Back from Atlanta

I am back from my NCTM conference and it was wonderful. Professionally, I picked up some great material to take back to my classroom. I went to sessions on closing the achievement gap, cooperative learning in the math classroom, modeling functions in Algebra, how to help at risk learners, and many other interesting sessions. Personally, it was so nice to be back with old friends from my previous Math department. They are all doing well and we had a great time together, as you can see from the pictures. For a bunch of math nerds we have a fun time. According to my old department you would think the gender issue in math was the other way around. I hope Steve didn't feel too out numbered. My old colleagues are great people and excellent teachers. It was fun and inspiring to be with them again.

Hijacked Blog

So Beth is out of town, so I am hijacking the blog for once! Beth is in Atlanta, GA, at the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics Convention. This is something Beth really enjoys attending, and I am really glad she is able to attend this year.
In her absence, I am posting something she would be too embarrased to post. One of her students is a real-life rapper (L-Ryder), and one day his peers were challenging his ability to rap about anything, as he claimed he could. To prove his ability, he offered to even rap about math. Posted below is the link to the rap that L-Ryder composed for Beth. Listen closely to what he says; L-Ryder's algebra knowledge is actually quite good! Kudos to Beth!
Click here to listen to the math rap.

Brian's latest sermon

Click here to listen to Brian's sermon, When is Enough, Enough?
(It is about 10 minutes or so in length.)

Last Sunday Brian preached on the topic of Stewardship. He has called it the 'third rail' of preaching before because it is such a sensitive and personal topic. Frankly, Pastors and churches have screwed up on this topic and given the image that the Christian faith is just a front for another corrupt business scheme, projecting that all they care about is how much you will give. On the other side of the coin many Churches avoid the topic all together to separate themselves from this image to prove that the Church is indeed not consumed by giving. As you will hear in Brian's sermon what you do with your money tells an important picture about what you stand for, and it is a matter that concerns our hearts, and thus the church. It was a tough topic to preach on, I think because it hits so close to home. Brian was anxious all week about this sermon. He barely slept the night before he preached it. He did a good job though! This weekend Brian is just helping with the service and leading a Bible study so we are free to enjoy the tournament without the 'third rail' hanging over us.

Vacation Slide Show

This is a slide show of our vacation pictures to the Nora Jones song Come Away with Me. I might make it my new theme song! Brian is really getting quite creative when it comes to photography. Hope you enjoy.
Click here to view the slide show.

Some stories from our trip:
Besides walking on the beach and enjoying drinks and food, we took a day trip into the town of Puerto Vallarta. The night prior to our trip we asked the lobby bartender where we should eat lunch in the downtown area.....
Click here for the rest of our stories

Detroit.........Basketball

The Sunday Brian and I got back from our vacation we were lucky enough to go to a Bulls-Pistons game. The weather was snowy and icy, so my Dad and brother who were going to join us couldn't make the drive in, but Brian and I ventured out and had a great time. We received the tickets at a silent auction that benefited the local Lutheran High School. We were guests of one of the members at the elegant night. We had decided ahead of time that we would make a donation to the school and bid on something. We picked the Bulls-Pistons game. The process of bidding was very exciting and we thought we had the tickets at one point, but someone upped the bid out of our range. We thought, "Such is life." Well, we were with another family from St. Peter who at the last minute placed the winning bid for the tickets. When they won they turned to us and said, "Here, you just won some basketball tickets." This was a very generous gift. The seats were very good and it was neat to see a basketball game from so close. The game itself was close until the end. Though the Bulls did lose, it was a neat experience and a generous gift.

Fun Visit

Last weekend my Mom and our family friend Sophie came to visit. We had a lot of fun. We went out to eat, shopped for ebay items at an outlet mall, and visited a MI famous year round Christmas store. Sophie loved the huge store. It was kind of a blast from the past. Sophie is a really dear family friend and a truly special person. When my mother's mom fell sick with Lou Gehrig's disease many years ago, Sophie was the in-home nurse they hired. Needless to say she became much, much more than a nurse to our family. The fact that she is such a part of our lives, I think is testimony to what a tremendous person she is. Sophie also has an outstanding sense of humor. She is hilarious, fun-loving, and a pleasure to be around. Sophie is such a simple soul, she would be happy no matter what she was doing. On Sunday night we had some of her favorites as you will see from the picture. We had sloppy joes for dinner, champagne to wash it down, peeps for dessert, and played her favorite game skip-bo several times. An interesting combination, but we all had a great time! Who couldn't around Sophie?