Blue Mountain Math

Making Math Fun with Engaging Activities

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Free
  • Videos
  • Links

Palm Springs Math Conference

It’s that time of year when thousands of math educators of all types go to Palm Springs to learn from each other at the California Mathematics Council annual math conference.  It is normally the first weekend in November, however there have been a few times when it was the last weekend in October.  If you have never attended, you need to go for several reasons.

1.  Palm Springs is beautiful.  The weather was perfect, people (not me and probably not most math teachers) were in their bikinis laying out by the pool, everyone was walking around enjoying the weather.  I went with my friend Jeanne, she drove, I directed and we arrived Thursday evening (as I always do).  Thursday evening hosts the Palm Springs market night–but so much more than just market.  Music, food, people and their dogs/ people in costumes, charitable booths–stuff to buy, eat, see, and enjoy.  My favorite this year was the little doughnuts, fresh made with cinnamon topping. But a visit to Palm Springs is never complete without stopping by the fudge booth. Fresh fudge that we dream about making, but it is so much easier to buy a small amount to keep from eating too much. I bought Pumpkin and Rocky Road-both delicious. The shop is on North Palm Canyon Blvd.

2.  The Conference itself is all day Friday and Saturday–8:30 to 5:00 each day (approximately) over 3 different venues–the conference center, the Hilton and the Hard Rock.  Shuttles take people from one location to another and ran every 10 minutes. Hundreds of educators speak and thousands of educators attend to learn something new and exciting they can bring back to their school or classroom and many come to bring back ideas to share with their district.  We all speak the same language–MATH.  It is a community where we all share the same frustrations and passion which is exciting.  My all time favorite presenter is Michael Serra, who announced that he is retiring from being a presenter. I get it, he is ready to move on to other things, but I will miss him. I saw his presentation Pirate Math a couple of years ago and now he has the
book–which I did not win in the raffle, so I may be force to buy it.

This is the third year I was invited to speak and spend a lot of time thinking how I can best use my 90 minutes to give the most value to people who attend.  I am always very humbled and surprised at how gracious people are to me during the session.  They are engaged and interested and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to share my successes and failures with others.  Yes, I have failures: I have a lot because I continue to experiment in the classroom every day. I continue to work and continually try fresh ideas and look for ways for students to feel successful and achieve their dreams. And it is hard work, despite the believe by non educators that I only work 7 hours a day and am overpaid.  I do it because I care and I do it because I am a little bit crazy and I believe that I will make a difference.  Here is the link to my presentation if you are interested….Move and Groove with Engaging Activities

I firmly believe that all of us –all educators all over the world– have the answers to the educational problems.  If we could find a way to meet and just talk and collaborate, we could jointly solve all the problems without need for legislation, mandates and politicians (whether local or national) to intervene and direct us.

3.  The food is wonderful.  You can tell the most popular places because they are crowded and require waiting.  I had pancakes at ELMER’S.  I had to wait 20 minutes to be seated, it was well worth it.  I would have waited longer.  My friend had the Blackberry French Toast.  Elmer’s has been in South Palm Springs for 40 years I think….I hope they will be there forever.  Sherman’s Deli is another favorite if you long for a sandwich and potato salad.  They have so much more, but I have never tried anything else and why would I when I can get my pastrami sandwich? Of course I presented at the Hard Rock so after the session I wandered in the cafe and had the Oatmeal Brulee, best oatmeal I have ever eaten.  There are so many great restaurants but every year I try something new (but Elmers every year).

Jame “Gypsy” Haake
Dionne Warwick

4.  Entertainment.  For people who are not familiar with Palm Springs, you can find any time of entertainment you might enjoy. Take a walk among the stars if you enjoy playing entertainment history and see if you can find your favorites.  There are museums, tours of star homes, more golf courses that you could play in a month, water parks, plays, dinner theatre, musical events–the list goes on.  If you want it you can find it.  Over the years, I have seen plays, attended concerts, done the museums, seen a movie, toured star homes, etc.  All of it done on the Conference weekend–but not during the conference. Friday night I had made a reservation to see Carnival Caberet at Oscars Cafe right on Tahquitz and Indian Canyon.  It was a dinner show and I have never had such wonderful food.  I have never laughed as hard or had as much fun singing along to favorite songs sung by female impersonators(I want to hate them because they make such good looking women, I need their make up and hair tips–ok not Gypsy, but he has good legs)  Below see Whitney, Reba and Lady Gaga.

