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!