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| Maine is a friendly, welcoming state...you should make a point to come up here! |
I’d like to take the blog space today to talk about one
element at the heart of this fellowship that doesn’t always get the press it
rightly deserves in my posts. Certainly, the lives, times, and events that
surround the founding fathers are essential to my inquiry. Also important is
the geographical setting, both historical and contemporary, that defines the
environment of our country, The United States of America. These two elements
are the theoretical underpinnings of my fellowship and the experiences I’ve had
thus far will richly support my future endeavors with these topics.
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| Crossed 2000 miles for this fellowship so far. I have seen SO MUCH! |
However,
I want to talk about my favorite topic of all topics: People. I have always
been a “people person” and I have a wonderful teaching career based on serving
people. My fellowship gives me the opportunity to get to know more people and
learn how to develop new methods to serving my students in the classroom. I’d
like to share some initial insights about the people from this fellowship.
I
am grateful to share this fellowship with my family. While my research and
studies are on-going, I am fortunate to share the experience with my wife and
children. Through this fellowship, our relationship has grown stronger and we
have learned about our country together. In essence we are helping the next
generation grow to appreciate our country’s history and culture. Furthermore, I
am able to see the impact of the fellowship topics through their eyes, thus
helping me understand different viewpoints and interpretations to the material
I study each day. By learning how others view the topics I'm covering on the fellowship I am acquiring new insights about methods I can use to deliver content while better understanding how individuals identify with the new material.
I am thankful for the friends and
family we visited. Family and friends enrich my life, encourage me to seek new
directions and interests and are an excellent sounding board for the new ideas
that emerge from my fellowship travels. By strengthening our connections we
facilitated the exchange of ideas that help me grow as an individual. For
example, my time on Deb and Brian’s kayak led to the development of how I
believe my book will take shape from this experience. Friends and family enhance the overall fellowship process by rounding out the day-to-day experiences.
I truly appreciate all of the
individuals I meet each day. Some individuals are wonderful to observe because
their take on life is quite different from my take on life. I enjoy fresh,
unique perspectives, and I learn from other people all the time. Other individuals
played a key role in my fellowship experience thus far, these individuals
appear in other blog posts, but I’ll run through theme here: VW Guy from
Springfield, MA (I’ll track him down), Rico from Springfield, Forest and Zoe
from Ellsworth, and Charles from today (their stories will follow in a future
post). It’s amazing how a collection of individuals become another piece to the
fellowship puzzle, each one adding some form of clarity I never knew I needed.
In some cases, these individual affirm thoughts I already have, in other cases,
I believe I discovered whole new areas for personal and professional growth.
It probably stands to reason that
the social studies guy can make a fine sport out of traveling, visiting, and
learning from other people. However, that observation is far too easy a point
to make…The key question for me is far more complex: What is purpose of this
information and how can I BEST utilize what I am learning for the maximum benefit
for me as a teacher and for me as an individual? I have my early thoughts, but
suffice to say I have some glimpses of how I THINK I’m going to put the pieces
together when I return to Chicago.
It is all very exciting.
My thanks to everyone for all they contribute to the fellowship, both knowingly and unknowingly, as they provide the substance for this experience. I am grateful for all the ways they contribute to my life and how I understand our world.
My thanks to everyone for all they contribute to the fellowship, both knowingly and unknowingly, as they provide the substance for this experience. I am grateful for all the ways they contribute to my life and how I understand our world.
Thanks for joining me…~Mr. K.
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| Meet Charles and Marlene...people I chatted with for about 20 minutes during a rest stop... |
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