Speaker #1 Reflection

August 25th
Dr. Newton came and spoke to our block today about the qualities a
great teacher possesses. She was part of a study that asked the questions,
How did they maximize learning for all students and what is being done
differently in their classroom? The team found 5 different main qualities that
most contributed to a great teachers success in the classroom. The first was
know over do. This statement has been very relevant in my schooling
experience throughout elementary, middle, high school and college. I agree
that the goal for students should be learning the material versus completing
a checklist on the material. So often I find myself cramming for a test rather
than learning, understanding and having the material stick in my brain along
the way. The second quality was culture of redemption. This has also been
a big factor throughout my school career. I have had many teachers who
were so concerned on me turning in an assignment they forgot to remember
to help me learn while completing it. Teachers need to encourage their
students and remind them that mistakes are okay and we cant all be
perfect. The third thing was, plan constantly-tweak frequently. This will be
something as a teacher I will have to work on. Im the type of person who
likes making a plan and sticking to it. While I can be flexible, the room for
change stresses me out. But remembering that I am teaching for the
students and not myself will help me learn to rearrange my plans day by day.
The fourth characteristic was, Im asking you. I believe it is important to
challenge your students on a higher thinking level. Teach students the right
questions to ask and give them examples by asking them effective
questions. The fifth trait was for a teacher to reinforce the idea that the
students education is a journey and we are all in it together. There are many
different qualities that are important when it comes to becoming a great
teacher but I think these are a great 5 to always keep in mind! It is
encouraging that there is not one correct way to run your classroom. The
first year in the classroom will be hard but also a fun year to figure out how I
can better myself as a teacher.
Speaker Reflection #2
August 27th
The video we viewed in class today was helpful in learning strategies
on how to successfully manage your classroom and discussed multiple ways
to try out these strategies. The first big idea was engaging students in
learning. This is something that I believe is extremely important. I can recall
classes, even in elementary school, that did not captivate my attention,
which caused me to fall behind, or simply just not pay attention. I liked the
idea of physical movement and effective questioning in class. I am a handson learner, so physical activities are a great way for me to remember what I
am learning. The flower example in the video is a great idea. Questioning is

also something that needs to be engaging and effective. I agree with the
idea of having a wait time where students are given time to think about
their answer and can then pair and share to get their ideas flowing before
sharing with the entire class. The next big idea was establishing classroom
rules and procedures. I believe the most important thing in this section is
starting rules and procedures at the beginning of the year. If students know
what is expected of them from the beginning and you are consistent then
behavior should be less of a problem. Expectations are also part of the 5
topics discussed in the video. I had a question about the videos intentions
when talking about having low expectations for students. I believe that as a
teacher I should set high expectations for all of my students no matter what,
so I was unsure of what this section was informing. The next big resource
was recognizing and acknowledging students adherence and lack of
adherence to classroom rules and procedures. This goes along with the topic
discussed before. If children are aware of consequences and awards their
behavior should improve. I think it is important for a teacher to include
verbal and nonverbal acknowledgement in the classroom. Being aware, as a
teacher is also a huge factor. I remember last semester when were in schools
observing one teacher in particular was so influential in shaping what I
believe about classroom management. She knew what her students were
doing at all times and was very consistent in the way she disciplined them.
Her students knew not to try to act up because she would catch them
immediately and they would have to move their clip down (a good example
of a reward/consequence system). The last thing reviewed was the
relationship between a teacher and his/her students. It is essential to build a
relationship with each of your students as a teacher. I really liked how the
man teacher in the video would greet each of his students every morning by
name. Your name is one of the sweetest things you can hear; it makes the
conversation more personal. These strategies and classroom management
resources are great ideas to try out in my classroom.
Speaker Reflection #3
Dr. Rogers came to our class today and discussed what our
expectations of our dispositions are as a teacher. Before she began her talk,
she asked each table to come up with a list of qualities that described our
favorite teacher. My table buddies and I wrote down qualities such as
relationship, loving, passionate all qualities of dispositions. There are three
ingredients we are learning all throughout this program - significant
knowledge base, teaching skills, and dispositions. A disposition seems to be
a very important element and what students most likely remember about
their teachers. In kindergarten, I cried everyday for the first two weeks of
school because I missed my mom. Mrs. Tankersley, my teacher, was so
patient with me during my meltdowns. Each day she would greet me and tell
me how excited she was for me to be in class. After realizing how welcoming
she was and that she really cared for me, I got over my separation anxiety

