It’s hard to believe that it has been a full year since my journey as a Kenan Fellow began. Just over a year ago, I was interviewing in Raleigh for what I knew would be an excellent experience, if chosen.…
Refining and Redefining Curriculum
Whoa! What a crazy ride. I think the ELA fellowship with DPI had a slightly different approach and experience with the task of curriculum development, since that ‘s really what our whole experience was about from the beginning. Writing curriculum…
Lenovo Technology
If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a tech-y. Having the Lenovo tablet this year has been a pretty amazing gift. I have definitely pushed this one to it’s limit… literally. At one point, I was using 100% of…
Unit Implementation… Oh My!
Click on the pic to link to more in my Animoto! My Kenan Fellows developed unit was a blast to teach with my students and fellow teachers. I work with two other amazing fifth grade teachers, and we…
Partners in Learning
The Kenan Fellow/Mentor partnership is the foundation of our program and what we do. What does this partnership mean to you? The idea of a fellow/mentor partnership is one that I cherish. As a 15 year veteran of the classroom,…
PD Reflections
As I look back at the three professional development experiences that we have had through our Kenan Fellowship, a few key ideas come to mind and they are best described with a plant metaphor. I am not a gardener, so…
Social Media in the Classroom
As some districts ban the use of social media in and out of classrooms, and others encourage its use, how do you explain such polar viewpoints? So much of the debate over the use of social media in education…
Something Learned
As a result of my fellowship and intern experience this summer, I have definitely learned about a lot of abstract ideas, with the main focus on the value of personal and professional relationships and how they enrich teaching and learning.…
Impact
In thinking about how my externship will impact my students and my teaching this year, I’ve had a bit of a struggle. In my initial thinking, my instructional practice isn’t going to change that much in relation to how…
Aha!
When asked about the biggest AHA moment of my externship, I’ve really had to marinate on this for a while. My mentorship with DPI hasn’t been typical, in that I haven’t spent a lot of time at DPI or directly…