I have never been much for writing in a diary or blogging… I often read other people’s blogs and truly enjoy the ebb and flow of their thoughts as they put to writing the experiences and events of their lives. I’m always intrigued to know how they came to the point where they were willing and openly ready to shares these thoughts with the eyes of others. This is the point where I still struggle…the willingness to allow others to read my thoughts- knowing that they may not interpret my statements in the manner in which they were intended… I’m sure that practice makes it easier, maybe even pretending as though no one else is reading them– a tactic I have consistently used throughout this years blogging experience. I am uncertain now as to whether I will continue using this blog site as I move forward into the next school year. I would like to say that I will, but I also know my reservations regarding my voice on paper in an open platform. I can however see myself using this to continue documenting the good, bad, and ugly in my application process of my curriculum so that I can better see the progression of change and improvement. Recognizing areas that need continued attention, and areas that have really reached an ideal point.

I look forward to the years ahead, and I look forward to seeing where they take me.

As I reflect back on my first blog post written in the evening hours after our first day in the Mountains for NCCAT, I definitely remember the hopes that I described and also the expectation of those hopes evolving over time. I most certainly gained a heightened level of professional development that has been directly applied to my personal teaching style and regiment in my classroom. My summer externship was no doubt an amazing experience that bridged a large gap between theoretical science and real-world application. I received 100% support and encouragement not only fro the Kenan faculty, but also from my amazing cohort!! — A level of support that I could not imagine at the beginning of this journey– this is one area where my hopes were extensively exceeded! I continue to hope that the curriculum that I designed following my amazing externship and Kenan Professional Advancement institutes are effective and I definitely know that this is a continued endeavor as my lessons continue to be tweaked or largely changed with each instructional application. I do believe the blogging assisted me in reflecting over the course of the year, on curriculum development and the externship experience, but I don’t believe that I used the blog to its full potential. Blogging truly pulls from you what you put into it, and there were times this year that I could have reflected with greater depth.

This Kenan journey has been such an amazing blessing to me! I am constantly recognizing how my summer externship out in the field has become embedded in the way that I teach material and introduce real-world application into my classroom. Since I am from a very small community, my time at Wright Foods not only bridged a gap between theoretical science and real-world application, but it has also bridged a gap between me and my students and their parents! Several of the factory workers at Wright Foods have children at East Montgomery, and when I teach them, the parents and I have already developed a relationship that supports the growth of their child in my class even more! I have an understanding of the lifestyle my children have, and an understanding of the background of my students’ parents.

What an amazing journey this has been, and as clearly stated at our wonderful dinner last week, this is not the end, but the beginning of a lifetime of professional development, Kenan support, and friendships.

It is amazing that the year is coming to a close… I remember when I received my Kenan Fellowship Packet with our year-long outlined agenda, March seemed in the distant future. The summer externship months flew by, as did fall semester, and now spring! As an individual very fearful of deadlines, I began brainstorming and outlining my lesson plans at night after finishing each day at Wright Foods. It is amazing to look back and see the evolutionary process- knowing where my curriculum first began, and seeing the final product that was submitted just weeks ago. While teachers are always writing lessons, designing units, and making changes, this Kenan Curriculum is still one of the longest standing lesson development processes I have ever had. This is a curriculum that has been in the works for 8 months!!! With each review, I found areas to adjust and improve, and even when I thought it was a well-organized and thought out lesson plan, the reviewer notes provided by the Kenan staff were excellent and on point! Their outside perspective proved to be so valuable since one of the greatest challenges about writing a lesson plan for others is ensuring that it is easily followed when it is your first time reading and implementing it.

I was very pleased with how my curriculum went during Fall semester implementation. Some of the areas that were awkward and not as organized as I thought were clearly seen this Fall when I piloted the lessons in class, and the immediate feedback from class discussions with my students provided exceptional guidance in how to improve my lessons. With the implementation this Spring, the lessons have progressed more smoothly, but I am still see areas where improvement can be made; something I am sure I will continue to see for years to come!