5. The atmosphere.  Palm Springs, despite all the people, the movement, the nightlife, the endless choices of things to do is peaceful and relaxing.  You can do everything, or you can do nothing.  It is an hour from where I live but it feels like another country. 
Mark the date: November 4-5, 2016 and make plans for the Math Conference next year  to join math educators to learn, play, relax and enjoy Palm Springs.  Make hotel plans well in advance to get the best choices–they fill up months in advance.  You will find me there….I hope to see you.          

Filed Under: activities, attitudes about math, station activities Leave a Comment

« Tis the Season to be Scary
Good Teaching Conference Tidbits »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Categories

Boom Learning

Teachers Pay Teachers

Amazon Disclosure

Blue Mountain Math is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The links that are indicated as "affiliate links" mean I will be paid a small sum at no additional cost to you. Blue Mountain Math uses links to provide a service to the reader about products that have been used.

Latest on Pinterest

  • Practice finding perfect square roots in  a fun new way.  No PREP, NO PRINTING, NO LAMINATING. Just practice, feedback for students and auto grading for teachers. Great for differentiating and works well in centers, stations, as review or homework.  Print
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to practice every day skills like using percents. You can assess their understanding and students can play again to keep improving. This set uses a variety of word problems using percent. This set of Boom Cards features 40 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Boom Cards: Digital Task Cards are great alternatives to those printed, laminated task cards. Infuse your class with technology.  Students love these cards so much, they ask to use at home.  Use in math centers, as individual learning or assign for additi
  • Boom Cards™ are a great way for students to practice every day skills In this deck, students practice finding combination and permutations. This set of Boom Cards features 35 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Students practice using the distributive property, both in distributing and combining like terms, in these 2 puzzles in google slides. There are 2 puzzles--one in each simple level and challenging level. In the simpler level, the outside edges are blank, so if students are having difficulty, have them arrange the pieces so the blank sides are on the outside.
  • Sector Area in a Circle Paper Chain is a fun, engaging  activity that is self-checking, collaborative. Set of 15 problems that need to be cut apart, reassembled in the correct order and fastened together like a chain until the end is reached. Great worksh
  • Great practice, worksheet alternative, formative assessment for students that you can HEAR if they are successful.  No printing, no laminating.  A Lifetime tool for the classroom.
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to finding gross pay by pay periods. This deck has 40 cards for students to practice finding Gross Pay in a variety of ways. For example: Mary makes $400 per week, how much does she make annually or Joe makes $2000 per month, how much does he make weekly. This will help reinforce vocabulary of Gross Pay, Bi-weekly, Bi-Monthly, Semi-monthly, Weeky, Annually and Weekly. This is part of a life skills/ personal finance/ comsumer math curriculum.
  • This is a twisted trivia game where students (either in groups or playing individually with white boards) practice identifying solutions and writing inequalities from graphs. Check out the video preview to see the type of questions included.

Latest on Instagram

Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and mo Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and more tech savvy than people who wear neck ties.....just a thought..... #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I expla My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I explained that National Cat Day is October 29. So Happy Dog Day to all your fur family. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
And for my southern relatives, have some fried chi And for my southern relatives, have some fried chicken with those waffles #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
AT last, a day for those of us who are over a cert AT last, a day for those of us who are over a certain age. Although, the picture does not reflect many of us. We are not sitting with our hands folder, we are still active and making a difference. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed to a lot of talk radio, but it got so negative that I noticed it was influencing my day. Are you a talk radio person and do you notice that? #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are cred Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are credited with the first airplane flight were not funded by the government? The government had funded several others, who failed. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Tuesday?  We could have Fajita Friday each week  So today enjoy the fajitas and think about having them weekly--like tacos. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
We have already used our colored markers and penci We have already used our colored markers and pencils.  Yeah, I love color. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that left handed people have brains t Did you know that left handed people have brains that work differently? Their brains communicates differently and have greater verbal skills....⁣
#teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt

Latest on Facebook

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Type: OAuthException
Copyright © 2025 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.