I think it is fair to describe my mentor situation as rather unique.  As Katie mentioned in her blog, my fellow fellows and I were very nervous once we heard that our mentor, Barbara Bissell, was retiring from her post as section chief of the Math department at DPI.  Even after we found out that Barbara would continue to mentor us despite her retirement, I was still nervous about my fellowship experience.  I had been looking forward to learning the day-to-day workings of DPI and was worried that my mentor’s new status of “retiree” would keep me from the experience I had been anticipating.

I soon found out that I had nothing to be anxious about.  While my fellowship experience did turn out very differently than I had anticipated, I still did learn a lot about how DPI works and even ended up making contacts in many departments at DPI.  Also, we found out that just because Barbara wasn’t going in to DPI every morning any more didn’t mean that she didn’t have her finger on the pulse of what was happening math education in North Carolina.  Through Barbara’s expertise in mathematical knowledge for teaching, research-based instructional practices, and the creation of professional development we have been able to create a Kenan project that will help teachers to help their students develop a foundational understanding of number concepts.

I think that the content presented at each KFP Professional Development Institutes built upon the previous institute nicely.  Of course the information and activities at each PD were very professionally meaningful, but I feel that having the opportunity to interact with educators from across the state was equally as important.  I learned so much about education in our state.  As an elementary teacher, having the chance to talk to middle and high school teachers about their jobs was insightful.  Understanding what they are looking for in their students can give me more direction when dealing with my second graders.

Reflecting on our KFP Professional Development Institutes, I think that what stands out the most for me are the valuable lessons in education-related advocacy and activism that I gleaned from our third gathering as a cohort of fellows.  While all three KFP institutes were great, I think that the topics visited in this third institute were particularly relevant given the current climate of education politics in North Carolina.  Over the last couple of years there have been times when remaining positive about the teaching profession has proven difficult.  The presentations at the third PD institute helped me to see that there are ways for classroom teachers to be active in the education policy discussion.  I also found it very helpful to understand more about how policies are made.  Finding ways to use this information and the fancy title of Kenan Fellow in order to improve our teaching conditions and our students’ learning conditions presents an exciting challenge.  While the current climate is less than ideal, the opportunity to be a part of the turnaround is inspiring.