As part of my Noyce Grant, I presented my curriculum to several high schools in the surrounding region. Teachers seemed to be very interested in the ideas that were presented due to the unique connection that they had with local industry and real-world application. These teachers were encouraged to take my lessons, use them in their own classrooms, and adapt my lessons in any way that would best accommodate their classrooms, their instructional style, and their student population. As I move forward, and present on a larger platform, I hope that other teachers throughout the state will be encouraged to not only reach out into their communities and find the applicable connections between their instructional curriculum and the local industries, but I hope that they will use my curriculum as a spring board to a new interactive instructional teaching style and format.

I have used my Lenovo tablet and the mini iPad throughout my fellowship. During my externship at Wright Foods, safety protocol prevented me from taking any pictures or video that was not staged by the Plant Manager and Chemical Engineer. However, when we did schedule these images and the video interview with my mentor, I used my Lenovo tablet to capture the footage! During my lunch break each day and then again after the day was complete, I would use my Lenovo tablet to quickly document and organize my experiences. I didn’t always know what information would be considered important or crucial to my understanding of the plant or for the development of my curriculum, so I logged a lot of notes!

At each of our Professional Advancement Institutes, I used the Lenovo tablet as my main computer resource because its compact size made it perfect for “laptop” use without taking up all the table space! 🙂

I used both my Lenovo tablet and the mini iPad that was purchased for my curriculum to take videos and pictures of my students as they completed various labs. I am a very visual learner and therefore, I greatly benefit from seeing image and videos. I definitely see the advantage of videotaping during class to not only improve my teaching skills, but to also encourage students to be extra attentive to what they are saying, how they are behaving, and how efficiently they are working! With this in mind, I completed short video clips and video-taped explanations of the labs that were conducted for two of the lessons within my curriculum. These videos were then compiled together and edited to the best of my ability and uploaded to youtube. I provided the links to these videos within the lesson plans in my curriculum.

Finally, I have begun using the iPad and Lenovo tablet to make Educreation videos that will be used to facilitate instruction at the end of this semester when I am out on maternity leave. I look forward to continuing to use the technology provided to me by the Kenan Program in the coming years. I also hope to sync the tablet with my projector with the assistance of my tech teachers in order to provide a teaching style that will allow me greater mobility within my classroom.

LINKS to the Youtube Videos:

Enzymes in Food Industry- KLP

Product Formulation and Production – KLP

This past semester I completed the first pilot implementation of my Kenan curriculum, Manufacturing an Engaged Mind. This was a very exciting experience that had many successes but also many glitches. With each lesson, I was able to collaborate with my students, discussing areas of the lesson that they believed went well, areas they felt were unclear, and areas that needed additional guidance and improvement. Their input was greatly valued and appreciated and I truly believe that their involvement in the evolution of my lessons created a heightened level of commitment on their part as an actively participating student.

The lesson that my students seemed to most enjoy was the Cost Analysis lesson. This lesson created a challenge for the students as they worked to maximize quality and production while minimizing cost. During the short video clip attached, you can see one of the discussions between myself and the group about how they are minimizing apple waste (to reduce cost) in order to add some additional flavor ingredients that add cost. Within this lesson, students recognized the importance of production and cost and more importantly recognized that this is a process that is conducted in every field in order to have a successful business!

I look forward to the future and the continued implementation of this curriculum. With each lesson, I expect to see improvement as I become more comfortable and familiar with how I want to present the material to the students. Yet, I also fully expect to continue to get developmental feedback for years to come with each new class that completes the curriculum. I am pleased with Round 1 and I am excited to see the results of Round 2 and on!

