This year I have tried a few things that I hadn’t tried before but the biggest impact  that I have seen doesn’t come from my implementation of Interactive notebooks, Cornell Notes, or even the more hands on activities that I include in the lessons.  But reciting the classroom pledge has made the biggest difference ever in my classroom.  One of the things that I learned from my experience at National Spinning was the importance of self worth.  At National Spinning my role was to talk with the employees to see what the company could do to make their work environment even better.  I decided to let me students know how important they were to me.  Everyday we begin our class with a letter I gave to them during open house.  There are 9 statements that we recite daily.  For example #1 says; You are Important.  The nine statements let the students know that I care about them, I value their opinion, I will help them succeed, etc.

Their behavior and respect towards me has been the best I’ve seen in along time.  When the students know you care about them, then they will show you that they care about you.

My summer internship proved to me time and time again that all of the subject areas that are taught in school, show up everyday in the workforce.  Everyday that I was at National Spinning, I saw the importance of math because I saw purchase orders in which customers wanted certain number of pounds and color of a yarn.  I also saw spreadsheets of the performance of every worker on the previous shift and how many pounds they produced in the 12 hour shift.  This whole plant relies on data to ensure they are producing yarn and making money off of what they produce.  I plan on incorporating more of the other subjects in my ELA curriculum.  The product that I am working on ties in with the CTE teacher and we have begun collaborating on what I would like for her to do in her classroom that will prepare my students for the product that they will produce in my classroom.

Describe something that you’ve learned as a result of your fellowship that will change how you teach this year.

I have learned so much during my Internship about the textile industry, the people in my school’s community and their work ethics, as well as the importance of communication with other businesses in the county.  With all that I have learned, I will definitely be teaching my students some more soft skills that will include working with others, speaking, and communication.  This experience made me realize that education and learning begins at home, but some people don’t learn those things there so we as educators must not only teach our curriculum but basic survival skills as well.  Through this internship, I was exposed to how important this company was to our area as well as to some popular businesses.

This experience opened me up to the possibility to invite some people from the plant to my classroom.  I observed the ladies working in the lab and they really showed me how to test for quality yarn.  It was amazing to be shown that even though the naked eye sees perfection, that may not be the case.

I know that I will teach my students about being professional, communicate effectively, and being held accountable for their actions.  I teach 6th grade and one of the things that I try to do is teach them that they are not in elementary school anymore.  They still have that mentality when they get to me but I will be working on that in order for them to learn that it’s solely up to them to ensure their success. I will also expose my students to the importance of education more; making them aware of the unlimited opportunities if they have an education. I also worked at the local community college where I met wonderful young minds who said that they were never really exposed to college and the benefits of going to school.

It affirmed that if someone is exposed to something other than the norm and it’s beneficial, then many people will be ready to take heed to it.  It just takes the right exposure.  If they are never exposed, then how can we as educators expect them to know.

Describe your internship experience thus far.

• What was the most interesting moment? There have been several interesting moments but the one that sticks out the most is how big the company is on recycling and reusing.  One of the things that I was shown was some blue yarn.  I was like oh this is pretty. The Whiteville plant dyed the yarn this pretty light blue.  Well come to find out it was actually made from the blue plastic Pepsi bottles.  There is a company that shreds the blue plastic bottles for National Spinning and sends the cotton like material back to National Spinning to make into yarn.
• What was the biggest challenge? The biggest challenge was trying to narrow down and focus on one product.  During my internship, I have had the privilege of working seeing every aspect of the plant including the lab, the office staff, and the workers on the floor.  It took me a while to narrow my product idea down because there was so many directions I could have chosen.
• 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? During my internship, I have had the pleasure of working with the new hires.  I talk with them on a daily basis to see how they are adjusting to the company.  I also ask them if they have any problems so I can report back to my mentor or the lead trainer so we could get their problem solved.  I have been exposed to the lab and quality control.  I have been able to sit in on morning meetings where the supervisors and the office staff is able to discuss production and the products being ran on the lines. I have been able to see some of the workers from their starting point of filling out an application to the HRD course certification that is required, to them actually working at National Spinning.  I have been working with Mega Force and James Sprunt Community College to answer any questions potential workers may have about National Spinning.
• What was it like working with your mentor(s)? How did they open your eyes to a new industry or research?  My main Mentor was Chris Jarman.  He allowed me to have a free range of the plant to explore it at my own pace.  He showed me around the plant, but I was able to visit all of the departments at my leisure.  I was oblivious of what this plant actually did and the impact is has on the area.  National Spinning decided to extend the operating hours for the company and with that expansion, new jobs became available.  This company is open to hiring new employees who have a desire to work and even some who don’t.  They have been willing to take a few losses here and there to ensure everyone is given a fair chance at a stable job.
• What is your biggest take away? My biggest take away is how beneficial it is to know why you are doing something.  Many times when I asked the workers why or who the yarn is for, they did not know.  They just knew they had to do a job.  I think it is important for them to know the outcome of what they are doing.  I tell my students the projected outcome and they seem to value their work better and take pride when they are complete.  I think the workers would take pride in what they create because without them, we would not have quality made clothing.

