I said I was getting out of the convention business, but when the conventions are in St Louis, it's kind of hard to say 'no.' My Catholic-guilt always kicks in. So I worked the Science Teachers' Convention this week demonstrating the latest in technology. Of course, I was assigned to the table filled with different robots and sensors. The newest robot is a little guy called,
Codey Rocky. It was developed as a tool for very little kids like Violet to learn how to program - very different (and more fun) than the giant mainframes and punched cards I used when I learned programming in college. Codey Rocky has a lot of personality with his compact body and great big LED eyes. He was constantly winking at me or shaking his head when I pushed the wrong button or his battery ran low.
There were a lot of children's book publishers at the convention promoting their products. Even though
Curious George was first published way back in 1941, he's still a favorite with kids. I was able to stop him for a picture when he walked past my table.
One of my jobs was to take a group of Chinese teachers on a tour of 2 St Louis high schools. The tour itself was easy to set up with my teacher friends, but I didn't realize when I agreed to do this that only 2 people out of the 20 attendees could speak English. It was a challenging day, especially when we were riding from one school to another. I had been told they would arrange their own transportation, assuming they were going to hire a bus with a licensed chauffeur. It turned out they just went over to the car rental agency, rented 2 vans, and used 2 of the teachers spouses as drivers (neither of whom spoke English). They were using Google maps on their iPhones for directions, but when they started going the wrong way, I had trouble correcting them because their iPhones were speaking in Chinese. I thought driving on the freeway was stressful enough without adding that complication.
At one of the schools I saw all these odd stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling lights. They kind of looked like beanie babies without arms or legs. I finally asked the teacher what they were and she said they were moles. For those who have forgotten their high school chemistry (or never really understood it), a mole is basically a measurement used to convert molecules to grams. She let students make the stuffed animals for extra credit. I thought that was a really creative method to teach the concept, though I'm not sure I'd want something that creepy-looking hanging over my head every day.
Of course, I had to take the teachers past the robotics lab. This is the robot that was in the FIRST competition I'd been to just a few weeks ago. I tried to explain the game to the teachers, since they were interested in implementing it into their own schools. At one point as the translator was speaking, all the teachers turned and looked at me and said, "Ahhh." I had no idea what he'd said, but I just smiled and nodded my head. It turned out, he'd told them I was the judge (referee) of the contest. Maybe they thought I'd be the one traveling to China to judge their competition.
I tend to come home from conventions very tired from standing all day, but this day I was also mentally exhausted from having no clue what anyone was saying. However, I think the teachers enjoyed the tour. I forgot about the Chinese custom of always giving gifts to their visitors. At the end of the tour they handed out gifts to everyone. They gave me a can of tea - perfect end to a good day.
