This year has been my hardest year so far. I have a difficult group of students and am having an exceptionally difficult time adjusting to a new administrator and a new leadership role. For the first time in my career I am starting to doubt that I will be able to do this forever. I feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and unsuccessful…. Read more »
Since finishing my internship at the museum so many things have happened. I got a new principal I got a new classroom I got a new teaching partner I got new students I met 53 sets of parents I became my school’s first ever Math department chair I helped make big decisions about my school’s new schedules I helped make big… Read more »
I cannot believe that it is already August! This summer has really flown by. I have been so busy with my internship and Kenan Fellows professional development that I haven’t had time for a break yet. I am definitely feeling tired and ready for a vacation before starting the school year, but I wouldn’t change this summer for anything. As… Read more »
For our Kenan Fellows lesson product we are working to bring microbiology to the middle school Science classroom. Students participating in our project will broaden their understanding of soil/plant symbiosis by culturing and examining beneficial plant microbes. Students will participate in genuine citizen science by recording data about microbe growth and reporting their data back to Dr. Stevens who is… Read more »
I have just completed my second full week at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and I have learned a ton! This week we isolated Pseudomonas fluorescens(a type of bacteria found in the roots of dandelions and known to be very helpful to plants), attempted to created flourescent/color coded photographs showing the microbes living in dirt, worked on our lesson plans,… Read more »
You know how you see dandelions everywhere? Ever wonder why that is? Dr. Julia Stevens did. Naturally, she turned to the microbes for answers. There are tons and tons of microscopic bacteria and fungi (further referred to as “the microbes”) living in soil all of the time. When plants start growing in the soil their roots send out food for… Read more »
Today I have been tasked with outlining my goals here in this blog. I have 3 main goals for my fellowship. My Goals Gain confidence as a leader in Education. Create an awesome Citizen Science project about soil microbes and include a math component Find ways to make Citizen Science (starting with our soil study) accessible for other teachers and… Read more »
I have just finished my second day at the museum and I have already learned so much! There are a couple of thoughts that came to me yesterday during our orientation at the museum and official introduction to our projects that I want to share before they get clouded in my brain with all of the other awesome new things… Read more »
This week I have experienced NCCAT for the very first time. I met the other fellows and participated in tons of professional development. We even went rafting on the Nantahala River! When asked what the highlight of my week has been, I find it difficult to choose just one. Some key memories that I will be taking with me are… Read more »
What a whirlwind! Yesterday I got in my car with Taylar (who I had only met once before this) and took the four and a half hour drive out to Cullowhee and NCCAT. As two teachers teaching the same grade level, both in their hometowns, we had a ton to talk about and passed the time easily. When we finally… Read more »