I am sure that my title caught your eye.

Yes, I teach 6th grade. Yes, I understand 6th graders are very smart, capable, and intelligent. Yes, I believe in them all.

No, I was not expecting my team’s students to be able to make it through county blocks to find porn, rap music, lyrics, etc. on our computers.

My school has a 1-to-1 laptop ratio and we also have iPad carts. We are very fortunate and I am so thankful for every piece of it.

What I have found out though is technology is a double-edged sword. If the students get the slightest bit bored, they will find porn. Or rap music. Or lyrics. Or really disgusting pictures of the Black Death that they will paste on your white board. Or a picture of your favorite animal, an elephant, getting speared. 

Students must be engaged. ALWAYS. People outside the education realm think that if you just hand students technology then they will be engaged. This truly is not the case.

Technology must be incorporated in a meaningful, intellectual, and engaging way that will truly allow the students to excel. ENGAGEMENT with technology is the key. I hope I can continue learning more ways to make technology even more engaging.

NCCAT was truly an amazing and renewing experience. I heard some teachers talk about it, but did not know much about it until May of this year. I went in expecting it to be a great time, but did not think that it would truly empower me even more than I thought.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the white water rafting and the porch PD. I loved all of the renewing sessions about technology use. I truly enjoyed being in the mountains again since I just graduated from Appalachian State a year ago.

The thing that I enjoyed and valued the most was the small-talk I got to have with people that were like-minded in improving education in North Carolina and the United States. It was so refreshing to see teachers that were doing things above and beyond to bring even more into their classrooms. Teachers that would never accept the bare minimum. Teachers that empower students and other educators. I found a group. A community. A family. 

I hope all of my family enjoys their 4th of July and externships until we meet again in July!

I have a two-year fellowship with Kenan Fellows. Working with labs at NC State and UNC, my group of 9 will be conducting various experiments, creating cultures, testing many different variable and participate in microbiome sequencing involving bacteria and salmonella. Our lab experience will inform our lesson plans to create national 4-H curriculum.

I do not yet have a picture of my mentor, Matt Koci, and myself yet, but there will definitely be more to come over the summer. I love the entire salmonella group of fellows. We have quickly become a close-knit group. I cannot wait for all the professional development to continue–both in and out of the labs. 🙂

The first day of my externship was EXTREMELY overwhelming. It was about 9 hours of vocabulary and procedures that were way over my head. I came home feeling defeated and I honestly, for a lack of a better term, felt very stupid.

After talking with the other people in my lab, we all realized that none of us knew exactly what was going on. The truth is we were not supposed to know exactly what was going on. None of us got our degree in microbiology, but that is not what we were there in this lab for on that day.

I started to think about my students. Did they feel the way I felt when I was not understanding every vocabulary word and every procedure? Most likely.

I realized that I was going to have to lose in order to gain. I am not the person that wants to admit that I do not understand something fully or that I need some help. I need to lose the walls I have built up in order to gain valuable wisdom for my students and myself to continue being a lifelong learner.

The next couple days went much easier once I knew that it was alright to ask questions, to ask for something to be explained again, to clarify, etc.

I really hope to lose the walls of fear I have built up over the years in order to gain renewal, new strength for my classroom, and a heightened sense of community in the Triangle area.