After spending many hours prepping the power point and handout, I went to bed last night at midnight.  Up at 4:30 am to catch the 6:20 ferry, and the organizer generously offered to give me a ride to Squamish due to the probable snow warnings. We had a nice chat on the way to Don Ross Secondary.  His passion for education is admirable and commendable.

The Sea-to-Sky Teachers’ Association professional development day started with Dr. Art Hister as the key note.  He was phenomenal.  A very humorous and cleaver… a tough one to follow.  Overall, my presentation went well and I think I fulfilled what the organizer requested from me.  He asked for a similar workshop as the one I delivered at the BCAMT, the provincial math teachers conference, in October 2010.  However, there will always be attendees who are expecting something else. 

About 2/3 of the attendees filled out my feedback form and most of them gave rave reviews.  The remaining feedback forms gave mediocre reviews.  Of those, they each gave a common report:  Gimme the Meat & Potatoes.  Ultimately, they wanted something tangible to do on Monday morning… the “tool kit” or “bag of tricks” if you will.  Admittedly, I was more worried not going enough stories to tell, but in the end, I had too many.

The one piece of advice a “math guru” gave me for the BCAMT conference was… Give them something for Monday.  Now, I am rudely reminded.  Another mentor told me to “be myself.”  I think I was and it appealed to the majority.  I tried to give some potatoes near at the end of the workshop, but maybe it should have been top heavy.  The good part is… I did give out some business cards to those who are interested in bringing me back again to a different audience… I’m looking forward.