Over the last five days as I've traveled from the Grand Canyon to Tempe, AZ to Phoenix, AZ to Los Angeles, CA, and to Santa Monica, CA. In Tempe I spent the night with Betz and Harold Frederick; they were students of mine many years ago at the University of Illinois; they are both incredible math educators and we talked non-stop about the state of education today, the problems with teaching and learning math (many teachers don't understand math), and how math might be taught through Glerb. Betz urged me to develop conceptual understanding through Glerb lessons, that it had to be more than process practice. They shared a number of important documents, but the two most important ones were the new national standards in math and an important paper by one of Harold's favorite math educators. It has been more than 20 years since I last saw Betz and Harold; at that time they were getting their PhDs from the University of Illinois. Now I was seeing them in the later years of their career. All of our lives have undergone a lot of change, yet we continue to share a deep interest in teaching and learning. Within the year we want to reconnect again--this time in Vegas!
The next day I met up with Nancy Schwartz and stayed at her home for two nights. The drive from Tempe to Phoenix is literally a few miles (Tempe is like a suburb of Phoenix, although I'm sure they don't see it that way!). I first met Nancy in the early '90s at Mr. D's (a supermarket) salad bar in Bloomington. We engaged in some small talk and then I saw her again at the check-out lane where we talked again; she said she was beginning graduate school in a few days and I wished her well. To her surprise (and mine), she showed up in the orientation of incoming master's students in Instructional Systems Technology (IST) where I was a professor. To this day we laugh about our first encounter. Nancy went on to earn in a PhD and over the years we worked on several projects together, and she lectured in my human-computer interaction (HCI) design class for many years on the topic of HCI and dance (Nancy is a dancer too!). But eventually Nancy wanted to return to her first love--elementary school teaching, and she did so by returning to the place where she first taught many years ago, Phoenix, Arizona. Nancy moved from Bloomington to Phoenix about a year ago and bought a beautiful home nestled into the foot of a mountain. It was great to catch up with her, schmooze, laugh, and enjoy good food. But most of all, it was good to see Nancy settled and independently successful, doing something she loved--teaching algebra to 8th graders; they're lucky to have her as their teacher.
While in Phoenix, I met up with a former secretary of mine, Joan Phebus and her son John. Joan is retired now, and John is a lawyer. We worked together for many years at the Computer-based Educational Research Lab (CERL) at the University of Illinois where I directed the PLATO Education Group for many years. We recounted stories of the past and laughed throughout lunch. It was great!
On Thursday morning I left Phoenix and drove to LA. It was amazing being in 75 degree and sunny weather that week, and the drive was very nice. As I entered California, I passed the Joshua Tree National Forest and then several miles of windmills nestled in the foothills of the mountains (near Palm Springs). I spent the night with Nina (who looks like Glenn Close!) and Ed Feinstein, parents of Rafi, an undergraduate student in my I300 and I441 classes. It was a bit strange sleeping in Rafi's bedroom, but Rabbis Nina and Ed (yes, they're both rabbis) were very hospitable and filled me with stories of becoming the second female rabbi and running a major synagogue in LA.
My next was Santa Monica to spend a couple of fun-filled days with my former student and good friend Joel Miller. I first met Joel in 1988 at the University of Illinois; he worked in my group at PLATO and then we kept in close contact over the years. Joel worked at Lilly and then was hired by Amgen in California, and has lived in Santa Monica for almost five years. We had lots of fun including seeing the ocean in Malibu and eating chocolate cupcakes and skim milk! Last night we had dinner at an amazing and sexily elegant restaurant, Sur, followed by a tour through Micky's and The Abbey, both wonderful bars. Joel is great and we continue to be life-long friends.
This morning I continue my journey to Ojai, CA (pronounced "Oh-high") to meet up with my Glerb partners, Anoo and Vamshi; they're vacationing there for a couple of months before returning to Seattle the same time I get there. We'll be meeting with a group of teachers this afternoon to get some honest feedback on our ideas.
It has been a great trip so far... renewing and creating sustainable friendships along the way.
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