Month: July 2016

My internship experience was a fantastic. I think the most interesting moment for me was having an opportunity to visit the lab that did testing for rescue workers. As someone who volunteers at a fire department, it was very interesting to see the lab where the tested/created materials for firefighters.

My biggest challenge came during the lectures by science professors. I am a math/computer guy, so during those presentations it was a bit difficult to follow. I have never really worked with electrical engineering concepts, so that was a big hurdle for me.

Working with Dr. Veety and Dr. Jur was amazing. They were great individuals to work with, and I learned a lot from them. Working with them and touring different labs across NC State opened my eyes to a different world of research that I was unaware of. Honestly, I wish I had an opportunity to take all these tours when I was 18 years old.

My biggest take away from this internship was the teamwork I had with my team, and others in the program. Everyone involved was willing to help with the projects and talk about teaching strategies they use in the classrooms. In the end, I was very happy I had a chance to participate in this program, and I was also very happy in our team’s end product. An awareness device for rescue workers to help monitor air quality.

I feel this whole experience was a success for me. I had an opportunity to work in a team, practice PBL learning, and reach an end goal that was out of my comfort zone. It also was a great reminder of how students feel going through a project with team members with varying skills.

A challenge that I have had during the internship experience is understanding and implementing the engineering design process. This project was the first time I have had the opportunity to go through the EDP, and it took some time for me to fully understand the process. Being able to actually go through the process with other teachers really helped me learn.

In the end I really enjoyed the whole experience. I feel like I had a chance to grow as a person and an educator. The program gave me some great hands on experience, and a chance to work in a team to work towards an end goal. I think our team was very successful in working together and creating a wearable device that can be very beneficial.

I think my internship experience will benefit my mentor’s organization by allowing them to work with teachers and teach us on expectations of students at the higher levels. This will help the teachers learn strategies that we can implement with our students that will teach help prepare them better for the future.

I also believe my mentors can learn to better themselves by going through the process in teaching us. They can get real time feedback from educators who are going through the same problems that they may be facing with the college students.

My goals from the Kenan internship are to increase my professional experience as both a teacher and a person. A few of my mail goals include:

My first goal is to network with other teachers. The best ideas come from other teachers who have tried them inside their classroom. Kenan is great to have time to work with other teachers and describe what we do in our classrooms. We talk about what works, and what does not. In my short time in the internship I have learned a lot from others, and plan on bringing that back into my classroom.

Another goal of mine was to gain professional experience that I can bring back to the classroom. My main objective as a teacher is to help better prepare students for the real world, and working with my mentors at the college has already helped me do that.

Lastly I believe everyone should always be learning. In my classrooms I am constantly preaching to my students that they should always be learning. With all the free resources out today, it is very easy to learn anything you are interested in. I think Kenan was a great opportunity for me to put myself out of my comfort zone and grow as a person and educator.