My name is Annah Riedel. I teach 4th grade at The Exploris School in Raleigh, NC. In this blog I will describe my experiences as a Kenan Fellow, reflect on practices, and share resources.
But where should I start on this blog? …Why not from the beginning?
I was born in Cary, NC to the best parents… While that is true, I’m only kidding. Let’s start with the first day of professional development as a Kenan Fellow.
Day 1:
Today I arrived at the beautiful NCCAT facility in Cullowhee, NC after a long drive. I walked into the main lobby and was greeted with a warm welcome, name tag, folder, and key to my OWN room (…already being treated like a queen). Shortly after I found my room, and to my surprise on each door there were posted words of wisdom.
Here’s what mine said:
“Accept challenge with open arms. This experience will be more different than anything else you have done so far…. And the most satisfying.”
I read it and quickly ran off to our opening sessions where we were greeted by our director and put faces to many names of voices we had come to know via email quite well. We were also greeted by some incredible former Kenan Fellows.
The day continued with LOTS of presentations, collaborative activities with spheros and an introduction to an app called codesnaps. Followed by conversations about best practice for lessons; where everyone had input in what makes a quality lesson.
As the day progressed I realized the advice I received was extremely fitting. In just 6 hours today I could feel my mind exploding with information and inputs. Remember all those presentations I was just talking about? They introduced us to all the work we would have to do on things like… Blogs?! Calendars?! Professional Development Plans?!
I had willingly signed on to do what exactly again…?
Today in my state of overwhelmed-ness I had to remind myself of one thing. When you feel a little scared, overwhelmed, and out of place, YOU ARE GROWING.
Right now I am at the beginning of a beautiful exponential curve. The journey of growing might not be pretty, but it will be exciting.
So yes, former Kenan Fellow you are correct. And it was no mistake your words were on my door. It set the tone for how I embraced today. I open my arms to this growth and to this experience. I know if I can embrace it fully it will have a major impact on my career and even more than that… my life.
So that leads me to my first blog post what do I want to gain from this experience? I want to be transformed, empowered, and to GET OUT of my comfort zone. It feels good to be a little scared and to not know how it’s all going to work out. This is a feeling I want to live a little longer because I know a year from now I will be a different teacher.
This year I want to feel transformed from a beginning teacher to a teacher leader. I want to feel empowered to take risks in my classroom knowing I have a network standing behind and beside me taking similar risks. Finally, I want to feel like I am out of my comfort zone. Growth happens as you continue to take small steps outside of your zone of comfort. As you take these steps that zone steadily expands and your comfort zone redefines itself.
So let’s make that comfort zone a little larger, my capacity to lead a little stronger, and my voice a little more directed.
I am thankful and I am ready to do this. I cannot wait to see where this Fellowship will take me this year.
Ms. A