from my mom. Mrs. Tankersley made such a huge impact on me because of

her dispositions. This is one reason I want to become a teacher. Dr. Rogers
discussed the power of words and I strongly believe in that. If a teacher is
negative or puts a student down, they will remember that and vice versa
with positive words. A teacher needs to always lift up his/her students and
encourage them. Something I also liked that Dr. Rogers discussed was Marva
Collins and how she believed in her students even when no one else did. For
the past three years I have gone to the South Bronx with my church and
worked at any inner city summer camp for a week. So many of these children
do not receive support at home but after spending a week loving on them
and letting them know we believe in them I can always tell a difference in
their self confidence. If these campers attitudes can change after a week of
feeling important than I can only imagine what a difference Marva made in
her students lives. Having admirable, Christ-like dispositions is something I
desire and hope to grow in throughout this semester and the rest of my life.
Speaker Reflection #4
Dr. Julie Hannah was such a joy to hear speak in class today. I loved her
first point comparing assessing a teenager on a driving test who has had no
practice to a student who is learning something brand new and is then tested
shortly after learning. When I was 15 and learning how to drive I was
terrified! I failed the written test and then once I passed I went on to fail the
driving portion. Driving was brand new to me and it took awhile for me to
learn the rules and how to drive. This paints such a similar picture in my
mind to a student who is being tested on something that is brand new. The
anxiety I felt when taking my driving test is not something I would want my
students to feel when being assessed. Students need to be prepared for
assessments if they are going to be summative. Summative assessments are
what turns into grades while formative assessments are something a teacher
can do daily. I believe formative assessments are very important to help
students learn. When a teacher is testing a student, it needs to be
meaningful. I can remember multiple teachers who have given me a grade
back but no feedback on what I got wrong or how to fix it and improve. My
elementary school teachers did a great job at allowing me to understand my
mistakes and how to better learn the material but when I got into high school
my teachers seemed to only care about the grades I made instead of my
knowledge. I loved Dr. Hannahs point about imagining a world, in which
teachers assessed without fear of their students failing that one important
test, at the end of the year. So often teachers get caught up in preparing us
for a test by having us memorize things versus making it head knowledge.
Dr. Hannah shared with us that this test preparation is proven to take up so
much time in the classroom (110 hours which equals 1 month of school).
That is crazy! Striving to give constant feedback, formative assessments,
and simply encouraging and helping my students to understand are my goals
as a teacher.

