Week of October 11

I can hardly believe we are in the middle of October! This was another busy - but very exciting - week!
On Monday, I was originally scheduled for a professional development workshop in Onslow County; however, due to the heavy rain in the weeks prior, Monday was used as a make-up day. I really hope to be able to reschedule to attend in January! I took advantage of one of the only days this month I would have in the office and filed papers, worked on some research and visited some classrooms!

On Tuesday and Wednesday our NC EPFP class had a fall retreat at the Aqueduct Conference Center in Chapel Hill. We had a great time getting to know each other a little better and learning so much interesting information. We talked about the major concerns in education today and ways we can work to improve. Then, we had a great experiment called Earth II. We picked our ideal candidate to lead Earth II and talked about the leadership style we thought would be most successful! It was fascinating to look at each others' ideas of good leadership. Then we did our Myers-Briggs personality profiles. It was interesting to look not only our ourselves but at the profiles of other fellows. It is really helpful to know how you operate and how to interact with those who may have a different letter set! The following morning we had the opportunity to hear Dr. James Johnson talk about the greying and browning of America. I was so engaged! His research was interesting and opened many topics of conversation. Our public schools are changing and serving so many different learners with diverse backgrounds. I really learned so much from this presentation!

On Thursday I traveled to UNC Greensboro to spend the day with high school seniors who are interested in careers in education and in attending UNCG. What an exciting group! I enjoyed having lunch with a few prospective teachers and we talked about why good, quality teachers are so important. Ms. Ginger Parnell and her staff had an exciting, informative day planned for these high school seniors! I had a blast!

Kenansville was my destination on Friday. I attended the round table meeting in the Southeast Region and talked about the Teacher of the Year Program. What a great week!