When I was selected as a Kenan Fellow, I knew that it was an incredible blessing and opportunity, but I was not quite sure what it all entailed.

Little did I know that I was about to go on the ride of my life. The Kenan Fellowship was amazing, but the professional development and the connections I made were, by far, the absolute best part of the entire experience.

It is incredible to be able to collaborate with like-minded teachers that advocating for engaging and developmentally responsive curriculum for all students. Talking with individuals that actually want to improve the conditions and curriculum in North Carolina was relieving. There are people like me that want to push for the best for our students!

I have never had such valuable professional developments with such important connections. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to hear Congressman David Price speak and all of the other guests that we heard from. My entire staff is so jealous of my experience and now want to apply to become Kenan Fellows. I am so glad that Kenan has allowed me to become a teacher leader and I cannot wait to encourage more people to become teacher leaders!

Edmodo is a social learning platform that encourages collaboration and communication between teachers and students and teachers with other teachers.

I teach at a school with a 1-to-1 laptop ratio. Now I do not encourage Facebook in the classroom, but I highly encourage using Edmodo, which has the interface appearance of Edmodo.

It helps students organize their documents, assigns their homework, allows them to message each other with any questions, talk to their teachers, and collaborate with various groups of people. It is an incredible social learning platform that has transformed the way my class operates. Everything is available online for both parents and students. All of my lessons and documents are readily available. The students love the freedom, but it also keeps them focused.

I do not encourage all social media, but Edmodo is definitely one that I would. I am even writing my grad school thesis on using Edmodo in the classroom!

I teach 6th grade social studies at a STEAM, project-based learning school in Raleigh. My students have a 1-to-1 laptop ratio. This summer Kenan experience impacted me in more ways than I realized.

My team does a bunch of collaborative projects that use the Buck Insititute and learning styles as our trademark to build these projects. Our current one was about the Aztecs, Incas and Mayas. The students were put in collaborative groups. They had to research three types of engineers, research and use the engineering design process to make a cultural artifact, and then use the engineering design process to build an insulated home for the climate where one of the cultural groups lived. The students have never done a project this big before this period of time in their educational careers. It is hard and frustrating, but very rewarding. That’s what Kenan was to me.

Being put in microbiology and immunology labs was VERY out of my league. It was like learning a new language every single day. Half the time, I felt like I had no idea what was going on. The other half of the time, I only partly understood what was going on. Building curriculum in teams can also be frustrating. Each member has prior experiences and backgrounds to bring to the table that all have different understandings, but WE MADE IT THROUGH.

My students made it through too. I learned how to collaborate with a greater impact and I am now teaching this to my students!

I have gained so much this summer, both for me as a professional and for me as an educator. The many opportunities I have experienced will allow me to bring so much back to my classroom.

Here is a list of things that I can bring back to my classroom:

1. Asking questions is ALWAYS suggested. I will not wait to let my students ask questions. I want them to ask whenever they have them.

2. Microbiology is ALL around us. Obviously, but making kids see it in their every day lives will come back to my classroom with me.

3. 4-H is an incredible resource and organization. I cannot wait to form a club at my school.

4. Kenan Fellows are really the top of the top. I cannot wait to share my experiences with my students and possibly get lessons to use with them from other Kenan Fellows.

5. All the technology resources that I got from NCCAT will definitely be piloted in my classroom.

Being a Kenan Fellow is going to truly impact my classroom and what I do with my students. I am going to incorporate as much hands-on learning in my social studies classroom as possible.

This summer, I have been frustrated. I have been happy. I have felt accomplished. I have felt sad. I have felt discouraged. I have felt encouraged.

It made me reflect and realize that I felt just like my students do on a daily basis in my classroom.

Most importantly, I have GROWN so much. Being in the lab made me feel like I was back at square one. I felt like I was learning a brand new language. I understood what my students may feel like when they do not understand vocabulary or procedures in my classroom. This was my biggest AHA moment. I finally understood how to truly engage my students and help them out when they feel lost. I understood what it was like to feel lost and confused, and what I needed in those moments to help me.

I have also truly learned the value of professional development OUTSIDE the traditional professional development realm. Surrounding myself with people that understand all that I am going through is an incredible experience. Being able to call/text, eat lunch with, and communicate with so many passionate and committed teachers has really influenced me to do even more in my classroom. I have many friends that are not teachers and cannot truly understand everything that I am going through. All of my Kenan friends have been amazing for helping me through everything.

It took me awhile to write this post because I feel very passionately about the integration of technology using Common Core and Essential Standards. I hear every single day about how sometimes it is hard to incorporate technology. It is. I hear all about how hard it is to keep kids motivated. It is. I hear all about how hard it is to keep students on task while they have interesting technology in their hands. It is. I hear all about how hard the preparation is to prepare lessons with meaningful, integrated technology. It is.

All of this is hard, but it is NECESSARY. One of the main reasons we have moved to the Common Core and Essential Standards is to help highlight 21st century learners that will develop critical thinking skills. We want metacognitive thinkers and problem solvers. Learners that grew up using technology every day to the best of its ability and using the engineering design process and STEM to make it even better.

The preparation and classroom management is SO MUCH harder with technology, but it is so much more meaningful. Our students are completely benefitting and if I am just impacting one person, that is enough.

I love history. I love everything about history and social studies. I love relating the world around us to both the past and future.  BUT many of my kids do not share my passion, which is why I wanted to become a middle school social studies teacher.

I am also language arts and science certified, so I incorporate literacy and science into my STEM classroom every single day. This summer externship has provided me with many different opportunities for curriculum in my classroom.

First off, I have learned so many new science vocabulary words related to immunology and salmonella that I never knew before. I have understood where my students have been when they have struggled through concepts and vocabulary in both a social studies and science context. I have a better understanding of explaining confusing concepts to them now because I understand what I needed explained when I was confused.

Secondly, I have been able to see an even better correlation between science and social studies. At my STEM school, I will be able to bring an even better cross-curricular, project-based learning environment to my own team and the whole school community.

Lastly, I teach ancient history. I have had many conversations with the people in my lab about bacteria and immunology. We have discussed how the science has changed over time, including medicine. Things are very different from the Black Plague days of Europe to now. My greatest goal is to bring back more knowledge about viruses and bacteria that have infected our earth. My students, through hands-on experiments, can learn about how our immune systems have adapted from the cavemen days to the present day.

I am striving to make my social studies classroom even more hands-on.

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. 🙂