New friends.

New colleagues.

A vibrant, new, professional learning community.

A trip down the Nantahala…IN the Nantahala.

This is Orientation week for the Kenan Fellowship.  Though I’m well under way in my internship with Dr. Richard Smith at SAMSI (Statistical and Applied Mathematical Science Institute), this is the week to meet and get to know my fellow 2017 Fellows, and begin the plan of professional learning that will ultimately be my focus this year.

These people are amazing.  I’m humbled to be here, mostly because I am so clearly out of my depth.  Fortunately, one lesson that stuck in my head from long ago was that, if you aspired to be better than you are, surround yourself with people who are better than you are.  That’s my reality here at Kenan orientation week.

We’ve begun setting up our personal learning plans for this fellowship year.  Those plans include around 60 hours of professional development offered by Kenan, along with another 16+ hours of self-determined professional development.  In a fine example of something that we (teachers) are slowly realizing should be a part of what we offer to our students, the Kenan folk have recognized that at least some part of a teacher’s professional development should be set, determined, and carried out by the teacher.  After all, who else knows our interests and passions better than ourselves.

The journey has just begun, and there is much yet to experience.  My hope is to use this blog as much more than just the fulfillment of a request by Kenan, but as an on-going way to communicate and share my next year both in and out of the classroom.

If you decide to follow along, thank you, and I’ll try to keep it interesting.

Bill