I really am a Desmos Fellow!

 I just got back from the Desmos New Fellows Orientation in Dallas, and it still hasn't quite sunk in that I
am now a part of this group of educators!

This week I learned that the Desmos Calculator was "born" in 2012 and I have been trying to think back to when I first came across Desmos & started using it. The furthest I seem to be able to go back to is an email to my principal at the time, at my current school, back in April 2016.

Like I said earlier, it still hasn't suite sunk in that I am part of the Desmos Fellows Cohort 7. I know I will have more to say about this later on, but for now, I think my biggest takeaway is the connections I have made with other passionate math educators from around the country who love to support students in math classrooms as they learn and love incorporating technology to improve the teaching and learning process. I also got to fangirl over & socialize with some of my favorite math social media educators, like Fawn Nguyen & Benjamin Dickman!

Every single person I talked to these past 48 hours welcomed me, taught me something, encouraged me & inspired me, whether they were a new Desmos Fellow like myself, or they were from an earlier cohort, or they worked at Amplify or Desmos! We did math together, we shared stories about our classrooms, we enjoyed some very delicious food & beverages, and my heart is just so full!

I cannot wait to get some time to process it all, after I take some time to rest for a bit and enjoy my summer (we are only in week three of our break here in NYC after all and between the MfA Summer Think last week & Desmos Fellows this week, I am looking forward to enjoying some time "vibing" with my two kids.

Hello from Texas!

 The 2024-2025 school year ended a little over two weeks ago. Since cleaning out my classroom for our last day of school in late June, I have gotten a hair cut, taken my kids to our local pool five times (which is no easy feat when your kids are two & five and the pool is a 30 minute walk from home). I have had lots of ice cream and read five books just for fun. In addition to all of that, last week I attended my seventh MfA Summer Think conference. The theme this year was "Spontaneous Sparks: Embracing Growth & Innovation in Teaching" and I attended some fabulous sessions on making math visual via problem-solving summer camp, queering my classroom (supporting LGBTQIA+ students) and love languages in the classroom. All the sessions & connections were inspiring! Currently, I am coming to you live from Dallas, TX at the New Desmos Fellows Orientation! It is quite fitting that my last post on here in January was about applying to be a Desmos Fellow again. I had applied last year and didn't make it, but low and behold, on Pi Day, I found out that I was selected for the 2025 cohort! 

Fast forward to today, where I am an hour away from kicking off orientation with 30 other new Fellows! Aside from the MfA Summer Think, I had never presented or attended any sort of teaching conference (despite teaching for almost twenty years). I had some reservations (I am not a fan of flying, and I have never been away from my two kids for an extended time... mom guilt is so real!) but I accepted, booked my flight and was on my way to Dallas before sunrise this morning. I am proud of me for pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and trying something new that will help me continue to grow as a math teacher. 

Like Chilli, my brain hasn't quiet comprehended this idea of "relaxing," not that I am here to relax, per say, but being in another state (1500 miles away) and not having to be the main person responsible feeding/entertaining/keeping alive two other small humans is unusual. It wasn't easy saying good bye last night, and I cannot wait to hold them in my arms again, but for now, I am going to enjoy my time as a Desmos Fellow and am looking forward to the next day and a half!