Prompt: Describe your internship experience thus far.

• What was the most interesting moment? My most interesting moment was realizing all the available resources and wealth of knowledge Raleigh has to offer. I didn’t know about the Duke Power Control room or the Textile Lab.
• What was the biggest challenge?The biggest challenge for me was figuring out what my product was going to be and how I was going to implement the product into my classroom. Once I talked with some of the cohorts in my Kenan Fellowship, I was able to figure this out better.
• Describe what you saw and did: Did you see one aspect of a company or lab or did you visit different departments or sites? Did you work with a single mentor or multiple professionals? Wow, I saw and did so much. I was mostly on the main campus of NC State.  I  saw several aspects of the FREEDM System Center. I saw the labs, all the different departments, I worked with Executives, Directors,Graduate Students, Undergrad Students, Teachers, Doctors and Students.  I worked with a single Mentor often but at times I worked with other Professionals at FREEDM. I toured several great work and educational sites.
• What was it like working with your mentor(s)? How did they open your eyes to a new industry or research? Working with my Mentor was awesome….she is knowledgeable, friendly, positive and hard working.  She opened my eyes to a lot of great resources and networking. She also taught me about hard work.  Despite any obstacles she faces; she always triumphs and gets the job done.  Prior to this internship there was so much I didn’t know but thanks to Dr. Carpenter, I feel more educated and informed. I will forever be grateful for the knowledge I obtained from FREEDM.
• What is your biggest take away? My biggest take away are several things. The lesson plan ideas, networking and resources, I received while interning  at FREEDM. I will use them over and over again in my classes.

Prompt: You are creating a product that transfers your internship experience into educational resources. Please describe the challenges and successes you are experiencing.

This is a great question at a perfect time.  In the beginning it was hard to transfer my discipline of Business,  into the Science  and Engineering discipline. I had to figure out how they could come to together with in my curriculum. I must admit it took me a minute to do this but I enjoyed the creative thinking.  I decided to take several experiences from my internship into consideration when creating my product,  I wanted my students to learn about renewable energy and solar energy.  My students create a business and learn about the Marketing Mix (price,place,product,promotion) in my Exploring Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship class. I thought what better way for my students to learn about solar energy then for them to own their own solar energy business. My Product allows students to research and investigate solar energy from a business perspective.  Also, I learned from FREEDM (thanks Dr. Carpenter)about the perfect pitch and the format the perfect pitch was done.  I will incorporate this presentation style and format into the product for my students.

Also, I learned another lesson from FREEDM Binary bracelet. (Thanks  Nancy Shaw). In the past , I never taught my students the codes for binary numbers, only the codes for binary letters. Now I’ll definitely use this resource in my classroom.  Also, I will invite Nancy Shaw to help me teach this lesson and be a resource.

 

How do you see your internship experience benefiting your mentor’s organization?

This is a challenging question……because I never thought about how my presence could benefit FREEDM, I only thought about what I was going to gain from FREEDM.   Thanks for this prompt!

I think my internship experience has benefited my mentor’s organization in several ways.

• Valuable Partnership – I have  formed a respectful collaborative working relationship with FREEDM.  This relationship has been great and will last a very long time.
• Educational Perspective- I was able to provide my educational views on practices I am currently use in my classroom.  I have discovered that I am a bridge between industry and school.  I am able to offer FREEDM some insight as to what were doing in education.  I have had the opportunity to sit in on presentations and meeting and offer some relevant feedback from my own professional experience.
• The Glass is 1/2 FULL- A positive attitude along with an appreciation and willingness to learn attitude…goes along way.  I believe these attributes have benefited FREEDM because these are the qualities and skills they expect and deserve.  FREEDM is a innovative dynamic organization!!!

Describe the goals of your internship as they relate to your work as an educator.

The goals of my internship is:

• to learn about FREEDM and the important contributions it makes to our society.
• to learn more about what Renewable Energy is, how is effects our lives, homes, etc. so I can incorporate this information into my curriculum.
• to network, building relationships by sharing valuable resources that can be utilize within my classroom and community.  I want my students to gain authentic knowledge that impact’s them and the world in which we live.

• How do you plan to implement something you learned at NCCAT in your classroom?

I plan to incorporate EDpuzzle into my classroom this year. I will be able to engage students with videos. I can pick a video, add touched to it and track my students’ understanding. I am looking forward to implementing this next year.

• Which session was your least favorite? Why?

My least favorite session was the Gamification by Cindy Bullard.  I tried to apply my subject area of Business and I found it difficult.  I kept waiting to see if the light bulb of how I could use it went off but it did not.  I couldn’t see where it was relevant for my use.

• How has the week at NCCAT compared with other PD opportunities you have attended?

This was the best PD because we worked hard and played hard. It was  planned so well… that is what I loved.  You gave us  relevant information and provided us some freedom to take ownership of our learning.  This was so powerful.  I couldn’t wait each day to get started…a new learning adventure each day.  Kudos to the staff at Kenan Fellows!!!!

• Which session did you find most useful and why?

I really enjoyed Latanya  Pattillo session because it helped me with understanding and looking at Differentiation in a new way.  It also helped me start to thinking about and preparing me for my product/lesson plan.

I also enjoyed the session where we talked about our product/lesson and what was expected from each Company.  This helped me to understand my expectations and your expectations too.

This week was an eye opening experience…so different from the classroom. I am looking at things a little different.  I am excited and nervous. I learned so much. Here are are some of the things I learned…..  I have so much respect for the work that NC State and FREEDM System Center are doing. I toured the FREEDM building and saw the high voltage and low voltage labs that was so cool.  I spent a good time with my Mentor and I love her beautiful spirit. FREEDM System Center is quiet and a grown-up atmosphere different from middle school.  There are many young interns (R.F.). I think the employees are movers and making strides..it feels like a think tank, so innovative with leading edge mind sets. On my second day had a meeting on the Energy game the researchers/interns are developing.  The meeting was so interesting…I felt as if I were in the room with some Mark Zuckererg’s.   I am blown away at the brilliant minds! I can’t wait till I come back.  Stay tuned…….

 

Examples of how being a Kenan Fellow could improve my skills as a teacher and as a leader in my school and community.

Kenan Fellows opens the door to more opportunities to collaborate, learn, teach, and ultimately lead. All these experiences can improve my skills and offer me a chance to lead my fellow colleagues to great staff development. Kenan Fellows is a moving vehicle to improve multiple disciplines in my school and community.  This experience has me looking outside of the box to incorporate more science and technology.

• Being a Kenan Fellow could elevate my teaching career by integrating purposeful industry knowledge into my curriculum.  Being able to incorporate leading industry advances into my classroom and beyond allows my students to gain an advantage of the skills needed for the 21st Century.   To be able to give them this opportunity is priceless.