Yawn...

Wow. What a day. Came back from my first official (although I am quite unofficial) teacher's conference with ridiculous amounts of free stuff. Now, if only one of these CD-ROMs would generate my 7 remaining lesson plans for me. ;)

Had an interesting discussion in one of the seminars. The speaker gave us the dreaded opportunity to "discuss this with your neighbor" (who is actually not a neighbor but a complete stranger, of course), and asked us to talk about what defines inquiry. So I dutifully chatted with my "neighbor" as instructed (I'm such a compliant student, I know) and later found out she is an MAT graduate, science cohort, who completed the program last year. Charming, isn't it? Anyway, the speaker's last point regarding what constitutes an effective teaching method was ... the buzz word from my summer classes: reflection. Nice to know we're being taught the latest & greatest ideas.

B's wedding is off to a nice start. Rehearsal dinner had a curious Irish & Canadian flair. I guess that proves America truly is a melting pot, which really is just a nice way of saying we're all mutts. :) The young Canadians at our table were all appalled that we pay $100-$300 per month to "insure" our health. They claim that everyone is treated identically at their hospitals/health care facilities, and of course it's all free. You lucky little socialists :) You see, in America, education is the great equalizer, not health care. And such an effective one. I mean, come on, the entire world regards Americans for our intelligence, right? *cough*

And with that, I promptly return to my studies which prepare me to ... teach.