Today I had a fantastic experience doing citizen science and exploring the Natural Science Museum in Raleigh. I started off the day at beautiful Prairie Ridge. There I got to meet my mentor for the first time, learn about going green and using renewable energy, and I even got to  count, catch, and categorize dragonflies! I caught 2 Blue Dashers and 1 Mayfly. It was a ton of fun to catch them and then learn how to hold them so that they could safely be let go.  It truly made me realize how much cool stuff I need to be doing with my students outdoors! Today was a wonderful experience to kick off our Students Discover projects.

Solar panel and wind turbine at Prairie Ridge. Go Green!

My mentor Julia Stevens and Me as we hunt Dragonflies.

Me, Arthina, and Laura getting ready to go hunting for Dragonflies!

Molly showed me how to hold a dragonfly correctly. It was so cool getting to see them up close! I loved their colors and their eyes!

The first catch of the day, a Blue Dasher!

Yum! Blackberries that we got to snack on as we walked back to our classroom.

After spending time at Prairie Ridge we traveled back to the Museum. There we got to go into our labs, see the equipment we will be using, have a tour of the museum, and we even got to visit the behind the scenes collections in the basement! It was a truly fun and informational experience.

Team Dirt in the lab!

  I would have to say that the highlight of my week at NCCAT was our trip to Judaculla Rock. The rock itself is an amazing mystery as to why it was carved by the Cherokee. I intrigued getting to see the rock carvings and making hypotheses with my colleagues.  I also loved seeing where the Cherokee used soapstone to carve out their cooking bowls.  I was  impressed by their perseverance to slowly grind away the rock by hand to shape their bowls.   The forming of the bowls spoke to me as an educator. It reminded me that even if we have the most difficult children to reach, we must work to shape and mold them. We as educators must persevere  through our student’s rough exteriors and form a whole well balanced child.

The next part of our trip was definitely a teachable moment.  While the Kenan Fellows were admiring the Judaculla Rock, Mr. Parker walked up to us and started telling us about the rock. He happened to own the land the rock was on and his grandfather was the man that found the rock on their property.  He had very cool stories to share with us, and he even showed us a beautiful overlook of the valley, and showed us where an old Mica Mine and Silver Mine was up in the mountains.  Then Mr. Parker showed us some drums that were handmade  by a shaman, that depicted the Judaculla Rock and Cherokee .  The group of us enjoyed getting to learn a short Social Studies and Science Lesson from Mr. Parker.  We even played the drums and did our own dancing.  It was a truly awesome experience that 16 of us enjoyed, and I hope that I can get my students as excited about learning as we were that night.

My adventure has begun here in Cullowhee, NC! The first day of NCCATs and I have already met some awesome people, and broke a record for fastest marble transfer! Gooooo Team Student Discovery!!! As I listen and watch those around me I realize how truly blessed I am to get to be a part of this great collaboration between my fellow teachers and myself.  I am hoping to be able to bring back new game changing curriculum to my classroom and my school! I am excited by everyone’s enthusiasm, and believe that we are on the cusp of doing something great.  I hope that I can bring back this energy and excitement to my peers at Burgaw Middle School, and that it influences how our students learn about science around them.