Tag: #18KFPD

I. Teachers demonstrate leadership. · IV. Teachers facilitate learning for their students. · V. Teachers reflect on their practice.

Warning: Kinder Teacher Enters the “Real World”

NathalieLudwig4 Comments

The Kenan Fellowship Experience Continues…

I entered the Structural Adhesive Department of LORD Corporation’s Process Development Center early Monday morning, the first day of my Kenan Fellows externship. Mistake number one: wearing a dress and sandals, not exactly “lab attire.” But that didn’t matter, because I was quickly overwhelmed with the buzzing excitement of the real world. As teachers, we prepare our students for the real world every single day, and hopefully we are providing ample opportunities for our students to interact with authentic, real world situations and materials…but as teachers, we rarely get the chance to be in the real world.

As I toured the facilities, my excitement for this special opportunity grew and my eyes IMG_1553were opened to the true value of the Kenan Fellowship program. There should be thousands of innovative opportunities like this, to broaden our educator perspectives and to remind of us of why we do what we do. Inside the labs were chemists and chemical engineers, working to create adhesives that both strengthen and increase the aesthetics of cars. My mentor John Lean described some of the new types of adhesives they were working on for electric car batteries, along with showing me the hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment used to test LORD’s adhesives. One machine even crash tests the strength of their adhesives to mimic that of a car crash…woah. 

My mind churned with ideas I could bring back to my kinders…big picture ideas that would help them see the value in science and how it solves problems and affects our daily lives. At this point, I still had no clue what I would be doing in the labs during my 3 weeks, yet I already had the beginnings of ideas for what my students might explore or create. I met with my mentor at the end of my first day to discuss my project, which would relate to my project for my students. Starting with the end in mind, I asked him what he sees as a need in preparing students for STEM careers like LORD. He began describing the impact that many variables play in affecting different outcomes of the same process, and then handed me a large notebook of process mapping information, accompanied by the actual process I would be experimenting with. I would be completing the same process repeatedly, bonding 2 metal coupons with the same adhesive, and after a day taken to cure for each batch, I would use an Instron machine to measure the force required to pull the coupons apart. He explained that while I might follow the same steps each time, there are different variables that will affect different outcomes in the force measurement each time. I was tasked with creating a process map to outline the steps, and then identifying any variables (room temperature, dispersion of adhesive, coverage of substrate, amount of glass beads, size of static mixer, etc.) that could possibly influence different outcomes in the process. The ultimate goal of my experimentation was to control the outside variables as much as possible in order to obtain similar results each time. Ready….GO!

My first thought: Kindergarteners? Variables? Process mapping? Hmmm…this should be interesting.

My second thought: Me? Dispensing adhesive? Bonding metal? Process mapping? Measuring force?

My third thought: There must be value in this process…what is it, and how can I share it with my students?

And when I thought back to how LORD affects the daily lives and safety of people with their products, I realized why it was so important that a process be as controlled as possible so that it can produce the consistently proven results it was designed to produce – results that end up in people’s cars. And that moment was when my head started spinning with ways I could not only keep the big picture ideas I had started with in mind, but blend those ideas with this new important aspect that my experience was already beginning to teach me.

IMG_1551Now you might be wondering how I’m so comfortable using the lingo and terms above, maybe not…but if I had read this post before I began my externship, I would most definitely be wondering. The open-ended experience of creating a process map for my task, with nothing to go off of other than an abstract formula and example of the process mapping for making scrambled eggs (and Google), is what got me to this point of comfort with the terminology and steps of the process. And the best part – creating the process map gave me a genuine appreciation for how a challenge, without prior modeling or an outline of steps to follow for completion, can engage and grow someone. It also effectively prepared me for the chemical research and experimentation I began this past week. No one gave chemical engineers a guide to the adhesives they would create: they used their background knowledge and resources to problem-solve through trial and error, making mistakes along the way as I have. And it’s not often that I’m on the learning side of a challenge, but I am LOVING it! THANK YOU, KENAN FELLOWS PROGRAM!!!!

Wrap-Up: My Transforming View of Science

When I was offered this externship, I really wasn’t sure how I would get the job done. The description sounded so cool but also so out of my element, which is part of what drew me to it, but also what made it a little intimidating. But it has also taught me about myself and how I should never be scared to take on something that seems “not me.” Just because I have to wear a lab coat and safety glasses and am tasked with chemical research does not mean I can’t do it! The stigmas embedded in the words science and chemistry are probably what have held me back from diving all in for many years, and I know I’m not alone in that – there are many other teachers and students who feel that same way. Using a bunch of big words and conducting random experiments can seem confusing and meaningless…science is not. Now science can be complex, but with a growth mindset, those complex things can be learned when there is meaning and purpose behind them. This experience in the real world is just what I needed to continue transforming my view of science, and I am so excited to present science to my students from the new perspective I am learning this summer! Stay tuned to see how my project for Kindergarteners develops!

