Math Conference in Zurich!

     My fourth math conference was in Zurich at the end of September. I had an amazing time and learned so much! The conference was from Thursday through Saturday afternoon. Living just across the border from Switzerland, I was really close! We have students at BFA who bus to Kandern from Basel, Switzerland everyday. On Wednesday evening, I rode the school bus to Basel and a few of my former students made sure I got on the correct tram from the BBB (Basel Badischer Bahnhof) to the SBB (the other Bahnhof) where I needed to catch my train to Zurich. The bus ride to Basel is almost an hour and the train to Zurich is about an hour depending which train is taken. From traveling to different places around the world for my math conferences, I have gotten the travel bug! I get quite a rush from finding out how to get from the airport to my hotel and from my hotel to the school where the conference is held! LOVE IT!! When I find my destination using the city public transportation, I want to shout and dance a jig! I don't want to be labeled as "that loud noisy American" however, so I refrain and do my little dance inside with a big grin on my face!

I love that I am part of a cohort as we learn and go through our two year program together. The other members of my cohort are mostly Americans who are teaching in International Schools in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Arab Emerites, Barcelona, Holland, Zurich, and a few more. Most of these schools are IB (Inquiry-Based) and have strong IB programs in their schools. Most of the information presented is not entirely new to my cohort members. Last year, I felt like a deer in headlights as I tried to soak everything in! I do not feel quite as overwhelmed this year as I have been building a stronger understanding of how to implement new strategies! I will continue to share with you happenings in my math classrooms throughout this year! The pictures above is from our "Fun T-shirt Friday." I wore our Middle School T-shirt from last year where Kevin Bacon signed his name on the B portion of the shirt! He was at our school for a special High School performance of "Footloose" and had a moment to sign our shirt! Pretty cool, huh?! You believe me, right? ;)

I am sharing some pictures of Zurich for you to enjoy. I took a few of these, but most were taken from my cohort members who are skilled photographers! One of our members from Poland, took some fabulous pictures when we were in Prague of the Charles Bridge! It was phenomenal! The lady below was preparing a drink for a few guys. She poured a little brandy (some kind of hard liquor) into the large glass then lit it on fire! She swirled the fire around for a few seconds before pouring in some hand-crafted beer. We watched her prepare this drink for a few other tables before someone at our table ordered one. You can see Dave with his camera in the background. Dave, from Poland and Chaz, from Bulgaria took turns drinking this huge glass of beer! This was on Friday evening. Saturday afternoon, we were creating lessons on slides in small groups. Chaz and Dave used a few photos from their "special drink" to create a lesson on rates and proportions. A lesson my students will not see! :)

We were treated to a historical tour around Zurich Friday afternoon before dinner. Our tour guide is a history teacher at the International School in Zurich. A project for his students is to lead history tours around Zurich as well! That would be so fun to practice being a tour guide! We heard about Einstein, saw the University where he taught, saw graffiti from "the Zurich sprayer" (interesting...), gorgeous gardens, saw the plaque where Churchill spoke (love Churchill!), chocolate shops of course, heard about old legends concerning churches and crypts, a little about the Reformation, and more!

For anyone who is a math teacher, I have great resources and names of instructors to help your students explore mathematics through conceptualization. They build models and work with manipulatives to discover rules and deepen their thinking. Let me know if you would be interested! I would love to share!