As a math coach it’s natural for me to always, I mean “ALWAYS,” find a math connection to anything. So to address the question – what is one way you can connect your summer externship experience to your classroom curriculum – I immediately think of angles.

So, an acute angle is less than 90 degrees and creates the shape of the point of an arrow. So for my first connection will make use of an acute angle pointing to the “bulls eye” target.

During my externship at the NCCEE (North Carolina Council on Economic Education) I found a publication entitled, “Teaching Economics using Children’s Literature.”  You can imagine my excitement!  My financial literacy project asks teachers to set up a mini economy to teach economics but many teachers in elementary school don’t have resources to teach basic economics. Teaching Economics using Children’s Literature is an  “angle” that “hits the target – Bulls Eye!” How about teaching students basic economics with terminology like unit production, specialization, assembly line, division of labor, interdependence, and productivity using a children’s picture book! How about using “The Goat in the Rug.” The lesson in the book provides teachers with handouts and key questions to ask students so they learn the difference between a good and a service…”acute angle to the target” again!  How about asking students if the main character Glenmae specialized or used unit production. Fascinating!

Okay now to the 90 degree right angle! Notice how the angle produces a direct connection “up” and also produces a square with four corners.  When I teach a math lesson, at the end of the lesson for closure, I ask the students to write statements in their math journals with the symbols triangle, circle, and a square.  The square symbolizes “I’m secure…I’m ‘square’ with understanding this concept.” So my 90 degree…higher order thinking straight to the top…square connection is what I’ve learned about The Stock Market Game.  The Stock Market Game is an online game that teachers can use to set up teams of students in their classroom about investing in the stock market.  Each team of students has $100,000 to invest. It’s designed to have students read about companies that they are interested in purchasing stock AND they buy and sell their stock for a 9 week period of time…..economics and MATH!!! I love it….higher order thinking…reading…writing…calculating…collaboration…and 10 other things I know will happen for the students!!! I’ve registered three of my fifth grade teachers to have this for their students “FREE” of charge!!! My externship with the North Carolina Council on Economic Education brought me this too!

Now for my 180 degree angle…you know the straight line….

The “segment” provides the foundation leading both left and right.  I love this symbolism for my project and the curriculum that I’m writingbecause I’m excited about where the students

are going to take the foundational skills that they learn about economics and apply it to their learning. Impacting student learning with well thought out curriculum is certainly of great importance but my passion is teaching life skills and providing students an authentic way to “invest” in their own education. What I’m gaining from my fellowship is meeting the needs of my personal passion AND the economic standards for grades K-5 are well on their way to become part of Making Global Cents! 

Would any of my KF colleagues be interested in implementing my curriculum in their classrooms this year?  Maybe my soon to be PHD friend would like to join me. 🙂

Based on your experiences, what are the greatest challenges for leveraging technology to empower learning in your classroom and school?

I love to look up the meaning of words.  Leverage is one of those words that has such a powerful definition I thought it would be fun to include its meaning in my answer to the question regarding the challenges using technology in the classroom and school environment.

A lever is one of our simple machines. The mere presence of a lever, which is a rigid bar that pivots at one point to move a second point by a simple force applied.  Here is a tool that uses two levers to make the process of using pliers much easier.

 Now what would we do without pliers? 

Another meaning of the word leverage is the power or ability to influence people, events, decisions, etc. because of the “advantage” “strength” “clout” or “pull” in a negotiation or discussion.

Using technology in the classroom certainly influences the outcome of lessons when used effectively.  So, the question is not whether technology empowers learning but whether schools and students have equal access and whether the schools in Wake County or in the state of North Carolina have the bandwidth great enough to allow all users to successfully use the internet. 

When using the word leverage or leveraging as a verb, m favorite meaning is stated as such: to use (a quality or advantage) to obtain a desired effect or result. 

Whenever teachers use technology in a lesson the desired result is to enhance the lesson in a way that allows students interaction with the topic in order to engage student learning.  So, the challenge is tools of technology and bandwidth access.

The school that I am at has at least two iPads in every classroom and at least 4 working desktop pc’s.  The ratio of student to pc/iPad is one for every 6 students.  Now you know, in an elementary school setting sharing is often difficult and sharing also doesn’t provide for individual learning at an individual pace.  My dream classroom would have a one to one initiative.  I know they exist in our beautiful state and I hope to provide enough “reasons” to require a one to one ratio beginning in a 5^th grade classroom at FVES.

The challenges leveraging technology in the classroom exist in the equipment not in the resources.  Once a classroom has functioning tools of technology with enough to give each student their own, the advancement of using technology can be realized. 