Speaker Reflection Dr. Bluiett

9-11-15
Dr. Bluiett came and spoke on Early Literacy Assessment at the
seminar in class today. Our Trace Crossings placements were posted
yesterday on schoology and I was assigned to kindergarten (wooo!).
Accordingly to my placement and prior interest in this grade, learning how to
effectively assess literacy with early age children is important to me. I
believe it is important to overexpose children at a young age to literacy,
encourage a love for reading at a young age. My college minister has a twoyear-old son and him and his wife are constantly reading to their little boy. I
have already began to see his love and desire for reading expand because of
how often his parents indulge him in literacy. When I am a teacher and even
this year at Trace I know some students I will work with wont have the
parent involvement and encouragement at home for reading. It will be my
job to appropriately and effectively assess literacy and then make reading
important to the student if it is not already how fun! Therefore, I need to
know how assessment works and why Im doing what Im doing. Dr. Bluiett
informed us of the many reasons we assess students; how well are children
learning, are they making progress, and are they being taught effectively. A
key aspect to assessment is keeping data data drives instruction and helps
us plan better. When I know where a child is at, I can know how to help them
better. Data is something that I feel like some teachers forget to take. I
remember in one particular class in middle school my teacher would have us
complete an exit ticket almost every day. On the way out the door she would
look at it and tell us to keep it, which essentially meant we threw it away
when we left. There was no point for us to complete this exit task when our
teacher took away nothing from it. Assessments need to be meaningful and I
should always ask myself if the assessment will tell me something or is of
substance rather than giving my students busy work. Dr. Bluiett then
discussed Appropriate Assessments for each Response to
Intervention/Instruction (RTI) Level. After tier 1 of core classroom instruction,
tier 2 and 3 are where we come in this year at Trace, supplemental
intervention and intensive intervention. The morning intervention program
will allow us to assess and then help students grow in their literacy skills. So
what assessments can I use and what skills am I looking for in young
children? Oral language and development, concepts about print,
phonological and phonemic awareness, letter name knowledge, sight word
recognition, phonics knowledge, and listening comprehension are some of
these skills. The concepts about print (CAP) test was something I had never
considered or thought about as a teacher. When working with preschool 2 nd
grade, how to turn a page, distinguishing the front and back of a book, those
things are important. This was helpful to know where to start with assessing
early age children. We also learned about LNF and Fountas and Pinnell guide

for assessment. These assessments will be a great guide to help our

students and for us to know where they are at.
Speaker Reflection Dr. Wood
9-11-15
Dr. Wood came and spoke to our class today on how to effectively
teach gifted and talented students in the classroom. This is something that I
was curious about and interested in. Before Dr. Wood began we completed a
3-2-1 or KWL graph and I had a question wondering if it was the teachers
responsibility to provide more challenging curriculum or if the student went
to a gifted teacher for an hour or so everyday. First, it was beneficial for Dr.
Wood to define what exactly gifted meant. I had always thought those
students were the ones who made the great grades and exceeded in every
subject. My definition for what a gifted student was seemed to fit the actual
definition of a bright/high achiever. A high achiever knows the answer,
grasps meaning, listens with interest, completes assignments, and is very
motivated. The gifted student is the curious one; always asking questions
(sometimes steps ahead and unexpected questions), and may seem
disorganized or unmotivated. These two types of students always ran
together in my head so it was good to distinguish them. Dr. Wood then
moved on to discussing how we can meet the needs of gifted and high-ability
learners. A question of mine was answer when she stated that curriculum
and instruction for gifted and high ability students should be different from
the rest of the class. I believe it is important for a teacher to have a
conversation at the beginning of the year informing her students that she will
be providing whatever they may need to help them excel. My first thought
when considering providing different work was that students would either
bully the students who dont get the hard work or vice versa bullying the
nerdy children. But if a teacher begins the year by clarifying she will
provide them with exactly what they need to succeed then there shouldnt
be a problem. Another important aspect of the work given to gifted students
is quality over quantity. I can remember in elementary school if I finished a
math worksheet before others in my class I would be given more math
problems to complete while I waited. I grew tired of having to do so many
math problems; I honestly think this may have contributed to my disliking of
the subject. I also remember in 5th grade I was in a challenge class and unlike
most students, I dreaded going. It was great to be able to leave class and
have the opportunity to progress and work on a more difficult level but the
math activities were so hard. I can remember being so frustrated when the
teacher pulled out the math work each day, this might have been another
cause to the dislike. Maybe I was only gifted in reading either way I feel like
in my elementary school our gifted/talented program could have been
organized better. Dr. Wood then discussed the best practices for
differentiating instruction. I thought the examples Dr. Wood provided were
great and definitely something I would want to try out in the classroom.

