When I looked at this topic, I, quite frankly, smiled.  This is just the opposite of the groan that occurred when I first found out about the blog I was to keep during the fellowship.  Now, I enjoy writing some of my thoughts for the prompts.  I plan to continue with this blog but need to put it on a calendar so I do not forget when life gets busy.  I have kept my blog simple but may try some of the extras during the summer.  I found the blog was a great place to put my journal of the fellowship experience at Mertek.  It was a place to store my thoughts, observations and ideas.  Even though I am a Technology teacher, I often shy away from computer technology since it takes time and I am self taught.  Tasks like keeping a blog and posting images to pages and using apps working less daunting to me since extending myself with the Kenan Fellowship.  All I can say after this experience is:  Blog On!

Oh the growth!  When I applied to become a Kenan Fellow, I was stepping out of my box.  I often write that in letters of recommendation for my students going to college.  I did not realize how many new adventures and dynamic people I would actually encounter.  The growth is not just about the teaching, it is about you as an individual and professional.  The opportunities presented to the Kenan Fellow are too many to count, but one of the best is working with your Cohort and getting to know them.  When we had our last gathering, I was explaining to a mentor the cohort, when together, would spend about 10 minutes discussing family, friends, location and what subject is taught, and then boom–it was all about the work, technique and especially the students.  Such PASSION! Even though I have planned lessons, written curriculum and learned to reflect as a NBCT, I realize when looking at my first blog entries just how much more I have grown as a person, teacher, leader and mentor.  By the way, I was told yesterday that my mentee mentioned in the earlier post is growing too; she is expecting.

I hope to present my Kenan Lesson plan at the CTE State Conference to share it with other instructors.  I combined the lesson with a method of Engineering Journal writing I learned during a seminar on lasers.  It is pretty intense and encourages students to make observations step by step and document them.In many ways, my experience of writing the Kenan Lesson was much the same.  I made observations and tried to document the lesson step by step.  The first half of the “Assembly Required and the Design Process Too!” lesson has been very successful with 2 different age groups and my students are still working on the second half.  I spoke with the laser group about incorporating some of their information with a portion of my lesson and then submitting it to them.  I plan to work on this during the summer.  If I am able to accomplish this task it could be published nationally.  During the upcoming year, I will begin the re-certification process for National Board and I feel the Kenan Lesson Plan process has prepared me by honing my  writing and reflection skills.

I had been loaned an Ipad from school and taken a class to get up to speed. Though it was a wonderful tool, and could do so many things (many I have not discovered) I was very pleased when I received the Lenovo product to use for my Kenan Fellows work.  I am definitely a keypad type of person for the text (typing or keying for us older types)work and really appreciate the convenience of having the usb port for a mouse or flash drive.  It makes all of the difference when I can carry it along to school after looking for information at home.  I especially like being able to do research when stretched out on the bed in front of the TV.  I know this seems lazy, but I  am so busy and the compact, lightweight and easy to handle product is a joy to use.  My Kenan lesson plan involves taking videos and photos for the students to use.  It is so simple to hand them the pad portion and let them video and then drop the video on their flash drive.  Did I mention uber-easy?  You can see the results of their project photos to the left.  When making a presentation or portfolio entry, the pictures make a tremendous difference in understanding.  The camera is also a dream for any teacher to be able to take the pics and then drop them straight to Edmodo or a flash drive for students.  I really do enjoy being able to find the perfect u tube  video clip for my classes take it in the next morning and bob-ba-da bing connect it to the project or with my connector cord (purchased for my home TV) and adapter for the CTX.  Did I mention how easy it is?  Now on a personal note, I can use it to download shows and movies to my TV.  I could mention how great is is to use when I want to watch NC SPIN or How it is Made, which I do, but once in a while Amazon Prime shows can be viewed also.  We are now able to get hundreds of texts from Amazon (ck12) and I have a copy of an engineering text and a nanotechnology text on my Lenvo.  The students can use a class set of Kindles and my class for the first time in over 10 years has some form of a text book.  This Lenovo product has made my life as a teacher so much easier and I am thankful for the opportunity to have such a product to use in my classroom, my home and on the go.

PS.  The over-the shoulder bag holds my Lenovo, my password book and a small wallet for travel almost anywhere.  Thank you so much!!!! 

I implemented the first 2 activities earlier this year in the other levels of Integrated Systems Technology so I could expose a younger group to the project. It worked! I am now teaching my 3’s or seniors and they are attacking the project. They brought items to reverse engineer from home and are in the beginning stages. In the pictures, they are beginning a new format for their engineering notebook. I “found it” at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa this summer. Thank you Frank! I will not be able to do one the traveling engineering project with my students this year so we will be designing and creating a mock assembly process with parts of our lab incorporated like pneumatic cylinders, Arduinos, electric components, and lights and photonics. I shared the vision with them (PowerPoint pictures and a cardboard model) and there was excitement in the room. There was even more when I told them we would be inviting engineers, parents and members of the administration to the presentation. I always tell them, ” Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, so get ready to work!” I guess our new mantra will be Keep Calm and Design.  We will be continuing Monday and I am so looking forward to the the morning classes!

