0 Pause Please?

I need a pause button on my summer or something.  These past few weeks have been BUSY!  Vacation Bible School.  Tulsa Math Teachers' Circle Summer Immersion Workshop.  Presenting at the OCTM Summer Conference.

The MTC Training was incredible.  I had so much fun, and I did so much math!  I've always thought that I when I pursue a master's degree it will be in education.  But, spending 3 days doing math alongside mathematicians has made me start thinking about maybe pursuing a master's degree in pure or applied mathematics.

Will I actually pursue this?  I have no clue.  Just last week, I told somebody that I couldn't see myself leaving the secondary classroom anytime soon.

When I graduated from college two years ago, I was done with college.  I was ready to be the teacher giving the homework instead of the student doing the homework.  At The University of Tulsa, I had the amazing opportunity to complete separate degree programs in Pure Mathematics through the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences and Secondary Education through the College of Arts and Sciences.  I never quite fell in love with the process of writing proofs, but I think that experience helped deepen my love and appreciation for the subject.

Fast-forward two years.  During the MTC training, I remember thinking how much I wished I had been able to take a class in Number Theory as an undergrad.  This past weekend, I went in search of a free online number theory book.  And, then I proceeded to start completing the exercises in order.  The first sets of exercises is a set of proofs by induction.  As I started working through these, I realized just how much fun they were.  I didn't think I would ever refer to proofs and fun in the same sentence.

I'll try to write a more reflective post on my MTC experience, but for now I will say that it was a refreshing (and exhausting!) experience to spend 2+ hours on a single math problem.

This week, I'm at OGAP which is an entirely different experience.  It's 5 days of sharing best teaching practices and working through algebra and geometry activities.  And, it's this type of workshop that makes me think that I'd love to teach future math teachers some day.  Be a teacher of teachers.  This would mean pursuing graduate studies in education instead of math.  

Does anyone have a crystal ball I can borrow?  I promise I'll return it.  I just need to take a peek at my future so I can see what type of degree I should pursue.  :)

Be on the lookout for lots of reflection posts soon!