Choice board, cubing, and the thinking triangle are all great ways to
encourage higher thinking while allowing for personal interest in what task
you are completing. This was a great presentation that provided with me
very useful information when teaching gifted and talented students. I am
excited to hear Dr. Wood again in the future!
Write up speakers at Trace 11-4
Wednesday was an excellent day of professional growth. I really
enjoyed hearing all of the many speakers from Trace who came to talk to us.
First was Debbie Drake, who is the bookkeeper. Her primary function is to
ensure that the teachers are financially compliant. Mrs. Drake really opened
my eyes to the financial side of teaching. I almost forgot that this was a part
included in the job. Teachers are expected to handle all of the funds they are
given responsibly. Trace Crossings (Hoover schools) has a clock time system
in which teachers clock in and out and keep track of sick days online.
Teachers are responsible for their time and keeping up with it on their own.
Teachers are only given $373.29 to spend throughout the school year and if
they do not spend it, it will roll over the next year through August 31st.
Parents can also donate to a teachers fund to buy supplies for the
classroom. Something that surprised me was the fact that new teachers
dont get paid until the end of September. Teachers also receive the option of
being paid divided into 9 months or 12 months. Also another thing that is
different from when I was in elementary school is the fact that teachers can
only accept gifts from students and families of $25. There are so many rules
dealing with the financial side of being a teacher that I had never thought
about until now. Debbie Drake plays a crucial role in making sure teachers
are able to buy the materials they need to help students succeed in the
classroom.
Next the specials teachers came and talked to us. Angela Robuck, the
music teacher and then the art teacher. Specials are such an important thing
because some schools do not even have this opportunity and while Trace
does, the specials teachers only have their students once or twice a week.
Both special teachers that came and talked to us were passionate about their
jobs. They do have fine art standards (national and city) but they are very
broad but each special at Trace as standards and curriculum. Mrs. Robuck
told us about certain activities they do and what a day in music is like. The
art teacher informed us that Birmingham city does not have art teachers.
The art and music teacher also spoke on behalf of the Librarian and the PE
teacher. The Librarian is always available to provide teachers and students
with resources that is her number one goal! PE is the one special that is 30
minutes, everyday. The PE teacher is certified and has standards to teach
and is required to give students physical tests. The main thing that I took
away out of hearing these two wonderful speakers was the importance of a
teacher coordinating with special teachers. Often teachers just take special
time as a break but great, effective teachers know what his or students are

doing in specials and they try to collaboratively plan and assess students
with integration in between the two. Specials teachers genuinely care about
their students and want to help them creatively think about things they are
learning in the normal classroom while using multiple learning styles. I also
explored the deepspacesparkle website and found so many resources for
integrating art with multiple themes and subjects.
Next, Ms. Ida came and talked to us. I love Ms. Ida! She is so evidently
passionate about her job and the children at Trace. Her job directly affects
each individual at Trace Crossings. If a student is hungry, they will not be
able to focus on what the teacher is teaching. Ms. Ida does her very best to
make sure no child is left hungry. At Trace, free breakfast is provided for
every student, every morning. If there are leftovers at Breakfast, the teacher
should place them in his or her fridge to keep in case children forget snacks
or become hungry throughout the day; especially because when leftovers are
given back to Ms. Ida she must throw them away. Breakfast and lunch menus
are mandated by the state everything is baked instead of fried, there has to
be a certain number of vegetables for the week, milk and fruit should always
be present, and portions are controlled. These requirements are to ensure
that children are provided with a vegetable, fruit, and milk every single day.
47% of students at Trace are on free or reduced lunch. Reduced lunch is 40
cents, $2.10 for normal, $2.95 for faculty, and $4.50 for a visitor. Ms. Ida
talked about the fact that the lunchroom had to compete with bringing
lunches from home so she often walks around to see what students are
bringing from home. No fast food is allowed in the lunchroom and no cakes
for class or birthday parties! (Which was detrimental to hear). When I was in
elementary school we always brought the most sugary desserts for parties
but it seems beneficial to try and limit the sugar kids are given. Obesity
really has become such a problem in children so I applaud the state
mandating healthy foods across lunchrooms. Ms. Ida was a joy to hear and
learn about the different aspects of her job!
David Pitts came and spoke to us next. Mr. Pitts is the ELL teacher at
Trace Crossings. His job varies from day to day but is often managing student
data. There are currently 75 students who are English Language Learners.
Pitts assess students with a home language survey and has to see if parent
want to accept accommodations. He mainly works with students on literacy.
He encourages teachers to work in small groups with their ELL students and
feels with his help and help in the classroom he can prepare students for
middle school. Mr. Pitts helps with both classroom instruction and student
achievement, if certain students werent working with him on their English
they would not be as successful in the main classroom and would have no
individual help.
Mrs. Barber came and talked to us next. She is such a great principal!
Everything that Mrs. Barber had to say was so wise. She wants to change the
view of the principal from students only going to her because their in trouble
to coming to her with anything a mean to nice perspective change. Yes,
principals do deal with severe discipline but she does so much more than

