The planning, writing, editing, finalizing and delivering the lesson that I wrote about Health Literacy underwent a bitter-sweet process. I am grateful that the curriculum was successfully implemented with my 8th grade science classes. I am also grateful that this Health Literacy Curriculum was also part of the Hoke County Schools”first” Saturday STEM Academy for teachers and students. Although our Kenan Fellowship is about to end, I will still continue to do things the Kenan way. This summer, I am looking forward to implement and share my entire KFP Health Literacy Curriculum to my school district. This curriculum will be part of the two-week Summer STEM Academy Program for students in Hoke County Schools.
All posts by Allison Redden
My BFF Lenovo!
Lenovo is my BFF!
My Lenovo is the best device I ever had. I use it everyday for everything with teaching and learning. It is so easy for me to upload/download and check my work and my student’s assignments through Google Classroom. I also used it to document my student’s group task performance especially during the implementation of my KFP curriculum. I like the idea that it is a tablet and also a PC. It is so handy and I can carry it anywhere with me. Thank you Lenovo!
![IMG_0256[1]](http://kenanfellows.org/2015-amormando/wp-content/uploads/sites/81/2015/03/IMG_02561.jpg)
Disease Detectives
My students were getting ready to analyze their patient’s disease using a simulated CSF Test or Cerebrospinal Fluid Test.
My students were carefully collecting and analyzing their data. They were able to see the significant difference between viral and bacterial Meningitis.
After a series of antibody-coated beads test, my students were able to diagnose that their patient is infected with Meningococcal Meningitis caused by Neisseria Meningitidis.
Mentor Partnership
My partnership with Karen Mantzouris through Southern Regional Area Health Education Center or SRAHEC provided a great opportunity for me to experience the real-world applications of health sciences. I saw how the doctors, nurses, pharmacy doctors and medical technologists work together to help save lives.
This unique experience gave me an idea to develop a curriculum that provides in-depth learning about microbiology and health sciences. It also showed me how to motivate students to understand the importance of real-world applications beyond learning an 8th grade science curriculum – structures and functions of organisms.
After implementing the curriculum I wrote about health literacy, I realized that my students were able to see the importance of learning health sciences. My students were able to experience and appreciate real-world applications of health sciences and health literacy.
Kenan PDs = Awesome!
My Kenan journey has been great! This journey gave me enough confidence about my profession. The PD institute at NCCAT was a huge step towards being distinguished in teaching. I love the idea of teaching us how to integrate STEM and technology in teaching. This helped me engage my students in becoming 21st century digital learners. The second PD institute was very helpful with planning, writing and finalizing and implementing my curriculum. It was a great way to know more about the different generation/group that works together in one school. I also learned about data analysis and understanding about culture and code switching. Finally, the third PD was a great way to know the endless possibilities that an educator can influence or change the policies or laws that affects the educational system in the state. It was a great idea to learn how we can make a positive difference with the education policies in NC. As far as Kenan PD application is concerned, our district is currently implementing our “first” STEM Academy. I was part of the planning in establishing the academy. This academy reflects on the knowledge I learned from my Kenan Journey.
Social Media in the Classroom
I used Edmodo as my class’ “social learning platform”. My students and their parents prefer to use this type of “social learning platform” because they find it safer for their children to collaborate among their peers or classmates like Facebook for my class. Also, I used Edmodo to post our class’ assignments, calendar of activities, quizzes and surveys. I also encourage my students to collaborate online using Edmodo.
I am very cautious with the use of social media in teaching and learning because some of my students are not allowed by their parents to create any social media account. Some parents felt that their child is not ready or maybe not responsible in posting pictures, personal images or messages online.
Personally, I think that this generation of learners in our classroom is comfortable with the use of social media in their daily life. As educators, I think that it is our responsibility to teach this generation on how to carefully and responsibly use social media daily.
Lessons Learned
This is a brand new year and I started this school year integrating effective teaching strategies that I learned from the Kenan Fellows Program PD.
My first week back to school was full but I had the chance to conduct a professional development for my colleagues about integrating technology in teaching. I did a school-wide PD called “More Than a Smartboard”. I shared with my colleagues what I learned about integrating technology in teaching and also ways to improve student learning.
I also planned to utilize what I learned about Discovery Learning Techbook during the KFP PD at NCCAT. This year, my class will pilot using Discovery Learning Techbook. My class will use the Techbook all the time during and after school mostly in completing their assignments, classworks and projects.
I also applied what I learned from the Science House about safety in doing laboratory experiments. This year, as the school’s chemical hygiene officer, all our staff along with my students will have better awareness about Chemical Hygiene Safety.
Getting Ready for a Brand New School Year!
My Kenan Journey this summer was simply unforgettable.
The professional advancement at NCCAT taught me how to relax and reflect while learning new trends in teaching and learning. I am ready for “augmented reality” science projects this coming school year. I am also ready to share everything I learned from NCCAT to my colleagues especially to the new and beginning teachers. I thought that the augmented reality session challenged me to flip my science class into a virtual reality class.
The professional advancement in Raleigh gave me more insights about generation crossroads that are working together in the school system. I thought that the “Boomers”, “X” and “Millennial” are the best “mix and match” of educators for the “Gen Z”. Likewise, aside from the generation gap, I also learned that culture definitely matters.
Most of all, my externship at the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center or SR-AHEC was a great avenue for me to learn real-world health science. I learned that health literacy is important in medical science. I also learned that limited health literacy is associated with poor health outcomes. With my real-world STEM and real-world health science experiences at SR-AHEC, I am ready to bring real-world STEM curriculum in my class.
My Week With The Medical Lab Tech
This is another amazing externship week in SR-AHEC. I had the chance to learn about real-world Medical lab with Judy, Kelly and Cassandra. These ladies taught me about the importance of accuracy and precision inside the medical lab.
Aside from the amazing Medical lab ladies, I also had the chance to get to know about Max “the mean machine”. Max is an AU480 chemical analyzer in the lab. I did ask why the machine’s name is Max. They said that all laboratory chemical analyzers were named after men because the AU480 are so “needy” like men.
What an amazing week that was!
What the heck is SR-AHEC?
My journey with Kenan Fellows Program is full of “a-ha” moments. I started my journey as a “young” Kenan learning new technology applications, teaching strategies, new tricks and most of all learning new acronyms!
Here are the new acronyms that I learned during my externship at SR-AHEC:
SR-AHEC – Southern Regional Area Health Education Center; CME – Continuing Medical Education; AHA – American Health Association; EBP Center- Evidence-Based Practices; NICE – Nurses Interested in Continuing Education Program; ORPCE – Office of Regional Primary Care Education; PCMH – Patient Centered Medical Home; CMDT– Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment; RAP – resistance against pressure; DD – didactic lecture; PCMH – Patient Center Medical Home; EMR – Electronic Medical Record; P4P – Pay for Performance; ACGME – Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; PQRS – Physician’s Quality Reporting System; TLH – Teach, Learn and Heal.
I thought I would never learn about SR-AHEC. I thought it was complicated to put everything about SR-AHEC in developing my curriculum. However, I am very fortunate that my mentor has been super supportive during my externship and also very hands-on in helping me to create a curriculum that is based on real-world STEM focusing on health literacy.