Calculus by the "C"

Coincidentally, what I like to currently wear are what I have sewn recentlly, especially at a conference that I recently attended at the University of San Diego (a private university).   Since mathematics is my subject area, I totally went "geometric". 

Here is a view from a top of a hill on the University of San Diego.  Although I have lived in San Diego for more than 3 decades,  I have not from this angle seen this lovely panaoramic view of the bay and other notable landmarks of the city such as the Coronado Bridge and the mission.  Photo taken by me.

I wore this Vogue 845 1(already out of print) knit top on Monday, the first day of the conference.  I also wore this at our most recent visit to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido, California.

I just recently completed a week-long conference called "AP (Advanced Placement) By the Sea" at the University of San Diego.   I took the initiative to sign up for the AP Calculus section, pay the $705 upfront (on-line registration), and fill out a request for a leave of absence form because I would be absent from my classroom for a week (school for our district had recently started).   Yup, budget cuts. For most conference goers from out of town or even out of state or out of country (i.e. Canada), their registration fees, lodging and travel expenses were already taken care of.  My main reason to sign up was to be able to justify to teach a high level course next year, after years of given at my current school  " imbalanced" teaching schedules especially this year with 4 sections of senior math (the equivalent of consumer math or the I-need-to-pass-this-math-class to graduate high school) and one section of Formal Geometry (my only good class).  On my course preference sheet, I have always offered to teach  high level math classes (i.e. pre-calculus and/or calculus) with the basic math classes.  But of course, those sheets have been ignored in my case.   As the second senior teacher in our department and after teaching for 20 years, I don't understand.  I think politics override teacher performance and longetivity. I will investigate further if the "men", one of them being a "buddy" of our principal are given special treatment.

 I wished the conference was at an earlier time frame, before the start of a new school year for our district, because I do not like missing even a day of work potentially putting the students behind in the curriculum. Hence, I rarely am absent from work (i.e. I did not take a day off the previous school year).  I recalled an email addressed to our math department sent by a substitute teacher with impressive qualifications. I called this gentleman ahead of time to request his availability for a teaching assignment for early August which consisted of 4 sections of Math 12 (many "challenging" students) and 1 section of Formal Geometry (my "sweet" class).  Without hesitation, he accepted the assignment.

 Before I drove to the conference each day this past week, I left specific lesson plans for the substitute teacher such as pre-written or typed notes on the transparencies, and copies of assignments for the students to work on.   He obviously followed the lesson plans and  left detailed reports of students' behavior and wrote referrals to those who were defiant and talked back to him. I could tell he had a rough time.  However, I am relieved to have found a substitute teacher that seemed to do what he can to get the students to be on task.

A view from the balcony of the Shiley Center for Science and Technology in USD, where the conference for the AP Calculus was situated.  Photo taken by me.

The entire week at USD seemed like taking a semester or maybe a year of high school Calculus compacted in a week.  The presenter was an energetic and enthusiastic lady who has been teaching for 32 years.  There were stacks of handouts that she went over.  She did not have time to go over the specifics on how to solve all problems, but touched upon key problems or exercises that would benefit the students who will take the AP Calculus AB exam in May. 

On Wednesday, I wore this top which was  based on a 1970's Butterick knit wrap dress pattern, that I transformed into a non-wrap top.

The AP exam in Calculus consists of multiple choice questions and "free-response" questions or what I call a "multi-step" problem given a set of conditions (i.e. a graph, equations, specific values of an a variable substituted into an integral equation....) followed by three, four, or five questions. It has been technically 20 years the last time I worked on problems that pertained to Calculus when I was in college. So, just like many of my students, I was somewhat perplexed or mystified on certain concepts the presenter covered. Maybe after teaching a Calculus class, I would feel more at ease. The "free-response" questions required students not only to show their calculations, but also to justify or explain their solutions or to interpret what the solution meant in words using appropriate vocabulary in Calculus. In a set of problems the presenter handed out for us to work on before returning the next day, I was able to solve one or two independently. For those that we were uncertain about, we were able to ask her to go over them in more detail. The presenter encouraged us to ask questions for clarification. I can see why her students earned top scores in the AP exams. Her upbeat personality with her extensive knowledge and helpfulness definitely would have a positive effect on her students.

Donald Shiley Center for Science and Technology Building.  Photo courtesy of USD

We had an hour of lunch each day already paid for with a USD "gift card" worth $40.  There were several places to choose from.   The Pavillion Dining at the student center was the main place to eat that offered a salad bar, Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, All-American (hamburgers...), Italian, cuisine and more.  The ordering/catering area was crowded to the point I could not walk freely to look at what was being offered and make a selection.   The place was packed with visitors such as conference goers as myself, high school cheerleaders (most likely attending a form of cheerleading camp situated somewhere on this campus), foreigners (I heard French and other languages), and even families with children.  On Monday, I had two slices of pizza and a side order of salad for $5.  On Tuesday at a deli/market above the the Pavilion Dining, I had a Turkey club sandwich for about $7 and ate by a water fountain at a plaza area.  On Wednesday at the student center, I had  carnitas quesadilla with rice and beansfor about $7.  On Thursday, 8 (including myself) of the 24 conference attendees and the instructor ate at the classy La Gran Terraza restaurant that has a nice view overlooking the bay and city.   I had a salmon club sandwich for about $7.  On Friday, the last day of the conference, I had about $5.60 remaining and purchased a roast beef sandwich and paid aMinute Maid drink with my own cash.   The food overall was fine, although it does not beat my favorites:  Subway and Super Sergio's Mexican food. I was very satisfied with the conference,  although I don't think it was worth $700.  However  the experience and knowledge that I gained is priceless and will be very helpful for my current and future students.

Immaculata Catholic Church with the notable blue dome.  Photo courtesy of USD

An aerial view of  USD, and in particular the Immaculata Church (has the blue dome at the back) and closer to the front "The Garden of the Sea" with the Joan Kroc Institute for Peach and Justice building (brick colored little dome), a reflective pool,  and a nice lookout point of the San Diego bay (by the shaded trees at the south central portion shown in the photo) where I had lunch.  Photo courtesy of USD.

On Friday, the last day of the conference, enjoying lunch with a view at a patio area by the bluffs by a building called the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.  Photo taken by me.

After a  pleasant lunch at the bluffs overlooking a nice view of the city.  The weather was wonderful!  Top courtesy of New Look 6145.  Photo taken by a very kind gardener using my camera.