Highlights of my week at the KFP Summer Institute at NCCAT include many aspects:
Personal: Being with like-minded people with passions for learning, teaching, and exploring
Professional: Creating a brand which will help me focus my learning, energy, and future endeavors to channel them into a very productive lifestyle/teaching style
- I plan to implement using iNaturalist in my classroom. My students and their families has access to great technology. Being in a rural area and learning to embrace nature and our environment would be promoted by using iNaturalist. This resource will allow my students to engage in data collection and begin to be a part of scientific research.
- Compared with other PD I have attended, this week has included amazing presenters who are ALL head-over-heels in love with learning and the purpose of Kenan Fellows. It is an honor and extremely motivational to be part of this special group of educators. The intensity and required-energy and engagement is extensive as is the reward!
This is me, Nicole, commenting on my own blog page. This is my post for July 26th. I’d like to address these topics about my internship experience:
What was the most interesting moment? At Woods Hole at MBL, just being in the presence of so many brilliant scientists was astounding! The atmosphere of people sharing information and genuinely just wanting to learn was unbelievable!
What was the biggest challenge? My biggest challenge was trying to comprehend some of the scientific information being presented and discussed. Maintaining attention and focus when I was very much in a state of non-comprehension during lectures was difficult.
What is your biggest take away? I appreciate that everyone I met was very willing to explain and share information with me. I believe it is very beneficial for teachers to be in the role of the student every one in a while. It reminded me what it is like not to be the ‘all-knowing’ instructor. (LOL at that!)
Friday, July 19
Creating a product that transfers your internship experience into educational resources is a multifaceted approach for me. The challenges and successes you are experiencing are as follows:
*Challenges: Simplifying the material so that it is on the elementary level. Creating lessons for students that fits into the time frame that I have students for media lessons and AIG classes. Having funding to for instruments and materials I want for certain experiments.
*Successes: The willingness for people to help is very encouraging. The flexibility of the KF program lends to creative products. I have access to lots of technology and administrators who are supportive.
Friday, Sept. 23’s Blog Post
I have discovered some new career pathways and opportunities for your students because of my internship experience. One nice connection made by the head of Zephyr Marine in Woods Hole, Massachusetts was for me to notice who worked in the WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) shipyard. I saw welders, mechanics, painters, fisherman, boat captains, etc in addition to scientists. He made the point that ALL of those people were contributing to science (not people in white lab coats!)