As you reflect on your externship experience to date, what has been your biggest “AHA” moment? Include a 3-5 minute video of you at your externship site if allowed.

Looking back on my externship, my biggest “aha” moment was the realization of how often I use pieces of the engineering design process in my classroom. I spent the majority of my externship learning about the FRC, their engineers, and just what they all do; however, right at the end of my on-base visits, I got the opportunity to sit one-on-one with some engineers just to discuss my project and the design process.

I really value this process now, and I am working to incorporate it in all that I do in my classroom. I think I truly saw the value when I used the process to create my Kenan Lesson Plan. I finally saw how beneficial this was going to be for my students in my English classroom, and I got really excited about the engineering design process!!

As I get ready to start back to school (Monday with kids!), I am planning to start the year talking about this process and how we will incorporate it in the majority of our assignments. I think having this revelation about the process is super beneficial to me, my kids, and also my school! Being a STEM school, this is a huge push this year, and after my externship I feel like I have a jump start!