Will the implementation of the Common Core allow for more use of technology or will it be just too much for teachers to add more to their already full teaching plate? To be honest, I think it is just too early to ask this question. The rolling out of the Common Core curriculum last year was, to say the least, a bit of a disaster. Districts were not ready, teachers were not fully trained, materials were not available (and still aren’t), and most importantly, students (particularly middle school students) were thrown into a curriculum they had not been prepared for. Having survived my first year teaching the Common Core curriculum, I now have only a basic understanding of what the curriculum is asking for and a beginning knowledge of how to implement it. At the heart of the curriculum we are asking students to think differently about what they are learning and to take a more 21^st Century approach to their learning. The collaborative nature of the curriculum, the push towards group work and higher order thinking skills, and the move to authentic assessments leads me to believe the implementation of the Common Core will lead to the use of more technology, but the first year real world application of the curriculum has left me feeling more overwhelmed than inspired. I have been told that it can take up to 5 years for a teacher to fully understand a new curriculum. Now that I am in my second year of teaching the Common Core I find that I am still searching for what the curriculum is expecting of me, what my students should know and be able to do, and most frustrating, what materials can I use to help implement this complex and challenging curriculum. I would like to think that the implementation of the Common Core will lead to the use of more technology but I’m afraid the jury is going to be out on this one for just a bit longer.

Since the focus of my Kenan externship is on assessments, connecting my externship to the classroom is an everyday experience. Whether I am discussing topics with students, conducting informal classroom inquiries, developing formative assessments, or collaborating with colleagues to develop common summative assessments I am constantly considering what I have learned through my days at DPI and how I can be sure I am using that knowledge to enhance my students learning and their understanding of material. Through my fellowship I have learned what makes a good test question, how to evaluate and create good questions, and most importantly, how to break down the essential standards based on Revised Blooms Taxonomy. The ability to breakdown the standards into separate parts allows me to really consider what my students need to know and what they should be able to do as they work their way through the curriculum. The training I received has already helped me become a better teacher and hopefully will help my students have a better understanding of science and the application of the content they are learning. While I would like to think all I need to do is teach the curriculum and the kids will be ready for whatever comes their way, the reality is this generation of kids need to understand how to take what they know and put that knowledge to use to answers questions, whether it is a classroom test, district and state assessments, or the all mighty national tests, they must be good test takers to show what they know and be as successful as they choose to be.

I am fortunate to work in a school that has adequate resources to purchase technology and make it available to the staff and students. My classroom is fully equipped with computers, an ELMO document camera, a projector, and a Smartboard. I have my own laptop, access to a full computer labs during the school day, numerous laptop carts and, more recently, full IPAD carts for use in the classroom. In addition, our school has been chosen as a one to one tablet school and we are in the process of purchasing tablets for every student in our school to take home. Wow, with all this technology available you would think my classroom would be the most high tech classroom in the world! In reality my science classroom looks a lot like it did 10 years ago, so what is going on here? As I look at all of the computer technology that is available to me, all the programs, the apps, the games, and the simulations I always go back to the basic idea of what am I trying to accomplish in my middle school science classroom. One, I am trying to get kids excited about science. Middle school kids want to be out of their seat and talking with their friends, they want to be engaged with others around them and they want to be involved in conversations, not stuck staring at a computer screen. Two, I want my kids to have the skills they need to perform basic lab activities. They need to be using (and yes, breaking) lab equipment in order to learn how to measure volume and mass, how to calculate density and how to test for pH.  And three, I want my students to experience nature in real time. They need to be growing living duckweed in the lab and adding real chemicals to observe the effects, and they need to be outside in the stream to see the movement of the water and identify the organisms living there. As I look at the challenges of leveraging traditional technology in the middle school science classroom, I guess it always comes back to the basic question of does the technology enhance my student’s appreciation and love for science, and for me answer is usually probably not. I share the following photo, not as a jab at technology but as a thought provoking item. Technology is but one tool in our tool box, use it wisely!

The highlight of my NCCAT experience was meeting all of the fabulous teachers that make up this year’s Kenan class. A former Kenan Fellow I teach with told me the best part of her fellowship was spending time with all of the other fellows and gaining energy and experience from them. From the beginning I was excited to meet new people and spend time getting to know teachers from all over the state, I was not disappointed. During my week at NCCAT I sat with a different group of people every chance I got and made it a point to talk to as many fellows as I could, hearing about their fellowships, talking about their teaching, and gaining knowledge of their districts and their teaching experiences. The depth of knowledge, the enthusiasm for teaching, and the commitment to their students were the continual themes from everyone I met. I have made many new connections to teachers throughout the state, I am energized by their passion and dedication, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again in July!