No, really.  I do find that this Kenan Fellowship has changed my perspective, provided important insight, and broadened my horizons!  It makes sense that it would, too.  The professional development opportunities introduced me to educators and policy-makers from all over the state!  Very few schools “look” the same nor do they operate in quite the same way, and yet we are all working towards achieving the same standards.  In other blogs, I’ve been able to share the perspective shifts and the insights and tools gained.  The most fundamental impact, however, has to be leaving the home “fish pond.”

I know that I, like most people, work hard to know my own pond.  I know where the fish swim and why and I sometimes even know how to attract them to my own little space under a rock.  It is a natural drive to get comfortable like that.  However, it is a rare and wonderful opportunity to brave visits to other ponds — even to become part of a bigger school of fish!  And, most challenging of all, to consider changing our accepted swimming patterns and feeding behaviors!  Kenan has been all of that to me.

I have been provided the opportunity to network with other educators and discuss policy and policy change with those who do that as a career.  I have been shown new tools of the trade and different approaches to accomplishing my standards.  Perhaps most empowering of all, I have been invited to share my best practices and what I love most — working with young people and opening the world for them!  My total professional development experience has been the most powerful and positive experience I have ever had.