While I am a veteran of NCCAT, this week was by far the best week I’ve spent there. Afterall, my previous trip was in 2001 as I pursued National Board certification and we worked independently pretty much 24/7. This week was in stark contrast to my previous experience. Of course, the delicious food hasn’t changed and the atmosphere is so wonderful and rejuvenating. What happened this week is so much more than that.
Monday: We arrived and met the other Kenan Fellows. We began to form friendships and bonds, figuring out who was Students Discover and who was One&Fun along the way. The Spirit Dog activity allowed us to preview each other a bit before we arrived, but it turned out to be a bit difficult matching up the dog to the person in such a limited amount of time.
My Spirit Dog: carefree and easy-going.
Tuesday: Professional Development and EdCamp! Today we had several sessions that allowed us to choose whatever topic we felt best suited our needs. One of the sessions I chose was Blogging since we are going to be doing this every week. During this session, I realized that this would be a great tool to use in the classroom for reflections. This is definitely going in my “toolbox”. That evening, I experienced EdCamp for the fist time. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and especially the one where we took notes and everyone added to the notes in Google Drive. Everyone added contact information so the discussion didn’t necessarily need to end when we left the room. This was refreshing and I got some new ideas for differentiation.
Wednesday: THE NANTAHALA! Rafting the Nantahala on Wednesday with other Kenan Fellows was the best PD I have ever experienced! Learning about the ecology of the river, bonding with other teachers, and facing personal fears….and overcoming them…..made for such a memorable experience. I will cherish these memories for a lifetime.
Thursday: Professional Development, continued… More sessions on Thursday. I must admit I was extremely tired after our rafting adventure and probably didn’t get the full experience on Thursday. I do remember an especially energetic session on STEM which I enjoyed and will probably incorporate into my classes. The biggest take-away I got from that session was that STEM should be known for “Stimulating Thinking and Engaging Minds” or something to that effect…I was so engaged in the activities that I didn’t write it down!
Friday: Reflections, Evaluations and time to say Goodbye (for now)! Breakfast on Friday was followed by a slide show of our activities for the week. It was a good wrap-up of the friendships that were forged and the amazing experience we had shared. One of the things we had grown so fond of this week was Craig’s awards. Thanks to bringing my G-Cord phone case, I was able to take my iPhone on the rafting trip and captured some video of the Troll Bridge, which is how I ended up with the Creeper Award….Ha! (#notacreeper) Anyway, the awards are a lot of fun and I’m glad we have more to look forward to in July when we are all back together again.
I have never been fond of goodbyes and said a few quick ones, but I didn’t drag any out with hugs…after all I was going to see my Students Discover Fellows in just three days! Turns out, it was a good thing I didn’t hug since I came down with a fever about half-way home. Strep Throat! Hope I didn’t offend anyone by not giving hugs…but be GLAD! Apparently, all the excitement of the week wore my defenses down. Two nights of rest and we will be right back at it in Raleigh! I can’t wait! I miss everyone already!