Who I am and What this Means To Me!

A little bit about me

I teach 8th grade science at Waynesville Middle School in Haywood County, NC. I have been teaching for about 6 years and love what I do. My first degree is in Archaeology from the University of Montana with a strong focus on geophysical prospection; I was working on a Masters in Cultural Heritage when I moved with my three children back to North Carolina. My interest area of research in archaeology really meshes well with the 8th grade science curriculum in North Carolina and that is part of why I enjoy teaching 8th grade so much. I love to travel, do backcountry backpacking, and hang out with my kids, Celia, 20, Matteo, 22, and Elijah, 23. I also really enjoy spending time with my friends!

In my classroom I strive to make an authentic environment where my students are scientist. I attempt to create an opportunity for students to see that the process of what they are learning is a transferable skill set that is a part of their future, regardless of their career trajectory. Learning is embed with the curriculum in lessons that are community centered and future focused. Whether they are doing proposals for green enrgy projects in the community, collect water samples to identify non point source pollutants and create ways for the community to manage the impact of those pollutants, or learning about population ecology through forest and national park management students are connected to their learning with in their community.

Science Olympiad

I have been coaching the School's Science Olympiad team since 2016. At the last competition we attended in 2022 we took 4th as a team, and several years in a row many team members have qualified to go to NC State for state level competition.

The Science Olympiad classroom is a true maker space, where students build, explore, and experiment with materials to compete against other teams in specified topics, from engineering to coding, to lab investigations, to pure acquisition of content. Students investigate crime scenes, look for infectious diseases and how they may spread, and even have to identify unknown substances through physical properties such as density.

Keenen STEMwork Program

I am a facilitator for the STEMwork Program and believe in the relationships that are built between local industries, classrooms and teachers. STEMwork is a blended professional development program that supports North Carolina K-12 educators in establishing and sustaining education-industry partnerships with local STEM employers while providing a framework for taking those partnerships into the classroom through project-based learning (PBL). STEMwork follows a collaborative funding model between school districts and industry partners to support a team of STEMwork Scholars in a school, district or region.

22-STEMwork.pdf

Where I want to go in my classroom (and beyond)

For me, it is important that my classroom focuses on the process of science as a way of thinking critically in the real world. I strive to incorporate more and more real-world applications in my classroom. This includes building relationships and working with local businesses, professionals, and nonprofits to provide students with connections to the content in the classroom. This is often accomplished through STEM and inquiry-based activities. Furthermore, the application of STEM as pedagogy where the focus is the teaching of a process that involves lifelong learning and development of the skills we associate with STEM professions (ie, the hard and soft skills looked for in the workforce). I believe that defining STEM as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math excludes the concept of inquiry-based project learning from traditionally non-STEM fields. Applying STEM as a pedagogy opens opportunities for non-STEM classrooms such as Social Studies, History, and ELA [what does this stand for? Define abbreviations at first use] to more readily accept the potential for community, career, and choice-based activities that cultivate the 4 C’s: Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Collaboration.

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