that. I love what she said about all of the staff being in a circle holding
different responsibilities; the children are in the middle, and the staff turns
around them so if one staff member doesnt do their job the circle doesnt
turn. Mrs. Barbers job is to make each teachers job as easy as possible. She
is so involved in the classroom, helping things run smoothly and always
being available to help out when needed. Her most important role is hiring
good people. She gave us great advice about our resumes, how to dress,
multiple questions they will ask us during an interview, and what
interviewers are looking for. She also discussed the things that stand out as a
first year teacher. These qualities consist of cooperatively working with your
team, pitching in ideas, participation, volunteerism, going the extra mile to
stay late, thinking out of the box to not fall into a normal routine, and many
more. After Mrs. Barber, the title one teachers and Ms. Paige the special
education teacher came to speak to us. It was interesting to hear about what
specifically the title one teachers do. They love working with their title one
students and are so passionate about helping them in whatever area they
need. The special education works with about 14 students and services them
in reading and math. Both the special education teachers and the title one
teachers make these students academic success in the classroom possible.
Overall, this was a great day and I learned so much and definitely grew
professionally!
November 10th and 11th
ELL Seminar
Laura came to speak to us about how to teach academic language to
EL students. ESL, ELL, EL all the same thing. This was such an interesting,
helpful two days of professional development. Starting off, I didnt know too
much about how ELLs learn. Honestly I wasnt positive that ESL, EL, and ELL
were all the same thing. There are 4 objectives that she wanted us to get out
of the two days hearing her speak examine how students acquire a second
(other) language, investigate how classroom teacher can use WIDA resources
to plan lessons, identify the components of academic language, identify
necessary strategies that help master ELL content. The first objective we
covered was examining how students acquire a second language. There are
four language domains listen (receptive), speak (productive), read
(receptive), write (productive). When learning a language it always seems
easier to receive rather than produce. When taking Spanish in high school I
could match vocabulary words or listen to my teacher speak but trying to
form sentences to hold a conversation was the most difficult. I could not
produce the language. Something that was very much emphasized during
both two days in the ELL seminar was that language acquisition is a process.
The process is not the same for every child but language acquisition does
have steps an EL will go through, just at different paces. The stages of
language acquisition are preproduction, early production, speech emergence,
intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency. Preproduction (3-6 months) is a

