people conducting research in their classrooms as well :)

Some pics of NSTA NOLA

Thursday night...good times:)


Friday, Teacher Researcher Day


Yay! I'm done!


Pam, Christy, Pat presenting and leading roundtable discussion of their research

Chris' presentation on Thursday, 3/19

Pat, Chris, and I met at the lobby of the Marriott to discuss what Pat & I can contribute towards her presentation. We learned about the student teaching program in the science department at U Delaware where they use a co teaching model. We joined in the presentation to talk about our experience at Penn with co teaching in class last year.

Saturday, 3/21 @ NOLA

Our casual roundtable presentations and discussions went well. Katelyn and I did not hand out all 30 copies of our handouts, but the intimate crowd was great. We were all grateful to be together in the same corner of the large Acadia Hall and support each other. Well done, Pam, Christine, Pam, Katelyn!

Physics night

Just finished the abc's of podcasting sem. It was ok but my skills were a bit above the intended audience. Live and learn. The real value in this was helping the two older teachers from st. Louis learn how to download iTunes and use it in their class. I'm now at physics night. A sem I heard about on the bus over here. Good presenter from Rutgers (bill probably knows him) doing some really great low tech but effective demos. Sponsered by pasco. Def need a nap though. Presenting, learning and walking around the French quarter can wear you out!

At teacher researcher day.

We are making last minute adjustments to our presentations. We can really pull together some amazing work very early in the morning. We will take some pictures of the posters and post them later. Btw...it's going to be 77F here today. Our 5 o'clock run was 60F.

Out with the crew.

Who said you can not have fun while at the confrence?

Feel the humidity.

I'm on the ground in nola. On my way to the hotel. Meeting chris and wendy around 1 or so to get over to the convention.

Live blogging starts now. Waiting at terminal. Have already run into other science teachers. We are not hard to spot. Also dr. P's co teacher carol is on my flight. Now I know how my students feel when they see me out of the classroom. I will make another update in the big easy Btw. I'm doing this via iPhone. There are ways to update your blog from a blackberry and other types of phones.
I finished the last post and I was snug in my seat when they found a hydral leak in one of the engines. So deplaned we are and hopefully onto another plane. Also I'm glad the lady that spilled coffee on me likes sugar and sweet drinks.