When I first learned that I was going to be working at National Spinning, I thought about what I was going to be doing, how I was going to bring what I learn back to the classroom and how I can make a difference for them.  It wasn’t until my first few days that I realized what my purpose was for them. My mentor expressed to me that they were about to switch from 3 eight hour shifts to 2 twelve hour shifts and will be hiring additional workers.  I figured this would be a fairly challenging task because they needed to hire 40-50 people to fill the positions available.  What I did not know was that they would hire 75-100 people to find the number that they needed.  I found this rather disturbing because that meant half of the hire’s would quit within the first month.  My task became prevalent.  I would become the eyes and ears of the trainer as well as the voice for the new hires.

As the only trainer, Mrs. Ruthie had the job of training all of the new hires or assign a veteran employee to assist in the training.  This is by far a daunting task, so my job is to visit the new hires, ask questions to find out if they are having any problems and report back to Mrs. Ruthie. If additional training is needed then she would adjust her schedule and train if necessary.

Another thing that I am doing is trying to find potential employees who are willing to work and ways to keep them satisfied on the job. I go to Mega Force at least once a week to help screen employees, sit in on interviews, and help choose employees suitable for NSC.  When they get to NSC and begin their training I check on their progress and try to handle concerns and to keep them positive if they are not meeting production.  Production is hard for new hires and they get discouraged but they like to know someone is their to hear them out and to offer assistance.  Every day will not be a perfect day at work, but it is extremely important to make sure you have employees who value their jobs and who will produce quality work.  I visit the new hires and make sure they know what they are doing, they are happy,and they feel as if they have a voice.

Hopefully I will be able to offer NSC some strategies in retaining employees and ways to make sure they are getting what they need to be successful in the workforce.

My number one goal of my internship is to bring something back to my students.  At first I just thought I would go and intern at the sight, attend some workshops and then develop something to teach in my classroom. It has turned out to be so much more.  One of the biggest areas of concern that I have observed has been the lack of soft skills.  This includes communicating with one another, asking questions, the do’s and don’t’s of applying for a job, being punctual, following directions, etc. in the real world. By observing the lack of these soft skills, this will definitely be something that I teach my students.

Another goal that I have established for myself is to bring more real world examples into my classroom.  Many time our students don’t know whats going on in the real world because they believe it does not pertain to them.  I find this to be completely untrue.  I think it is extremely important to show the students how things that are in the news does affect them in some way.  While showing them how important it is to be “in the know”, I have planned to develop activities geared around media and allow them to develop ways to solve some of the issues.

Another important goal that I would like to focus on is developing activities to incorporate in my classroom as well as my colleagues classroom. The location where I am interning deals with a lot of math, reading, critical thinking/problem solving, mechanics/robotics, etc. National Spinning is textile plant in which they produce a specific product for a specific company that will be used in local stores as well as stores worldwide. I plan to dive into the math curriculum more as I plan curriculum for Language Arts.  I hope to be able to plan an activity for each disciplinary here at my school.

• How do you plan to implement something you learned at NCCAT in your classroom?
  • There were so many useful things that I learned last week that I want to implement in my classroom.  I know I will implement some of the things that I learned in the Maslow was a working parent informative session.  Getting the parents more active in my school has been a major issue for us because we have low parent participation.
• Which session was your least favorite? Why?
  • The session on Classroom Management was my least favorite because I assumed it would address issues on how to handle some classroom behaviors. This session only provided information about all classes teaching the same thematic units.  That would be idealistic but at my school this may not be feasible.
• How has the week at NCCAT compared with other PD opportunities you have attended?
  • My week was lovely.  Other PD opportunities have been we  are told to go and our input has been limited to none on deciding which PD opportunities to attend. During the week, we were given the opportunity to discuss ways we would implement the ideas we have just been informed about.  Most of the PDs  I’ve attended, don’t give the opportunity for that.  We were treated as individuals instead of treated like a whole. Meaning we were able to choose things that we wanted to learn more about.
• Which session did you find most useful and why?
  • I thoroughly found the ELL presentation to be most useful.  I learned new strategies that I think will be extremely beneficial in my classroom.  Being able to celebrate milestones with my ELLs will boost moral and help me find ways to assess them thoroughly.

What do you hope to gain from your fellowship experience?

• Describe how being a Kenan Fellow could elevate your teaching career.
  • By being a Kenan Fellow, I believe this opportunity will allow me to communicate with other professionals who are going through this fellowship with me.  Being given this opportunity to talk with other teachers have been useful because there are many questions that I have had and we work together to generate ideas. Getting more knowledge will definitely help with my content area because I will be able to see it from different standpoints.
• Give examples of how being a Kenan Fellow could improve your skills as a teacher and as a leader in your school and community.
  • Being able to work with others will improve my social skills.  I am more of a loner but I have had to come out of my comfort zone and work with others to complete tasks.  By being able to communicate with others, will allow me to take what others think/believe and implement in my classroom, my internship location, and in my curriculum.

Yesterday was my first day with my Mentor and it was great.  The company that I am working with is NSC and they made me feel right at home.  This company offers great opportunities for the people in our area if they would just commit to the job. The capacity that I will be working in will help the students that I teach learn the value of hard work and how a piece of cotton can turn into clothing, awnings for businesses, flight jackets for the military, etc.