There are so many that I’m not sure where to start!
One of my biggest takeaways from our Summer Institute was the camaraderie that I took from my fellow Kenan Scholars and from the alumni that participated. The profession of educating is often looked down on; we receive “low pay” according to most people (although I have an entire rant I could go on in regards to this…) and often considered little more than babysitters. This has been evident now more than ever as parents push to fully reopen schools in the midst of a pandemic simply to thrust their children back into our arms. This stance becomes a self fulfilling prophecy: low pay and a lack of prestige don’t exactly pull the top of graduating classes into the profession.
Because of these factors, it is not too often that I feel surrounded by colleagues. Surrounded by equals. Yes, I am regularly surrounded by coworkers, but they don’t get up at 5 am every day and work 60 hour weeks. They don’t put the blood sweat and tears into this profession the way that the few of us who are truly driven do. Seeing the group of Kenan Fellows gave me hope that there is in fact a group of educators out there like me. Who are willing to put everything into the profession. That has been a motivating factor through these difficult times of remote learning. It is likely the greatest item that I took from the Summer Institute.
Quite a few other items have greatly helped me with remote learning also, and I want to outline them here:
- Access to software through Dr. Li at NCSU has allowed me to model systems for students that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to
- Several web tools from KF alumni, including Goose Chase, Symbaloo, and Edpuzzle have all been helpful additions (though I’m still working on mastering them!)
- iNaturalist has been life changing for my retired Landscape Architect mother who can now identify every plant that she sees almost instantly!
In the end, I’ve grown and continue to grow. I greatly look forward to what else this program has to offer as we continue to work though the school year.