stage in which children are encouraged to listen and not speak. For teachers,
it is necessary to implement realia and lots of visual aids. Early production is
the stage in which students are learning basic needs vocabulary. Teachers
can effectively use point and show. Speech emergence is the time when
students are speaking Spanglish, but are working on forming sentences. At
intermediate fluency, students begin to speak in sentences and can
elaborate while an advanced fluency speaker is speaking to a native with no
problem. We read a classroom assignment in each stage of this process, as
an ELL would hear. This put in perspective how my students in my classroom
at Trace hear and process what Im saying. We have 3 ELLs in my
kindergarten classroom, all three in different stages. It made me realize the
confusion that could be occurring in their mind. Understanding the different
stages will help me know what activities to do to help them. We also
discussed BICS, which is (playground language), how kids talk to one
another, very simple and CALPS (academic language). The next day we
talked about Sentence frame for academic content language. We covered
multiple strategies that would be helpful when teaching an ELL. We also
talked about SIOP and how we can incorporate that into our classroom. SIOP
not only helps ELL students but also every other student. Overall, these two
days really taught me a lot and I am glad for all of the opportunities we
have!
Speaker Reflection Dr. Underbakke I was at a funeral the day he
came to speak at Samford but I really enjoyed hearing him at the ARA
conference. The list of books and explanations he provided were wonderful
and he was a joy to hear.
Speaker Reflection Mrs. Joyner
On Wednesday Mrs. Joyner came and spoke to our block about how to
effectively use technology in the classroom. She gave us a list of resources
that will be very helpful when in the classroom and planning lessons. Mrs.
Joyner really emphasized the importance of only using technology when it
enhances learning. I have seen students in my kindergarten class who just sit
during iPad time at centers. Instead of reading on their iPad or listening to a
story, they either arent sure how to work the iPad or would rather be doing
something else. I loved the video we watched about Mr. Mac and how he
made everything in math fun! Math relates to every aspect of life and I think
that is an important concept to stress. Math is actually used in the everyday
life and not just unnecessary content being forced upon students. There are
a variety of ways to make math more engaging in the classroom. Mr. Mac
had his students make a song about math, which really helped these
students make connections. There are also some cool websites and
resources Mrs. Joyner pointed out such as educreations and virtual
manipulatives. Virtual manipulatives is something I want to look more into.
This would be fun to incorporate in my kindergarten classroom at Trace so

my students would have more interactive thoughts formed about technology.

The virtual manipulatives could keep students intrigued. Overall, I agree
100% with Mrs. Joyner. Technology should be something that is used to
enhance students learning, not an excess amount but plan what and why
focusing on the needs of your students.
Assessment for Learning
Dr. Diana Cheshire
Dr. Cheshire came and spoke to us today about assessments and how
to more effectively plan assessments and assess students. The main
purposes for assessments are assessment for learning, assessment as
learning, and assessment of learning being formative, formative, and
summative. Something that is necessary to think about when planning your
assessments are your goals vs. your objectives. The goals a teacher has for
her students are more long-term while objectives can be accomplished in 1
lesson or a couple of days. Meeting objectives can help lead to meeting
goals. Dr. Cheshire discussed the four components of objectives. The first is
your audience. You must consider your audience when planning how to carry
out your objective. The next three components are behavior, condition, and
degree.
Next, Dr. Cheshire talked about why teachers assess. I think this aspect of
assessment isnt thought about enough. I remember in high school my
teachers would get so caught up in putting grades in the grade book we were
often completing assessments that werent helping us at all. They would
throw different assignments at us at the end of the semester to fill in grades
they still needed. I think planning is a big part of this. If a teacher is focused
on learning, prepared and knows what specific goals and objectives she or he
has then there shouldnt be a lot of random, space-filling, assignments.
Cheshire raised the two questions, can these two coexist peacefully and
should one receive more emphasis than the other? I think that if a teacher is
concentrating on his or her students learning then these two can coexist.
Another aspect of assessments is how to grade. What should teachers
take up for a grade? If teachers grade homework that can sometimes lead to
grading parents work not students. But what if students dont do their
homework what should the teacher do thengive the student a zero? I dont
think zeros are effective. Maybe time can be provided for students in the
morning or after school to complete homework. If homework is only graded
for completion on homework sometimes they dont try very hard, which also
doesnt promote learning. I liked how Dr. Cheshire never gives students
zeros, but rather gave students time to do it. The focus is then put on
learning not grading. Rubrics have also become something that is used to
form grades which is not what they were intended for. Rubrics were just
planned to help assist students in writing essays (etc.). Rubrics are now used
as an enforcement of what grade a student will get and how they will get it
rather than a guideline. Feedback is also very important. Feedback must be

timely, specific, understandable and specific to the student. It should allow

for opportunity for the student to act on feedback (what can they do better
revise, practice, and retry). If a student completes an assessment wrong then
the teacher can interview and ask what their thinking process was, allow
them to rework in front of you. Assessment is an ongoing thing and is very
important to spend time planning.