Henrietta presenting to new CTE teachers in Cumberland County As I sit here during Labor Day Weekend (Man they named it correctly!) and reflect upon the summer and the first week of the school year 2014-15, I realize just how much information and technique I have learned and implemented. I began the summer going to Iowa for a capstone experience relating to an online Laser and light course, the next week I was at Mertek participating in the Kenan Externship revisiting much of the coursework I learned in college (So many years ago!) and then off to NCCAT and later Raleigh where I had the opportunity to attend world class teacher training. Let me say at this time much of the information gleaned during the training was wonderful and very useful.Believe it or not, when I finished my externship, I began a 10 hour online general OSHA training course. It was a bit more than 10 hours. Before school began, I had the opportunity to present to new science teachers and then new CTE teachers while collaborating with other Kenan Fellows. I also had the chance to present to experienced history teachers from my high school. In the first four days of school my students have already done chenille wires (pipe cleaners are considered drug paraphernalia in some areas), begun an interactive engineering notebook with a section relating to safety and am now having students bring in items to reverse engineer next week. This will be a part of my Kenan Project. We are working on a field trip to Sanford for Manufacturing Day. Hopefully it will happen. I guess, the lessons learned by this Kenan Fellow, Class of 2014-15, will really be reflected in the lessons taught during the school year 2014-15.

All I can say is Wow!!!! It has been a busy summer!!! I have gone from Iowa and lasers that have nothing to do with Kenan, then Mertek, then NCCAT, back to Mertek, next Raleigh, and then back to Mertek to finish and say goodbye. I am now working on an OSHA Certificate at my computer and thinking about next year. I have a schedule I did not anticipate and will have to work around it for the Kenan Fellowship. Just before the beginning of the year I will be working on flip the classroom and interactive notebooks with new science teachers and then safety in the classroom with new CTE teachers. Busy! Just busy! My summer has been wonderful! I think the learning and meeting great people has been an integral part of this summer experience. I have kept a daily journal of my exploits but can honestly say that the best part of this experience has been being appreciated and respected for what I do in the classroom.

Gosh there have been so many! I have been to several “age talks” relating to the communication with students and younger peers during my career, but I have never been to one that explained to the younger generations how to relate to me. A-ha.  When speaking to Mike, one of the project managers about solar (I won’t go into details.) there was a confirmation and an epiphany. A-ha.  When I started to take apart my project that I am planning for the students and realized the same bosses were being displayed on a car part  that is having an assembly station designed and built, there was an A-ha you should have heard in your location.  While reading the local paper, I discovered I was a science teacher. Wow! Big A-ha!  I am helping to present at a local Kenan Fellows presentation day to new teachers and am facilitating for a presenter that can’t be there. Guess what! We are meeting today and we are doing flipping the classroom! Big A-ha. Connie is a former Kenan and has helped in establishing this opportunity for us newbies.  She has my greatest thanks!  This project is allowing me to connect with another awesome teacher I may not have met otherwise. A-ha.  By the way that goes for over 50 more that I just happened to see this weekend.  I want to also include the Kenan staff  and guests too! Though I will need a week of not actively  preparing for school, I still have a brain that sees a lesson or technique in every corner.  A-ha, this must make me a Kenan Fellow.  I look forward to returning to school with a “perky” attitude, new experiences in my resume and some awesome ideas to share with fellow teachers and most importantly, my students.  By the way, living organisms are some of the most efficient machines that have some of the most effective equipment.  I think I know how to work the bees and butterflies into the technology class. A-Haaaaaaaa!

I teach a curriculum called Integrated Systems Technology which is part of the IST Academy of Engineering at Jack Britt High School.  The goal of the program is to prepare students to go into an engineering or a technological field with hands on and knowledge based skills in the areas of hydraulics, pneumatics, computer numeric control, automated materials handling (robotics), Mecatronics, AC/DC, programmable control logic, and logic control.  I have recently added Arduinos and a solar power station to the mix and still have much to learn.  I plan to incorporate basic laser technology into my program with the assistance of the Kenan Fellows program this year.  I cannot forget the soft skills that include teamwork and presentation which also play such a large part of of life and work.  I have gotten off the task of answering the question talking about the program as many reflective teachers do. My externship has allowed me to see all of these areas used in the “real” environment and will allow me to have an awesome contact in an area that meshes totally with my program.   I am so looking forward to taking what I have learned back into my classroom.  One thing, as an educator of many years, I have to say.  So often, in education  we work in a reactive manner according to what society dictates.  As a Kenan Fellow at Mertek Solutions, I have the opportunity to see what my students will need to know when as they graduate

high school and go further in their education.  They will need to be prepared for 8 years from todaynnot the last 5 years. This opportunity makes me a proactive teacher by using what I have learned and implementing it in my classroom; it has also provided me with validation that the skills I introduce in my classroom/lab are what my students need.

