This topic reaches very deeply into my own teaching philosophy, so the value of the partnership between mentors and mentees is extremely high. To begin with my cohort/summer fellowship experience, I must express such appreciation to LaVerne Weldon and Carmella Fair. They are my DPI mentors and were nothing but completely supportive, positive, genuinely interested and enthusiastic listeners! They are busy ladies who juggle quite a work load, but they made themselves available for the needs of myself and the other members of my cohort. I thought that the level of work along with the planned experiences were terrific. We had a nice mix of time allotted for practice and work in Home Base, but then we also had experiences and professional development opportunities at the Friday Institute. To top it off, we were able to sit in during a SBE meeting and had a moment to chat and get a photo of Dr. Atkinson. Overall, it was well planned and executed to the best of their abilities. I also must express appreciation for the opportunity to work in a cohort. The Fellows are terrific people, dedicated and intelligent educators. Frankly, anytime I am able to associate and have the time to discuss with other educators, the outcomes are usually productive and enriching. Such was the case here. I think it also was so successful because there were Fellows of varying areas of expertise, so we all were able to share from our ” corners” and learn from each other.
To connect this experience to my teaching philosophy is easy. I have always supported methods and experiences that include active participation with beginning and pre-service teachers. We [teachers] can learn so much from the best natural resource around…ourselves! I often refer that we are also an under-utilized resource, as well. My school used to have a program set up by our Curriculum Coordinator that allowed teachers to leave their classrooms periodically to observe and discuss teaching, methodologies, best practices and philosophy with other teachers in our school and district. It was such a great way to learn by experiencing. I truly believe that teachers can often learn best using similar pathways as their students: experientially…hands-on…face-to-face. It is a tried and true system that works!
Naturally, the mentoring aspect of a Kenan Fellowship is a sure thing…a winner!