I. Teachers demonstrate leadership. · IV. Teachers facilitate learning for their students. · V. Teachers reflect on their practice.

Year-long Journey, Lifelong Connections #18KFPD

NathalieLudwig1 Comment

Photo Jun 20, 11 27 02 AMI started my summer this year packing my bags to head for Cullowhee, North Carolina, almost the farthest western point of the state! What I knew: I’d get to meet the 24 other educators from across the state, who had also been selected as 2018-19 Kenan Fellows; and that I would have a week packed with valuable professional development and fun! On my 4.5 hour drive though, my mind was full of wonders about what the trip would be like and who I’d connect with!

The Kenan Fellows program gives educators the opportunity to learn for several weeks in the STEM fields we should be preparing our students for, so I had no doubt that everyone I encountered would have a passion for authentic learning experiences that prepare students for the real world. As I prepared for the trip, the words of former Kenan Fellow and friend Janet Pride resonated with me- that I will learn so much during my fellowship year and connect with SO many awesome educators who will impact my journey forever! And those are the words I clung to during that overwhelming first afternoon, loaded with initial information in a room full of new faces. It always takes a little bit of time to get settled into those new situations that throw you out of your comfort zone. However I knew this week would be a key time to meet and connect with other fellows who are in the same intimidating position as myself, each of us tasked with creating an internship classroom application product (many of us working with no other fellows assigned to our specific company), still uncertain of what exactly that product will look like or how to make it happen. Knowing we would only have a couple chances to bond face-to-face during the entire fellowship, I went into the trip wanting to make the most of my time at the Summer Institute week and soak in as many relationships and as much learning as I could!

As I reflect on the Summer Institute experience now, it is evident that the connections I made in that week are what got me through the uncertainties I entered the week with and what will continue to get me through the remaining uncertainty ahead. Collaborating and building relationships with others last week helped relieve my fears and grow me in many ways.

-Collaborative coding: Right off the bat, we were broken into teams for an ice-breaker activity to code a Sphero ball to follow a given path without any measuring device. The word coding always intimidated me, because I didn’t really understand it myself and consequently, was slightly scared to bring it down to the Kindergarten level. This was something I would have been scared to try without working in a team setting. The collaborative nature of the activity not only helped me approach the challenge with confidence, but it also helped me see ways coding could be integrated into the Kindergarten curriculum. Brainstorming time with a team, particularly Lisa Cook, my fellow Kinder teacher Kenan Fellow, was so valuable and inspired me to do more with coding next year!!

-I’m not alone: For my particular internship, I am tasked with the challenge of bringing work with adhesives and material coatings through chemical research to the Kindergarten level (#kindersCAN) . I want to make this a meaningful project that will help our youngest students to learn and create in the ways of STEM careers in need of prepared employees. I have not started the internship aspect of the fellowship, but I am still unsure as to where my project will go. Getting to know the other fellows reminded me that I’m not alone in this uncertainty; there is also opportunity to give feedback to and collaborate with others on projects along the way. I’m so pumped to work closely with my team, Tamara Barabasz, Annah Riedel, Carrie Robledo, and Ashley Luersman, over the course of the year!

Photo Jun 22, 9 38 18 AM.jpg

-Digital scavenger hunt: I had never used the Goosechase app for a scavenger hunt, much less did I understand how our team would approach and solve all the missions we were tasked with. But working as a team, our different strengths made it possible to attempt it all and have fun while doing it! And it modeled what an educational cross-curricular scavenger hunt could look like in the classroom! It was a day-long endeavor!

–The classroom perspective: Many times, we all mentioned that we could relate to how our students probably feel at times. It’s important for me to take that piece back to my classroom, remembering how clueless or overwhelmed students may feel when presented with a challenging task. And reflecting on how much the collaborative environment positively impacted me in those situations during the week, I want my students to feel that same way about collaborating, even if they’re only 5. You don’t have to do it all alone..we are better together.

–Advice: find your “marigolds”: Closing advice from Kenan Fellows Alumni Network members echoed what I had been reflecting on throughout the week, particularly when Erin Fisher mentioned the importance of finding your “marigolds”- your educator “people” who can be found both inside and outside of your school building. Education can be an isolating profession at times, as it can cause teachers to feel boxed into their classrooms without adult connections that help them grow. Your “marigolds” are the people who support you and your risk-taking and help make your experience as an educator connected, collaborative, and amazing. And I am so grateful to this experience for connecting me with a whole new network of people!

With the challenging year ahead, I know I couldn’t do it without this group of professionals and friends that I’ve gained this past week! The networking aspect of the fellowship, while just one part of it, has already been so valuable in connecting me with amazing people who I will continue to learn from for more than just our fellowship year. So Janet, you were right! In those slightly uncomfortable experiences, it’s the people that make it all feel possible – people to build relationships with, to collaborate with, to relate to, to learn from. People and the relationships they build are similarly the foundation of what a classroom community should be, and what often motivates and drives and success. I look forward to continuing to grow outside my comfort zone, not alone, but alongside my marigolds!