Kenan fellowship an awesome experience!  Putting a curriculum together was very labor intensive.  However, it is an experience that was well worth it in the end.  The entire cohort is both gifted and passionate about educating and impacting the lives of future leaders.

Up until this point, I have not really taken the time to reflect on the enormity of this experience and the wealth of resources this class has generated.

It is my hope that my lesson can be used as a supplemental lesson for students of all ages. I would like for it to provide the perfect balance of both enrichment and exploration but also engaging and relevant to the learning experience of every child.

Nifty Tool

The Lenovo tablet is a very useful and valuable tool to have all things related to Kenan in one place.  Most importantly the Lenovo technology device was easy to transport.  What I mostly enjoyed was the fact that I was able to quickly snapped pictures and even record mini-videos of the students working collaboratively within the class.  The students were also thrilled that we had access to an additional piece of technology in the classroom which captivated their interest.  It was also a huge hit with my ESL student because it was easy for him as were would read aloud, to have access to the dictionary at his fingertips to aid in the understanding of certain words.  It was very easy to find and utilize drag and drop illustrations review pertaining to concepts being discussed.  Additionally easy access to interactive videos and or youtube videos for some students who needed the additional support.  The students always brought their headphones and were never to ashamed to asked permission to seek out supplemental resources if they did not understand what was being discussed in class.  Awesome gadget to have in class; my only wish was that I had one for every student.

After years of watching education evolved from the business of educating to something much more convoluted, I was ready to be out.  As a result of desperation, I began seeking PD’s to give me that mental strength to finish out the year.  In attending a workshop at the Museum of Science in Raleigh, I spoke to an inspirational pair of young ladies who did an awesome job listening to me vent my frustrations and pointed me in the direction of the Kenan program.  Their presentation of the program blew me away.  My first thought was how this program could have remained such a secret for this long.   I never heard of this program.  Why was this kept a secret for so long?  I had enormous trepidations; it just sounded too good to be true.

This Kenan partnership made perfect sense; finally an organization that respected the role of teachers and how integral we are in disseminating information to our students.   This experience has renewed my faith in myself and what I bring to the learning experience of young individuals.  I feel rejuvenated and empowered and just might be hanging around in the classroom for a few more years.  Thanks Kenan!

Over the years I have developed increased anxiety at the thought of attending another PD for “Educator’s”.  Mostly these events usually end with bags of additional paperwork that I never could find the time to sit and really read.  I am usually left with the feeling that none of this stuff is tangible material that I can easily transfer to classroom use.  However, this Kenan Fellowship PD was superbly done!  The sessions were all relevant to what we as educators do in the classroom daily.  Most importantly the presenters were not that far removed from the classroom that they could not relate to what tools were vital and necessary for an educators daily living in the classroom.   I was amazed at the level of compassion and respect that was demonstrated.  I feel empowered as an educator!

The 2013-2014 school year was filled with true educational drama. Emotionally I was mentally drained and wondered how I would be able to muster up the strength to share with my new arrivals, my true passion for science.  Last school year I can recall was one of my best years in science education.  I taught relevant science and I had my students engaged in activities just about every other day.

Fast forward this year, with the new administration, there are new expectations and they are all mostly centered on “test scores”.   Student’s performance on these assessments’ will now be a direct reflection of me as a teacher.  I would be the first to say that I have hit a brick wall; how do I teach to a test I have no idea.

A parent came in for a conference and basically told me that his child was “bored” with my class. I was a bit bothered by his statement but I am fully aware that this is directly due to my nervousness about testing. My goal moving forward is to renew my lost passion and figure out that balance in order to bring life back into my classroom.  I truly feel her pain because I am also bored to tears!

This was a tough conversation to have but as a result of my parent conference, I had an epiphany my “aha moment” so to speak.  Due to my Kenan Fellowship, I have nothing but educational ammunition to be that exciting science teacher I once was but still teach the state standard.  I have so many resources and a cohort of supporters, all I have to do is make connections and or ask for help.

One thing that has piqued my interest as a result of my Kenan fellowship experience is my awareness of the existing resources/ programs that are available at NCSU that has the potential to enrich student learning and guide them to gravitate towards careers in Science.

Touring various facilities and conversing with the faculty and students, made me realized that NCSU is an academically rich community.  The perception among many including myself was that both Duke and UNC were the leaders and innovators in the region and would hardly if ever hear any mention of what this school has to offer.   This opportunity  definitely changed the false perception and I am now aware that NCSU is as much on the cutting edge and offers students a rich education comparable to the above mentioned schools.

Thanks to Kenan, I now have the pleasure of disseminating this invaluable information to my students and continue to spread the word to my school community.

As an educator I am a proponent for the use of social media to enhance/ enrich the learning experience of students.  However, I do also fully understand that parents reserve the overall right to decline some methods of content delivery.  Although teachers may have the best of intentions when considering incorporating social media  as part of teaching, students at times will try to push the envelop and utilize this tool inappropriately.

Additionally,  due to the growing diversity of schools it is becoming very tricky to accommodate and not act on selfish reasons when it comes to deciding for example on the use of technology.  We have to be mindful that some parents may not be able to afford internet connection at home, and this often singles out a child in the presence of their peers.  Also some parents are very protective and may not want their child to be exposed to such form of communication at such a tender age.

As with every tough decision, there are benefits and pitfalls.  Being a responsible user is what we can hope for but unfortunately that is not always the case.  In this instance at times it is just safer to not add one additional thing to have to micromanage and be nervous about litigation. For that reason alone I can see both the sides of this argument and do not stand in judgment of the school’s decision.

As I attempt to transfer my externship experience to usable curriculum material, I am faced with a host of challenges.  The most tedious aspect has been scaling down the content level.  To what degree do I modify the complexity to the material so that a middle school student [6^th grader] would be able to,

– Process and grasp the gist of the material?

– See the relevancy and be able to apply what they have learned?

– Make this information fit into the current standards?

With a true diverse classroom it is a constant overwhelming nag in trying to balance how to compact information so a kid with a heavily layered IEP grasps the concept but on the other hand a kid who is identified as AIG remaining engaged.  Easy right? Just teach to the middle ‘they’ say.  Well that middle line is not equitable when you have students who are at times three (3) years behind grade level. Unfortunately, I am not verse in the tactics

of teaching to that level but I try and I am sure I do get it wrong some times but I give it all I can anyway. With the gap widening every year it seems, my issue remain, how much modifications must be done before I maybe lose the essence of the lesson.

Another unfortunate factor is accessibility to the same resources and equipment being utilized at my location that would really help the lesson to resonate with the students.  I envisioned having the students create a sensor to solve a ‘One Health’ issues using tinkercad to create and print using 3D printing.  This would be tremendously costly for my students so even though I was fascinated and it would be a great opportunity to experience the engineering process it would not work for my classroom.  Then there is the SEM [Scanning Electron Microscope] which was utilized to see the nano-structure of spider silk and the spinnerets.   If I have access to these equipments, I would think there would be many converts of students loving science by the end of the year.

However, in spite of these listed obstacles, I will find a way to improvise and make it work.

A look on the bright side………………..

I have a support group comprised of individuals who have spent years mastering their craft.  Working side by side and being given the opportunity to engage in open dialogue via peer sharing activities, has helped in gauging my thought process of ways I can implement the many faucets of this externship into workable lessons.  By having some members of my cohort who are faced with some of the same obstacles, this allows for realistic brainstorming and generating of ideas that can work for the students.   It will force me to think outside the box in seeking innovative methods of engaging students during the learning process.