Speaker Reflections

Data-Driven Instruction Reflection

On Tuesday, February 10th, we had the opportunity to hear from several of the Trace
Crossings faculty as they discussed the importance and implementation of data-driven
instruction. Mrs. Cannon, Mrs. Pegouske, the Title I teachers, and Mrs. Stone all came to present
their teaching methods to us.
I took a lot away from the discussion on data-driven instruction. At the days end, I could
not help but think to myself, Gosh, I wish I had known all of this last semester. The fact that
instruction should be driven by data is, to me, common sense now. However, last semester, I
knew nothing about being a teacher.
I immediately am taken back to Morning Intervention last semester, and everything that I
feel could have gone better. I wish I had taken time to sit down with my triad every week or two
and discuss, in detail, the data given to us and the data we were collecting. We worked well with
informal data, like anecdotal notes, but should have looked more closely at the data coming from
formal assessments. If we had done that, we could have targeted instruction even more
appropriately to fit each of the individual students needs in the reading content area.
In the future, I hope that all of my instruction would be data-driven. It will be important
for me to work alongside the instructional support staff at whichever school I am in to ensure that
I am giving my students an education that is of the greatest possible caliber.
We are moving to a time in which my occupation will involve much more numerical
work than ever before. I am looking forward to the challenge!

AMSTI Training Reflection

I enjoyed having the opportunity to hear from AMSTI representatives Kimberly Davis
and Ashley Tilley in class on Thursday, February 18th. Growing up in Alabama, I was
familiarized with AMSTI through my experience as a student. However, I have an entirely
different view of the program now that I am seeing it from a teachers perspective.
AMSTI is doing an excellent job of arming teachers with the appropriate training and
tools to tackle new methods of math and science instruction. There has been a shift to teaching
for understanding, rather than teaching for pure knowledge. There has also been a shift from
teaching in a teachers classroom to a classroom shared among teachers and students. AMSTI
helps teachers (those who have been teaching a while and those who have just been students
themselves) to embrace those changes and create a classroom environment that thrives off of
them.
What stood out to me the most about this experience is that AMSTI is not a company led
by people outside of the education field. Both Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Tilley were once classroom
teachers: not just for a little while, but long enough to gain creditable experience. It is a relief for
me to know, as an up-and-coming classroom teacher, that choices relating to curriculum are
being made by qualified people who have once been in my shoes.
I look forward to (hopefully) working in an AMSTI school one day and putting their
strategies and resources to good use!

Inquiry in Science Reflection

In PEI on Wednesday, March 16th, we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Wall as he
discussed inquiry-based instruction in the science classroom. Dr. Wall taught science for many
years before coming to Samford to teach future educators. He explained inquiry in a way that
truly made sense to all of us.
Dr. Wall described science argumentation as being composed of three separate, but
integrated items: a claim, evidence, and justification. Through the discovery of these
components, an inquiry-based learning experience can be shaped from most any science
standard.
Dr. Wall gave us several examples of this planning method put into practice. With him
allowing us to work in groups, we came up with a few examples of our own. One group chose a
first-grade standard on light. The objective of this standard was for students to see that light
passes through some objects far more easily than others. This group, when teaching using
inquiry, would simply tell students that light passes through x more easily than any other object.
The students would be responsible for gathering evidence, through experimentation, to support
or refute that claim, before justifying their perceptions.
In a way, it seems that Dr. Wall led us in a little inquiry of our own during his time with
the class. Seeing his model, I now have a better understanding of the proven methods used in
teaching science to both primary and intermediate students. I see that Dr. Walls shared
philosophies align with my personal philosophies very well. Students need inquiry-based
learning opportunities to grasp abstract concepts like those presented in the science curriculum.
After hearing from Dr. Wall, I feel prepared to go out and teach my students using these
methods; and to learn a little along the way, myself.