When I look back at my first post, I felt overwhelmed by all the new technologies and learning that were ahead of me.  Now that I’m completing my fellowship, I think I’ve gotten comfortable with my role as student.  It is still stressful to implement a new idea in my classroom, but I am comfortable with the sense of adventure that it brings.  My students have been very supportive, even if my new idea doesn’t always work out as planned!  I am leading meetings at my school and workshops in my system on a more regular basis this year too.  I truly enjoy meeting other educators and helping them with new ideas.

One thing I still find true from the first posts is that the Kenan Fellowship has been more about the culture and spirit of education than the lesson plans we all wrote.  I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing teachers, from all grades and subject areas.  It’s been exciting to hear about day-to-day practices and to try them out in my class.  I have also met people working on education at the state level.  I was selected to participate in the Emerging Issues forum on education in Raleigh.  I attended the National Board Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC.  My views on education and current research are wider than a year ago.  It’s critical for educators to keep that spark in them for teaching.  Sadly, NCCAT will likely be gone soon, so opportunities for engaging with others who will keep my creative juices flowing must be found in other places.  Teachers need to feel energized about the profession and I have found that Fellowships and conferences do this for me.  I don’t believe I would have pursued these opportunities if I were not a Kenan Fellow.