And the Journey Continues!

Wow! So last week you read how stoked being in the KF 2016 cohort makes me. After a week of hanging with this passionate group of awesome professionals I realize this honor ranks up there with winning a superball lottery!! Trust me, it requires great self-control not to tell you why each and everyone of these marvelous teachers rock!

Down to business. The retreat at NCCAT surpassed any networking and team-building event in my experience. We worked together, learned together, played together and shared. The resources and staff made it possible for a family of professional educators to form. Thank you to everyone at NCCAT for providing an environment where this fantastic event could occur.

There are days in every teacher’s life when a child misbehaves and a call home is needed. Any time I call home to speak with a parent about a problem their student encountered, I call home to another parent to let them know about something good that happened to their child. First, the activity I liked least (always end with the positive call home, you’ll feel better). I did not like the session on Myers Briggs. I wrote a paper graduate school addressing the numerous flaws of the instrument and that colored my perception of the session. One session. No worries.

Picking a favorite session proves more difficult. I loved sharing ideas about Project Based Learning. The session with Eric reminded me of the importance of music in the classroom. He even provided unique resources for the music and a way to overcome “genre” issues. I liked learning new approaches to teaching cultural differences in the classroom. Huge learning and professional gains in any session with one of our camp counselors, ahh, I mean Steering Committee. That daring group of past Kenan Fellows who guided us on our quest “for the soul of a Kenan Fellow.” Thanks to you all.

A final word, please. If you read this you are probably in North Carolina with an interest in all things North Carolina. So, can you tell me, where in North America will you find the most biodiversity? Why does so much biodiversity exist in this beautiful place? My students will know this remarkable place is the Nantahala River Gorge and they will discover the source of such amazing biodiversity.