“It’s a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn’t even know you were aiming for.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold
I was thrilled to learn that I was admitted to the Kenan Fellows program. A colleague of mine was a past Fellow and told me it was excellent, intellectually stimulating, and fun professional development. My mentor teacher from my first years of teaching was ecstatic, and I knew through her enthusiasm what a great journey I was about to begin.
I was particularly excited to learn that I’d be working with DPI, for two reasons. The first is that as a charter school teacher, I feel a bit isolated from public schools and the decisions that affect us all. It’s a very different feel from my years in public schools, and I wanted to feel ”tuned in” again. The second reason is, quite frankly, I just really wanted to see what goes on in there–who makes the decisions that affect my students, and how do they make them? And can I have a positive influence or give some perspective?
My fellowship within DPI involves finding resources online for Spanish teachers and uploading them to Home Base, tagged with the standards they hit. Having taught middle school Spanish for 6 years, I’m used to seeking out resources on my own. It’s how I’ve found most of my materials that I use in my classroom: break out the Essential Standards (or before that, the NCSCOS), throw on some good music, and sit down for a long night with my good friend Google. Since it’s how I spend a good deal of my summers anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to learn to do it in a systematic way, and to have a way to share what awesome resources I find with others.
Shortly after receiving my fellowship, I was asked to transition from teaching 7th and 8th grade Spanish to teaching K-8 Spanish. While I’m excited about something new, I’m also terrified. Although most people probably don’t feel this way, and may not believe me when I say I’m 100% serious, but I think middle school students are lovely, personable, funny, perceptive, and easy to motivate……
…..while small children are unpredictable, unreasonable and difficult to understand.
Suffice it to say, I feel less prepared for my coming year than I have ever felt. So imagine how serendipitously wonderful it is to know that as I seek out resources for elementary Spanish during my Kenan fellowship, I am readying myself in real time for the new challenge that awaits me–a challenge that I wasn’t even yet aware of when my KFP acceptance notification came.
In my Kenan fellowship, I hope to gain friendships. I hope to gain respect of my peers. I hope to gain cutting edge knowledge and skills. I hope to learn how to advocate for myself, my school and my students. I hope to make new connections in the field of education and open new doors for myself. But at the very basest, I hope to find the best lesson plan for day one in a kindergarten Spanish classroom.
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I love the quote you have on this blog entry! I’m definitely recognizing new targets that I didn’t even realize I wanted to shoot for. Good luck with your fellowship!
Thanks, Denise! I think it’s really amusing when things fall into place. My folks were big ”everything happens for a reason” advocates growing up, so I think I’m always well aware of coincidences and connections. Good luck on your fellowship!