I’d love to hear from a colleague that does have a one to one ratio what the challenges are in leveraging. What challenges exist when you do have the tool in the hands of students?

When students are asked about their favorite thing at school, the classic reply is recess and lunch. I completely understanding their thinking….getting out to play with your fellow classmates and talking together about anything in the world while you eat took top ranking for me too!

I loved the speakers that were selected for us.  I’d been looking forward to meeting and hearing from Vance Kite and I wasn’t disappointed.  And learning about the experience of “flipping” in the classroom fueled my fire to begin the work of creating lessons with a group of teachers next year with our Wake Ed Partnership Teacher Leadership Grant money. But spending time touring the beautiful forest and river and eating and drinking sweet tea to my hearts delight are my number 2 and number 3 on my most memorable list.

Because of the rich and thoughtful conversations at dinner time, Julie agreed to take Kathy and I along for the ride to Walmart to pick out a couple of mementos for her children.  The trip turned into an hour of laughing, laughing, and just having fun discovering our uniqueness’s and the many similarities that we all had. The chance meeting of 3 teachers from different parts of the state, all teaching different subjects, lead to friendships that I know will last because they left me feeling like I want to invest more in our new relationship.  I’m really looking forward to seeing them in July.

Lastly, it wasn’t recess and it wasn’t lunch that took the top billing of my trip.  It was my ride home with Erin Lawrence.  What an amazing young educator!  We are both in Wake County so I will make it my business to stay in touch with her, pray with her and for her future, and be invested in her success.  I’m in awe of her attitude, talent, and outlook about education and want to be a part of her future success story because I know it will be an amazing one!  Thank you for the ride home Erin but mostly, thank you for being the extraordinary young educator that you are and beautiful young woman that I know will inspire other girls to become scientists!

What do you hope to gain from this Kenan Fellows Program experience?

What I had hoped to gain from being in the Kenan Fellows program has already been surpassed. I knew being a Kenan Fellow would open up doors of opportunity to spread the message of global awareness and financial literacy to elementary students and teachers. But what I didn’t expect is what happened in a one week period of time with NCCEE and one meeting with my mentors at Duke.

NCCEE has invited me to the national conference of CEE in Baltimore as well as is going to arrange to have me present at Marbles Museum in December.  I also met the most amazing elementary teacher who has published a book with specifics that all my teachers will love….How to teach economics using children’s literature!!  I’ve already ordered 22 books from Amazon to share with teachers when I present and partner with teachers at my school.

My mentors at Duke have agreed to open up the world of Duke to me when I arrive on July 17th as well as agreed to speak with me wherever I present.  Lukas and Michael are amazing researchers with a powerful portfolio of work and yet present themselves in a very down to earth, have fun working on whatever you want, attitude.

Now, I’m at NCCAT and have been blessed with so many cool tools to integrate technology into lessons AND have met the most incredible individuals in my co-hort group. I’m blown away by all the talent in the room and feel truly blessed to have sat one to one with them in discussions about education and have made incredible connections with educators who are far ahead of me in flipping classroom lessons and are happy and more than willing to share their expertise.

So, what did I expect I would gain….it turns out…I got more than I’ve expected already.  Now I’m expecting the wonderfully unexpected as I enter into day 3 at NCCAT and continue my externship next week.

How do you rate experiences…with ah ha moments…connections with incredible people….or the amazing possibilities you anticipate as you continue your journey?

I’m within two short weeks of officially beginning my fellowship!  I can’t wait!  My passion for teaching students in elementary school about financial literacy and global awareness will get my full attention this summer as a Kenan Fellow!

Lukas Brun has agreed to be one of my mentors.  I am meeting with him this Friday.  Look at his amazing bio!

LUKAS BRUN

Lukas Brun’s research at CGGC uses global value chain analysis to understand corporate and regional competitiveness. Recent projects led by Lukas analyzed the global value chains of shipbuilding, underwater marine vehicles (ROV/AUV), and underwater sensors. He has published in peer-reviewed academic journals and industry trade journals. Articles by Lukas appear in the Economic Development Quarterly, the Maritime Reporter and Engineering News, and the Marine Technology Reporter, among others. Prior to joining CGGC, he was a senior research associate at the UNC Center for Competitive Economies working on state and local area economic development projects, and as an economist for a Los Angeles-based economic consulting firm. Lukas holds master’s degrees with concentrations in economic development and international political economy from UNC-Chapel Hill, and bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from Texas Christian University. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Erin, and daughter, Audrey.

Here  is the Center’s website link:

http://www.cggc.duke.edu/index.php

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