For me, this internship can help me grow as an educator in many ways.  As a new teacher, I was very focused on classroom management and simply learning how to navigate teaching, my school, and the school system in general.  While I obviously was teaching my science content on a daily basis, I was not focused on enriching the curriculum for my students or strengthening my own content knowledge.  This school year, I would love to put more of a focus on those two things, and I think this internship will give me a jumpstart in that direction.  

During my time as an undergrad, I remember several teacher mentors advising us to continue “doing” the content we teach.  For science teachers, that meant finding ways to engage in authentic science.  I’ve found that this is key to keeping one’s passion for science alive, even in the hustle and bustle of the school year.  I’m hoping that Kenan Fellows will be a way for me to stay engaged in authentic science, and also a way for my students to get engaged in authentic science – an incredibly valuable way of learning.  

As a beginning teacher, I’m also hoping that this will build my confidence as a teacher leader.  In fact, even just the NCCAT Conference itself has already done this in part.  It’s hard to feel confident, let alone to feel capable of being a leader, when you’re still figuring out how the whole teaching thing works, but I’d love to find meaningful leadership roles where I think I can truly make a difference and help my fellow teachers.