Cost Analysis Mini Clip

When I began my journey as a Kenan Fellow at Wright Foods I expected to have a single mentor, John Michel. John Michel was an amazing mentor who provided me with an unforgettable experience- he ensured that I would not only see his position in the company, but I would see each integral part of the plant. I was able to shadow nearly every position in the plant and before too long, the shadowing transitioned into active involvement. With each new position that I learned about at Wright Foods, I also gained a new mentor. The leaders of Wright Foods took me in as one of their own family and provided me with an amazing love and support that truly went beyond the expected “call of duty.” My mentors guided me, offered information not only to all of my questions but additional information that I was not knowledgeable enough at the time to know to ask! They encouraged me to get involved and take an active role each day as I worked with a different member and leader at Wright Foods. John Michel was my official mentor; he was certainly the model mentor, but it was through his example that made it so easy for the other leaders of the company to provide the same level of support and respect during my time with them. Since completing my externship at Wright Foods this summer, John Michel has actually retired. However, true to form, he has graciously agreed to come to speak with my class this December! A gesture that is greatly appreciated! In turn, the other members of Wright Foods have stayed in touch with me as well, and our relationship has become not only a partnership between the school system and industry, a business and a teacher, but a friendship between peers. The partnership that was established beginning in June is one that will last beyond the Kenan Fellowship experience, and will continue in the pursuit to better our students, to encourage them to pursue schooling beyond high school, and to better our community as we promote a heightened since of worth and ability in our next generation.
This experience has been such a blessing to me, and I cannot wait to see which businesses in my area will welcome a Kenan Fellow next! We may be a rural area, but we have some amazing and unique businesses that have so much to offer to our teachers and students!

The Kenan Experience has been such an amazing adventure! With each Professional Development Institute I have gained so much insight, inspiration, and professional support. It is always such a joy to get to interact with such inspirational teachers and leaders that live across North Carolina. After each meeting, I return to my own thoughts and classroom ideas with a renewed vigor and an excitement to experiment, try new things, and reach for the stars. I believe that one of my favorite aspects of our last professional development institute together was the ability to hear about the others’ experiences with their lessons and lesson implementations. We had several conversations about aspects that went well and others that could be improved. This was a much needed time for me to learn about how everyone else was doing, and to really see where my lesson could be improved. This Kenan experience has been so wonderful and educational for me. I struggle to see where I would be as a teacher right now had I not been in this program this year, because this experience truly has shaped me as a young teacher and woman in North Carolina. This Kenan experience has provided me with so much, and I can only hope to provide as much to my students and to promote other teachers throughout my area to pursue this same amazing opportunity.

**This post did not publish last month (not certain why) However,…I’m sure this was due to my mistake and my “pregnancy brain”. My most sincere apologies!! Thank goodness for my saved word doc blog!

I can easily understand how different school districts have such polar view points on the use of social media in and out of our classrooms. As a very recent graduate, I am fully aware of how social media can be a distraction to a student in class. While I was a very focused individual in the classroom, there were those days, where distractions occurred- a facebook message from a friend, a photo that was just tagged from yesterday’s game, etc. When I became a teacher, I thought back to those days of social media distractions, and I was rather adamant about not allowing social media, cell phones, Ipads, etc. to negatively impact my students. I did not want them to become distracted in class, and therefore, I came into my first classroom with a strong “NO CELL PHONES” policy. If they didn’t have them out, then they would not be tempted!

Throughout my years in college, education majors were told horror stories in multiple classes by professors about how students and parents had used social media to taint the reputation of a particular teacher. Further, professors discussed situations where teachers were attempting to be supportive and encouraging, but in the end, the events were portrayed as unprofessional and inappropriate. One of our first and number one rules as student teachers were to maintain strict boundaries between ourselves and our students and to ensure that all of our social media sites were strongly protected from any students getting access.

To be completely honest, I never thought of social media being used in a positive light. I had never been introduced to a situation in which social media was used as a platform for education, for learning inside of the classroom, and for extracurricular learning outside of the classroom. It wasn’t until I went to the first Kenan Professional Advancement Institute that I was introduced to the concept of using social media in and outside of the classroom for educational advancement!

