Miss Brown's Page

Just a few things before you read my blog...

1. I have a million thoughts a minute, so trying to get them out coherently sometimes doesn't work...most of these post are written late at night. I'm a teacher what did you expect?
Their will be misspelled words...haha did you already catch one?
I'm a technical writer not a fluffy one, but I will try to make it interesting. I'm a science teacher NOT an ELA teacher!
I hope you enjoying reading about my adventure but please don't judge my grammar.
If you would like to contact me my email is rbrown@duplinschools.net

July 30, 2019...Becoming a Nugget

How did I get myself into this project? Well, I got this email about a project that was going to use the idea of putting chickens on Mars to get kids excited about Ag and STEM education. When I read this email I didn't give it much thought as it was one of those things that sounded CRAZY. To be completely honest a teacher in my district had been chosen but had to decline for other reasons so it was then sent out to all the teachers in the district. As I continued to teach throughout the day my mind kept wondering back to the interesting opportunity that had been presented. If you know me personally then you would know something like this is right up my ally as a teacher. I'm a out of the box, hands on, lets test that theory kind of teacher. For example, a couple summers ago I got to spend time learning from lineman about distributing energy to rural communities and I was right in the thick of it doing anything they would let me be a part of. Fifty feet up in air, okay it might not have been that high, but still it was high, I was right there side by side watching and soaking up every piece of information I could to take back to my students. The whole next school year we spent learning how we would not be able to function if it were not for the men and woman who keep our lights on. My students all but built a power gird that year, lol. That experience in and of itself is something I will never forget and thankfully would open the door for me to become a nugget!

Life is about taking chances and I'm glad Dr Koci decided to take a chance on me for this adventure. As teachers if we are content with ourselves then we are doing a disservice to our students...our world is changing everyday and if we want our kids to have a fighting chance then we have to continue to better ourselves and our pedagogy. I know I'm young and naive in my career but I want my students to have opportunities that I didn't when I was their age so I will continue to chase and apply for projects that allow me to learn from this great big world.

July 30, 2019 Week 1 of PD Part 1 -- Washington D.C.

This adventure started with two weeks of professional development. Our first week together took us to Washington D.C. and then found us back at NCSU for two days. The trip to Washington started VERY VERY early in the morning with a 6 am flight, when I have trouble making it to work by 7:20 you can understand the struggle. Another thing about me is that no matter how hard I try I cannot pack light so my suitcase had to be checked and well if you've every been to RDU at 4 am you can understand the struggle their as well. My ginormous suitcase would later come in handy to bring souvenirs back, lol. Also did I mention I was petrified of flying as it's been a while since I've flown. Happy to report everything turned out alright and I didn't embarrass myself to bad. We got to Washington D.C. before the storm of the summer thankfully because they then shut down the airport for a period of time.

Our first stop in D.C. was the NASA Headquarters. As the storm of the summer raged on we forged down the street. Let me just tell you, NO amount of umbrella was going to keep you dry. At NASA we got to video chat with scientists at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She took us on a tour of her lab and told us about the research they are conducting with plants. We then talked to a researcher there in Washington about biological and physiological issues with plant and animal life in space. These meetings were very informative and very cool from a science teacher perspective. One of my colleagues on this project is focusing on plants as part of her curriculum so it was nice to learn what is currently happening with plants.

Day 2 in Washington took us to American Farm Bureau Federation. We got to tour their headquarters and learn about resources available to help teachers incorporate Ag in their classrooms. We have a great Ag in the Classroom program in North Carolina so this was icing on the cake. While there we talked with one of the policy makers who works on Capitol Hill to help promote and garner support for agricultural. We then got to eat lunch with one of the gentlemen instrumental in getting this project funded. That afternoon we had on our own. Our hotel was across the street from the Department of Education, so what do we teacher do? Why make our on appointment for a tour! Interesting fact there is like only one person who actually deals with teachers in the huge building. After that we went to the Air and Space museum of course and then walked the National Mall in search of an elusive stamp for my friend. Happy to report again we got the stamp!

Day 3 found us on Capitol Hill! We got to meet and talk with our representatives and senators about our project. Thanks to the office of Sen. Richard Burr we got a tour of the Capitol and even got a photo on the steps of the Capitol with Sen Richard Burr. It was an incredible experience this social studies teacher was over the moon about. After getting our daily 16,000 steps in we headed to the airport to return back to Raleigh, NC. My next post will be about what we got to experience at NCSU. Below are pictures from our three days in Washington D.C. from the 6 am flight there to the 8:50 pm flight home!

Special shout out to our NC Ag in the Classroom representatives Michele Smoot and Heather Willoughby (our official photographer, lol) for their hard work in day 2 and Linda Andrews for setting up the amazing day on Capitol Hill.

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