I spent the last week in Cullowhee, NC at a wonderful place called NCCAT.  NCCAT stands for the NC center for the advancement of teaching.  It is a wonderful place where teachers can get away, attend professional development, and network with other like minded individuals.  This was my second time attending NCCAT and let me just tell you, it never disappoints!  This time I got to network with 26 other Kenan Fellows from all over the state.  We had professional development the whole week on a variety of topics and I was able to gain valuable leadership experience.

My favorite part of the entire week was coming up with a “teacher brand.”  This is a 3-5 word statement that sums up my teaching.  I chose, “Cultivating Creative Collaborators”.  This was a long process but I feel it definitely conveys what students feel upon leaving my classroom.  Another activity that was a valuable tool learned during the week was seeing my results from the Myer-Briggs assessment.  I took this assessment a few weeks before attending NCCAT and then received results during one of the professional development sessions. The Myers-Briggs assessment pinpointed that I am a huge extrovert and base decisions on their personal values.  I can also easily identify and empathize with others. Nothing surprised me with my results but I loved how the presenter helped up relate our assessments to our teaching styles.  It was a true eye opener on things I need to look at when teaching a variety of students in the classroom setting.  I think it would be interesting to give my 5th graders a similar assessment at the beginning of the year to see where they fit as learners in my classroom.

Overall, my week at NCCAT with other Kenan Fellows was amazing.  I loved getting to network, make friends, and learn new ideas to bring back to my classroom.  It was also night to see that others were also feeling overwhelmed but that to will pass.  I look forward to more meetings with the Fellows and sharing all our wonderful internship opportunities.