The first activities in the lesson plan I have developed are based on the process of reverse engineering. The students select a familiar product or toy and take it apart step by step documenting the process all the way. I was amazed at the excitement this project generated in the classroom with just a few tools, a rule, and the engineering notebook. (We did determine Hot Wheels Cars are a bad choice.) I have this set as a team project for putting the product back together but decided to have each students take the items apart. We had a lot of toys and some items like a calculator, a mouse and the standard writing pen. As a student of mine said years ago when his team selected an engineering problem they thought was simple, “Nothing is ever easy!” I will be using this as a beginning project for my third level students so they can continue with the other activities for the capstone project.

This summer Jerry Pedley and the employees at Mertek Solutions welcomed not just one, but two Kenan Fellows, to explore all aspects of the company specializing in manufacturing engineering and industrial equipment design. I am a Career and Technical Education teacher (technology) from a high school in another county and know my time with the employees at Mertek has enhanced my performance in the classroom. Jerry Pedley’s belief in the students of North Carolina and their studies providing them with the opportunity to be “future-ready” has prompted him to host NC State University’s Manufacturing Day in the Lee County area on more than one occasion. Jerry is continuously promoting growth for North Carolina and its students in areas of math, science and technology to provide our state with a strong business and industry based economy (advanced manufacturing).
As a Kenan Program mentor, Jerry visited my classroom in Cumberland County with videos, props and excitement to present to each of my classes his own version of support for manufacturing in North Carolina and how it relates to their studies in math, science and technology. His excitement was well received and has prompted conversations with my students weeks after his visit. Jerry invited me to attend an Advisory Board Meeting at the Central Carolina Community College’s Innovation Center as his guest. He encourages all other businesses and industries in the area to support the schools, teachers and students.
Jerry opens his business and provides technical support, space and resources to a local high school’s First Robotics team. At this time, a robot arm and lathe from my classroom/lab are at Mertek for rebuild or repair. As an educator in North Carolina, I have kept a pre-engineering lab running for several years with small repairs and patches. Jerry Pedley’s generosity providing assistance for my students with repairs to items that will enhance their experiences in our engineering academy are laudable, especially in this era of tight funding. Jerry has recently invested more of his time by joining the advisory board at the Integrated Systems Technology Academy of Engineering at Jack Britt High School.
As a teacher of a program impacted by Jerry’s generosity and support, I can let you know what a positive difference Jerry Pedley and the people of Mertek’s efforts have made in my students’ lives.

When you think of your Kenan Fellowship PD Experience, you just don’t know where to begin. I guess I can begin when I was looking for a picture of my Spirit Dog. It reminded me of the garden party planning experience for my National Boards practice question. As you are getting it done you are wondering “What in the world has this got to do with anything?” or “What have I gotten myself into?” The answer in this case is one of the most wonderful experiences in my teaching career. The PD sessions have been phenomenal! My eyeballs did not roll to the back of my head at any time. We covered topics from captured rivers (who would have thought?) to charter schools. I have flipped, folded, pinned, kahooted, chenille wired (pipe cleaners are paraphernalia I guess), seized, toted marbles, lifted a floating pipe, walked on paper towels, reverse engineered, been able to meet personalities from a favorite political show, and been feted, pampered and made to feel super special. I am rejuvenated enough to teach several more years!!!!!! In all seriousness, one of the most rewarding parts of the PD is to experience it with such dedicated, productive, creative and professional educators. Another reason the Kenan PD experience is so rewarding is to have such a caring and organized Kenan Fellows administrative staff. The relationship building, sharing of ideas and discussions that occurred during and between the PD sessions were opportunities of a lifetime. I am so grateful for this experience and look forward to implementing much of it in my classroom and of course sharing what I learned with others.

Oh my goodness!!! I have just spent 45 minutes resetting my password since the county cleared our computers and I am not sitting at the my personal one at this time. I am taking a Laser Course on Course Sites and with many of you I am working on “Seize the Data”. I have used Edmodo since the county allowed it and now everyone is so there is more to love. Facebook is still on going and now I am trying to use LinkdIn since it seems to be a more professional atmosphere. I am so social, I have to make time to talk to my friends. Really, it is great being able to keep in touch with everyone but sometimes I feel I am too clued in to some issues and not in others. I really do not like typing everything and am a verbal person. Did I mention, I Skype with my son to communicate with him at college. Now he tells me he wants to do Google Groups. Really!!! Just text or call and let me know you are OK. We can message just $$ when you want money. I saw a program on Nova this past weekend (for those of us who still watch TV) and they were talking about multitasking and how students are affected in the area of concentration and it is so short that it might only last from 5-10 minutes. Being older, I thought, if I ever have to be operated on, I hope it does not take more than 30 minutes or I will be out of luck. I joke but I see problems in the future relating to being tuned in 24/7. I also see advantages of solving problems (the DNA folding) on a mass scale and being able to do wonderful things around the world not just in a cocoon. I will continue to use social media but the passwords are getting to me. I now keep a book and have a password on my Lenovo pad that will open all of the social media and it makes it a little more painless. I am selective about what I say in the social media outlets since I am a teacher and I have seen many public persons get into trouble. I spend time with my students discussing the multitasking issue and being careful about social media and their responsibility as users. Take care and I’ll see you on this Blog, Facebook, Edmodo, the internet, Skype, etc.