In education there are 3 main issues with using technology effectively: time, money, and understanding.

Time with the technology is usually very limited for our students.  At our school we are allowed to take our students to the computer lab once a week.  It works to give them  a chance to be exposed to the technology and we can do short technology lessons. However, it does not lend itself to doing any sort of long term project based around technology.  Another problem was when our school first got in a cart of I-pads, we had to figure out how to share, you were lucky to be able to get to use them for a whole day.

Technology also costs the school systems a lot of money.  Many of the desk top computers that we have in our school are between 10 – 5 years old, because it is very costly to replace them.  Also many of my students do not have money to access technology at home either.  I am at a Tittle I school with over 80% of the population having free and reduced lunch, so technology is not always a priority at home.  I have been blessed the last year, because our school has been using our money to buy new Tech.  We have chosen to try and get technology above and beyond anything else.  In fact, our whole count is going 1 to 1 with devices for our students on the middle school level next year.  I am very excited to begin the school year knowing that our students will have access to a chromebook all day long.  However, I know that this seems like a dream to many of the counties around us.  I hope that money can be found for all school systems to be able to venture into the 1 to 1 classrooms.  Another part of technology that we do not have money for is the higher end science technology.  In my project we are using Autoclave machines to sterilize materials, PCR machines to duplicate DNA,  incubators to grow cultures, microscopes to view microbes, DNA sequencing machines, and even basic technology like pipettes.  All of these items are costly, some beyond even imaging a school could purchase.  So, we as teachers are going to have to come up with creative ways to adapt experiments or how to partner up with our local universities and research labs to help our our young middle school scientists.

Understanding how to use the technology does seem to be a barrier for both teachers and students.  When we have lots of different technology in a school its hard to teach everyone how to use the different brands and types. We have Desktop PCs, I-pads, I-pod touches, Chrombooks, Netbooks, white boards, and mimios all in my school.  For some people that are tech savvy its not a problem to understand how to use all of the different types, but some teachers and students get confused by the different interfaces.  So time building lesson plans or time teaching is taken away to learn how to use the technology.  When we spend half the class trying to get the students to remember how to log on to a new device, or get it connected to the wireless routers, we lose teaching time.  This is why, I am super excited to know that all of our students will be on the same brand and type of device next year. Time will be lost at the beginning of the year teaching the students how to use the device, but then as the weeks go by, it will be as easy for them to use as pencil and paper.

Dr. Urban, Dr. Dunn, and Me

This has been a very eventful two days! Yesterday and today we got into our labs to learn how to use all of the different tools, and we even got to use some of them! Team Dirt got to make our own Nutrient Agar Plates, collect soil around downtown Raleigh, add soil to Phosphate buffered solution (PBS), centrifuge the mixture, pipette the solution with bacteria cells on to the agar plates, and incubate the bacteria! We can’t wait to see what is growing on our Agar tomorrow!!! We have also been taught by our Mentors about how we are going to extract DNA, duplicate it, and sequence the DNA with next gen technology.

Practicing my pipetting skills in honor of the USA Soccer Team!

Our nutrient agar plates.

Me pipetting out PBS solution and soil bacteria mixture.

Me, Laura, and Arthina at work in the Genomics Lab!

We have also be able to listen to the Post Docs present their projects to the Museum and all of the Kenan Fellows.  After the post docs presented their materials we were allowed to get a behind the scenes tour of their labs. Yesterday we got to visit the Paleontology Lab, where we saw many dinosaur fossils and shark teeth.  I found it fascinating to see how carefully the fossils were cleaned and exposed. It reminded me how science is a craft of patience.  I also thought it was amazing that a new Dinosaur was discovered by Dr. Gates, and he is getting to name it! I can only dream that Team Dirt discovers new bacteria or fungus. That would be an amazing story to tell my students.

 Dr. Dan Fergus presenting his lesson on face mites.

Carefully separating plaster, rock, and fossil from dinosaur bones!

We got to test out the debris that our students will get to use in the paleontology Student Discover project. 

 Today I was also given the opportunity to be a guest on the NPR show, “The State of Things”, hosted by Frank Stasio. I accompanied Dr. Robert Dunn the lead investigator on our grant and Dr. Julie Urban the Assistant Director of the Genomics Lab. This was an amazing experience! I’ve never been on the radio before, and I was glad that I got to represent the 12 Student Discover Kenan Fellows.

Mr. Frank Stasio removing his mite from his face before the radio broadcast.

Mr. Stasio, Dr. Dunn, Dr. Urban, and Me.

Me  being projected up on the big Globe Theater  Screen inside the Museum!

What a great 2 days!

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.

Hello All! I am Amy Lawson and I am so excited to be a part of the Kenan Fellows program!  I am looking forward to a fun filled year with lots of hard work, learning, exploring, and communicating.  I am an 8th grade Science and Social Studies teacher at Burgaw Middle School, as well as the Volleyball Coach and a Science Olympiad Coach. I have an awesome and supporting husband and 2 fantastic kids!

I can’t wait to start  working with my team on “Projects in the Genomics and Microbiology Lab!” I’m excited to be able to literally get my hands dirty and work in the lab. Each year I try to bring real life science to my students through labs, research, and building and doing in Science Olympiad.  This year I will be able to show them how I was doing real life science and how they can become a part of the science community!