Building a device to test motion.
Volunteer
Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 Reflections of the Kenan Fellowship
Describe ways your fellowship has changed you.
*More open to new (strategies, technology, ideas, new challenges, write grants, learn how to overcome tech problems) The opportunity to meet and work with Kenan Fellows during the institutes and the internship provided so many opportunities to share and gain resources for classroom use. I have recorded these resources and refer to them as often as needed for myself and others in my school. As I prepare lessons, I search through my resources and/or discover others online to incorporate into lessons for enrichment purposes. I am bombarded with ideas in the early morning hours that I attempt to incorporate into classroom lessons. Sometimes, I have more ideas than I can enact. My school days are filled with many challenges, both old and new, The Kenan Fellowship is one of many positive things on my plate that I continue to embrace and fulfill with the knowledge that these actions are changing the mindsets of my students while creating opportunities for them that would not have occurred had I not put forth the effort. My actions are 110% student-centered; from sharing the nanotechnology in my classroom, taking my 6-8th graders to NCSU College Day in October 2015 for engineering exposure, undertaking the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Group as an magnet club elective, writing and receiving grants for more nanotechnology, inviting speakers into my classroom, arranging student competitions, taking the initiative to arrange other field trips, and seeking to maintain existing programs such as the Girls in Science after-school Program, all for the benefit of students.
Although I have written and received several grants in two other states, the fellowship offered tips and strategies specific for selected organizations. This information was very useful for me in gaining a nanotechnology grant and providing the assurance that I can be successful at additional grants in this state. During this presentation, other fellows, in addition to the presenter, shared their stories and tips to enhance future grants acquisition as well. My internship gave me the tools to incorporate these skills into my classroom lessons. My mentor offered supplies for classroom integration of these resources and the grant has provided the funding to present it on a larger scale to include the students of a neighboring teacher. As time permits, I will continue to write other grants and assist other teachers in their quest for more classroom resources as well.
Another benefit of the fellowship has been overcoming an unwillingness to tackle technology problems, troubleshoot, if you will. Whenever, I have some technology challenge, I seek to fix problems myself, or at the very least research the problem and become more knowledgeable about my options for repair. I have never been afraid to admit that outside help was needed, but now I seek to learn how the problem is being fixed and the why a certain pathway is used. A sense of pride follows when I can determine and enact solutions to tech problems on my own or utilize the solutions after problems reoccur.
With the exposure of so many facets of engineering and the team collaboration required to complete our group project, I am more open than ever before to accept & incorporate ideas of others into finished projects. I am purposeful in my efforts to teach these skills to my students through organized steps to which I was trained during my fellowship. The Engineering Design Process is now the basis for problem-solving in my class lessons. Students can follow these steps after much practice and know why they use them. I even created and laminated my own poster for this concept. My fellow seventh grade science teacher used it as well with my guidance.
*More determined to increase the use of technology at my school and help facilitate and increase its use in other teachers. As a school in the process of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Pilot Planning, it is important to encourage our students and teachers to use technology to advance learning. When I was informed that our school would be a BYOD School, I created my own BYOD plan to use with my students in July 2015, so that I could satisfy the fellowship requirements. My school completed their BYOD Plan this Month (January 2016). Had I not been proactive, I would not have been able to utilize the TI-Sensor Tag equipment with my students. I am more determined to be a problem-solver and find useful solutions while using technology. Thus, being a leader and role model in using nanotechnology. I embrace challenges, and advocate for student technology use at my school because I recognize the benefits of using technology to enhance learning. I am all too aware of the limitations with the older computer hardware that exists in our school, and especially in my classroom. I, however, am not one to give up. As a teacher who wishes to make her students aware of the tech advancements available and provide cutting-edge research experiences gained from the 2015 internship, technology is a valuable tool to realize that goal. In spite of the fact that our school didn’t receive scheduled and needed computer upgrades as other schools did, our teachers are persistent in trying to help students learn through technological means. It is not just because it is apart of our teacher evaluation document, but we are embracing technology to give our kids advantages that will benefit them in the present and immediate future, no matter how difficult the task.
*I seek to integrate all of my learning from different sources in a more purposeful way. As a member of the Kenan Fellows 2015-2016, I found a family of educators who all operated at a higher level; all seeking to improve their classroom methods and help others while in that process. Each of us possesses different skills, holds various organizational membership and has a vast amount of experiences that constitute a wealth of resources. We all have something to share, making up a body of immense resources. This experience provided stimulation for improvement, motivation for professional and personal growth, education to design better lessons and the integration of all my resources to increase learning for my students. Immediately after the internship, I visited the Alice Aycock Poe Health Center during their Educator’s Open House to secure field trip information for my team. That information led to a field trip there in October which provided background knowledge for a science unit.
As a member of the Discovery Education Teacher Leader Corps (TLC), I constantly am provided with technology-based training which is shared with my faculty in a small-group training format. My TLC Team works to plan for the dissemination of this material and lesson planning integration in our LINC Sessions (faculty training). We are the liaisons between this district initiative and our school faculty. Why do I mention these facts in this blog? The material from both the fellowship and the TLC are both apart of the technological initiative umbrella that is meant to bring our students into the digital age with knowledge that will benefits them, constraints that will keep them on the right path, and develop higher order thinking skills that will assist in their collaboration with others while creating products that reflect their skill acquisitions. Together, these groups complement each other in the educational arena. I am very honored to be affiliated with both.
Consider how you collaborate with peers, discover new talents and learn about STEM careers.
I have discovered that I am more outspoken when it comes to making decisions that affect our students. This is apparent in my individual work in my classroom, in my planning with my 7th Grade Science Partner, my 7th Grade Teams and the different positions which I hold at my school. I use my knowledge from the Briggs and Myers Inventory to embrace my strengths and be mindful of the characteristics which can hinder my productivity when working with others. Also knowing my strengths gives me the confidence to rely on them and get things done when others around me make other choices. I am constantly taking on new challenges or coming up with things to do. I must at times decline responsibilities just so I can perform the existing obligations well. It takes time to do some things well and I prefer to do my best.
During this process, engineers and computer science programmers have shared their experiences with my students. The visits were trainings for my students, interactive and allowed my students to ask questions that benefited. The fall visit to NCSU presented an excellent opportunity for students to hear first-hand college requirements and expectation. I consider this part of the visit huge because my 6th, 7th and 8th Graders have an opportunity to make positive changes that will increase their acceptance into college. The different sessions and engineering exhibits were important to expose students to the different engineering fields. I will continue to have other presenters from engineering fields visit and visit NCSU’s Engineering Open House with more students. I was brave to drive eleven boys to NCSU, my son included. All of them expressed benefits from going and would go again if given the opportunity to learn more about engineering careers. My next step is to assign student the task of locating a community engineer and learn more about their career. The goal is to get speakers and be introduced by the student who located and corresponded with them.