I learned so much at NCCAT and other professional development sessions and classes but have often found as wonderful as some of the programs are, it is hard to get support in the classroom lab.  Getting software added to the computers in a lab can be a challenge too. This year our LEA is moving from XP to 7 since XP is no longer supported. They will be changing the computers in my lab and will need to have software that controls the PLC station, the CNC Mill, the 2 robotic arms, and the MecLab station.  I  will need to be prepared for the technician as soon as I get back to school if they allow me to operate stand alone.  I hope I will be able to use them at the beginning of the term since my curriculum is dependent upon the equipment. There is  a solar trainer newly  assembled and a new MecLab with extensions waiting when I return. I have the manuals open on the dining room table to look at during the spare time all teachers have.  Challenges! Challenges!  So much of what I do  in class is manufacturing technology and not social or information technology.  (I try to keep up with it too!) My externship at Mertek is wonderful.  I plan to hitch my wagon to the PLC (Programable Logic Control) writer  Monday.  I learned so much talking to him Thursday afternoon and asked if I could sit next to him and learn. I know some about what he does but I want to learn more as it is applied in a real world problem.  I digress. Often in my classroom we have something called “Jutson’s Rule” like “Murphy’s Law ” but more localized.  You know when the technology works perfectly 20 times until you need to demonstrate it to a group or a teacher (Mrs. Jutson).  It happens frequently  so we just laugh and try to have a plan B.  I hope to get things situated as soon as possible when we get to Fall Semester.  I am grateful everything is on Edmodo so I can revisit the technology we learned in at NCCAT.

Mertek is a wonderful place to be! This company designs and fabricates equipment to manufacture specific parts using advanced manufacturing techniques.  They do everything from inception to the turn key finished product.

It was awesome on so many levels!!!! If I had to answer with just one word I would say “people.”  Then the levels come into play.  The administration of the Kenan Program, the administration of NCCAT, the returning Kenan Fellows, the 2014-15 Class of Kenan Fellows and most especially the group that are working in our region.  All were wonderful to be around and are dynamic in their own area of expertise. Every few years, I try to recharge my batteries by meeting new people or doing new things. I am recharged for the next several years by connecting with many of the members.   This is one of the first times I know I will see such a diverse group again and we will be able to discuss where we have gone, the commonalities and differences.  It is so exciting and I can’t to see what happens in July (Raleigh.) Now for the secondary items. The mountains were lovely and a change from the hot Sandhills. The air changed after we exited the Piedmont. The technology piece let us know where we could go with our students without some of the LEA constraints. I hope to use the ice breakers in a larger fashion but definitely early in the year.   Of course it was nice to be pampered! Saturday was spent doing clothes and Sunday was for getting ready to begin the new week at Mertek.  Now, I will go with gusto and have a clearer idea of what needs to happen.  Once again to everyone involved, “Thanks for a great week of learning and fun!”

I was so busy learning yesterday that the time just slipped by and I missed the 24th of June.  I am still wrapping my head around the opportunities I hear about from the past Kenan Fellows and am adsorbing all of the information gleaned in the past 2 days.  I had hoped to have the opportunity to network with many teachers from across the state.  It has already been wonderful working with some of the most talented educators from North Carolina.  I will continue to learn and prepared lessons that relate to my externship while I look for the big “project” . This past year I had the opportunity to be a mentor for beginning teacher and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  As a Kenan Fellow I hope to have the opportunity to make the transition to teaching much less stressful land much more informational for new or beginning teachers.  As a lateral entry teacher, I realize the need for information, assistance and education for new teachers and the critical role these elements play in teacher retention and positive outcomes in the classrooms. For me personally, I hope to continue to grow as an educator and maintain a dynamic classroom.

This week we finally started our externship at Mertek. What an interesting place to be! I say we because Melissa, a co-teacher from JBHS, is here too. The simple way to explain Mertek for the lay person is they design/fabricate/modify machines to produce or improve productivity in the manufacturing environment. My mind at this time is designing, fabricating and modifying projects and plans for next year!

I am one of the T parts of STEM and am looking forward to the Kenan Fellows Experience.  Quite a few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend and found it to be a wonderfully, invigorating time that provided new methods and techniques for teaching and learning. Safe journeys and see you there!