At NCCAT, I was introduced to the idea of Professional Social Media sites. Twitter accounts that were 100% dedicated to your educational goals and progress and Edmodo sites that allow students to socialize in a controlled setting that promotes cooperation, feedback, and engagement. I was also introduced to the idea of using cell phones and Ipads as a technology tool that could promote higher learning through virtual quizzes and research tools. Since returning to the classroom this semester, I have definitely changed my opinion of cell phones in the classroom, and I do allow students to use them regularly in the classroom as educational tools.

In the end, I believe that districts have such polar views because there are very unique angles at which to view the situation. While some districts see the unknown as a pathway to success and reaching students through a new channel, other districts see the unknown as a danger; a danger to the safety of both the students and teachers. It is important for any use of social media to be highly controlled and 100% educationally focused in order for the purpose to be clear for students, parents, and school districts. I believe it is when the lines begin to blur that teachers, students, and parents, begin to feel weary of what negativity could develop out of social media in education.

The Kenan Fellowship program has been an amazing experience thus far! This program has introduced me to so many wonderful apps and programs that can easily be incorporated into the classroom! I have been introduced to amazing teachers that have their own powerful store of knowledge, classroom experience, and “tricks of the trade.” This program has truly provided the building block necessary to reach your goals, but more importantly, it provided me with the tools to surpass my goals and create new ones that I had not even thought about before! When you are surrounded by exceptional teachers who are inspired, encouraged, and striving to truly make a difference, it provide the greatest support system that a new teacher could ask for!! Through the professional advancement sessions, I learned that there is amazing instruction going on throughout North Carolina, and I wanted to tap in as well. I feel very confident about the Chemistry curriculum and the way that I teach it, but I new that I was not giving my best efforts in Earth Science and our professional advancement institute presenters and my fellow Kenan peers provided me with some wonderful ideas. Not only were actual suggestions provided, but it is the fact that everyone was supportive and encouraging- promoting you to push forward, try new things, and get excited about all of the possibilities!!

I want to be clear, the Kenan Fellowship summer experience and professional advancement institutes provided so much for me as a person, teacher, and leader. All of this support and information culminated together to make me feel encouraged, inspired, and excited about the upcoming year! I am positive, I plan to continue to be positive, and I plan to be positive about new methods of instruction, different activities that I have never completed before, and anything else that comes my way! Unfortunately you can get easily get down on yourself or a class, and my goal is to be positive; a self-fulfilling prophecy for myself and my classes that it will be a great year!

As my summer experience comes to an end this week, I am very excited to begin this school year! My how time flies!!!! There are so many ideas that I have for the upcoming year from all that I have learned at the PAIs and from designing and writing my Kenan Curriculum. I fully expect Earth Science to become a much more interactive and engaging environment where my students can make more emotional connections to nature and the beautiful world around them. I think my students will really enjoy iNaturalist and the identification process, and I truly believe that the students will become excited, engaged, and develop a sense of ownership for their natural community. I want all of my classes to develop a stronger sense of worth in nature and in turn within themselves…I want them to become citizen scientists today and remain citizen scientists tomorrow. With regard to my Chemistry and Research Methods students, I believe they will be interested in the Kenan Curriculum that I have been designing–I have really tried to take manufacturing from the large scale to the small, where students can dig deep into the product formulation and production concepts and recognize that science and math are embedded within it all!

I know my students will have a heightened educational experience this year! This will partly be due to the amazing technology-based apps, gadgets, and tools that I have learned about, but most importantly it will be due to the emotional and intellectual growth that I have personally experienced. When do students become the most engaged and inspired? When they are encouraged and supported. This Kenan Fellowship summer experience provided me with the ability to provide the needed support and encouragement, the ability to try new things and promote true inquiry, to be able to increase the level of interaction not only within the classroom walls but also outside in our school yard… our woods… our community. I know that my students will have a great school year- I know that I will impact them in a positive way- and I know that the Kenan Fellowship Program and the amazing mentors at Wright Foods have given me the confidence to say this!