I was very, very privileged to attend the New Orleans session of the Mickelson/ Exxon Mobil Teachers' Academy this past week. In short, this is a week long series of lessons for 200 Science and Math teachers from across the country to become stronger with content in Physics and inquiry based learning. The icing on the cake is that teachers, for one week, are treated like gold from the moment they land to the time they leave. We are put in an incredible hotel, praised, loved, fed and hear a very rare phrase in our field: "you can expense that". The best part? This is done three times over the summer in three separate locations. Simply amazing.
If you are one of the very fortunate to attend this academy, let me give you some basic advice:

1. Leave Room: Leave room in your suitcase for books and learning materials (about 14 pounds of books are given). The bonus about hard copy books is that you can share them much easier than eBooks. Until sharing eBooks is easier, this tech savvy person will gladly take the hardcopy. Unless you really stink things up in air conditioned climates, you can pack light and wear things twice. Unless you're being stalked, no one will notice if you recycle your clothes for a later day. Leave your bag of school supplies at home, it's all provided for you.

2. Eat, eat, oh and eat: The lovely organizers of the academy (hi Kim and Sherry) make sure you are fed and hydrated all day long. The first day I ate and ate and then realized I needed to take this momentum down a notch before I would have to place my pants out a notch. If you are a vegan or vegetarian (I'm a very picky pescatarian) the organizers always have a salad out, remain creatively flexible and pack your protein bars and supplements.

3. An object in constant motion will become fried: Remember you are there for the Academy. Your group and team needs your full presence every day to make their experience stronger. As tempting as it is to explore the locations from head to toe, it's also acceptable to chill for a night in that amazing hotel room and order room service. You are digesting information from 8am to 4:30pm and you will have some homework. Be creative and host a movie night in your room or just treat yourself to some well deserved personal downtime. Recoup and investing in yourself can be just as fulfilling as sightseeing.

4. Technology: I am very, very attached to my electronics. I am more attached to the integration of technology in education. I struggled a lot with the academy's request to leave technology behind. Then I decided that if someone is going to fly me somewhere, pay for me to sleep and eat somewhere, then I can at least abide by this request. As an adult you need to be truthful enough to decide if your phone will distract you and tempt you with texting and tweets. If you really need that phone, put your phone silent. You don't need a laptop or any technology for the sessions. You can always transfer your notes when you get home, which is a great method for review and reorganization of thoughts.

5. Connect and branch out: This is your chance to be surrounded by other positive, knowledge hungry teachers who are passionate about their students and staff. Introduce yourself as much as possible, discuss their lives and schools as much as possible and smile at people as much as possible.

 When my colleagues and I were on the airport tram, wearing our red Academy Tshirts, we were stopped multiple times by people who had heard about the Academy. One person asked if it was for high school, one person even congratulated us on attending; these little moments in the airport meant a lot because we felt noticed, appreciated and recognized. Thanks to the organizers, teachers, Philip Mickelson and Exxon Mobile for providing endless amounts of  these little moments all week.

We'll always have NOLA.