I cannot believe we are in the 6th week of school. Time flies when you’re having fun! As I reflect on everything I learned this summer at our Professional Advancement Institute, I think the concept I’ve focused the most on is data driven instruction. The school I teach at recently fell to an “F” on our school report card due to EOG scores. Because of this, our school has implemented a new Ram Time remediation period where the students are place in either math or language arts remediation groups. Overall I’ve been very focused this year on using data driven instruction because I know that it’s highly effective. One way I’ve been doing this is giving some type of formative assessment (exit ticket, stations, mini quiz, etc.) at least three times a week. This allows me to move on or revisit material if needed. I’ve also started using data charts in my classroom. I’ve found that students are more motivated to perform better when they can see and analyze their own data! My data boards are simple pie charts where I divide the class grades into three groups: exceeds standard, meets standard, and approaching standard. It’s really powerful to see the students reactions when I post their results! It’s also interesting letting them see the way their particular core did compared to the other classes I teach. Like I mentioned before, I can’t believe we’re already in the 6th week of school. I learned so much over the summer and I feel like I haven’t gotten the chance to implement as much as I’ve wanted to yet! I’m hoping that on the next workday we have in October I will be able to put together some more awesome things for my students! I’m also excited for what we will learn this week in Raleigh at our 2nd PD!