What do you hope to gain from your fellowship experience?
This seems like such a simple question to answer: I want to become a better teacher. Everything I do, the end result is to become a better teacher. But there is so much more that I hope for. I want to feed my own desire to learn and to get back into actual field work. I am interested in learning about the ants project and to hear Dr. Beasley’s hopes for this project as well as future projects to stem from this one. I want to regenerate my passion for science and for teaching. I want to network with other like-minded teachers and to share ideas with each other. I expect this to be the best professional development and network of my career.
I love bringing new things to my classroom. I try not to keep things the same, I want to keep it interesting. One thing I have found is that my students love to hear about my personal experiences. Any chance I have to use my pictures in a PowerPoint or presentation I will tell my students. They get so excited and don’t believe the picture is actually mine. There is a disconnect between them and their reality that makes them feel like somehow pictures in textbooks or magazines aren’t something they could see in their own life; like you have to be a professional to have a worthy picture for educational purposes.
I imagine the being a Kenan Fellow will provide me with a plethora of knowledge that I can share with other teachers. Sharing is caring and I hope that I will have plenty to share. I will become a stronger leader because as we have learned, we are already leaders. I just hope I will find a voice that relates to my audience and is a voice that is worthy of hearing.
I already have plans to lead professional development sessions back in Pender County; especially working with Michelle, we will make it happen. This is something I have never done before. I am also tweeting for the first time! Who knew that would happen? Definitely not me!
Here are my first steps from being a zebra to becoming a unicorn. I want to step out from the crowd, from just following the norm, to becoming unique and a figure people will want to follow.