This year, I applied and was awarded a Rowland Fellowship, a Rowland Fellowship provides Vermont teachers the time and funds to research an area of need in their school. It’s been a while since I have been in high school, 20 years to be exact. I graduated from Clearview High School in 2001, high school has changed since then. I wanted to understand what it’s like to be a Twin Valley student, both in middle and high school so I split my time between the high school and middle school and followed a student schedule for 2–3 days.

Fridays reminded me of my high school life with the length of classes and the number of classes. I didn’t mind the length but it all seemed rushed compared to the 85-minute blocks. In the longer blocks, there was more time to dive into work but I needed a break and to move around with a walk. If I didn’t get a break I started to feel antsy and tired. At first, it felt like a day no different from being a teacher, but as the days went on, I began to get tired of being talked to. I craved to move around and talk to other people. The best way to describe it to other teachers would be an all-day training in the auditorium seats with only a couple of breaks.

During the week, I learned many new things in all the classes, many new things, and some were reviewed. In Spanish, I learned about the origin of cowboy culture originated in Spain and brushed up on my Spanish. In English, I read all of Mice and Men (which I have never read). I also felt lost and wanted to disengage when I didn’t understand Math, a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. In Science, I did experiments and in American Studies and social studies, I learned about the native Americans and pilgrims. I always have had math issues and all of those emotions were dredged up during Geometry. Everything began to sound like a foreign language and I felt myself shutting down. I know that many students have this feeling and don’t feel comfortable asking for help. Although it was emotional, it was a good reminder of what our students face every day, especially after Covid.

All of the teachers were very helpful and open to my involvement in their classes. I am so grateful for the time to have this experience. I recommend any teacher interested in this to even take a day to be a student, to walk in their shoes.

In October we attended The Rowland Foundation Conference at UVM with the keynote speaker being Carla Shalaby who wrote the book Troublemakers. The conference includes two workshops and then team time to discuss our learning together as a team.