She is in the top one percent of her class. Recently Pontotoc Career and Tech instructor Amanda Wood was chosen to be part of the Mississippi Teacher Advisory Council in Jackson.
These educators have the responsibility to provide feedback to Dr. Carey Wright who is the state superintendent of education; on the initiatives of the MDE, the Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) and the Mississippi State Legislature.
Wood teaches engineering at the Pontotoc Ridge Career Technology Center and she is one of only 300 who meet with Dr. Wright on a regular basis in her newly appointed role which was developed to empower teachers to discuss topics critical to their success in the classroom and how MDE can assist.
Already Wood has her eye on what she would like to see accomplished on the state level for the Career centers across the state.
“I would like to see internet access for students and teachers. We have the technology and we know how to use it, but it is no use o the students and teachers don’t have access to internet at home.” She also said that there is also a lack of funding for Career Technical Education that she would like to see addressed.
A veteran teacher who has also served at Mississippi State University in the curriculum department; actually writing the course that she is now teaching here in Pontotoc, Wood has been teaching at the technical education level her entire career. She has a Bachelor of Science in Physics, a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Engineering in Special Education of Gifted, Talented and Creative. She is also National Board Certified in engineering, design and fabrication.
Wood said she chose to teach engineering. Because “it is where math and physics meet to benefit the grater good. It is applicable to everything, every where.”
She especially enjoys teaching on the career and technical level because it is hands on learning. “I hope we are getting beyond this thinking the college is your only way to be successful,” she said. “For instance, here I teach Solid Works and I tell my students they are leaving here with an industry recognized skill even before college if they chose to go that route.”
In this new and different teaching environment her greatest challenge is to “teach hands-on material virtually. I have had to get very creative to meet the objectives of my curriculum. I’ve had to give myself a lot of grace. We are going through uncharted water.”
Through her adaptability she has found out that the students enjoy the virtual videos. “Those without internet let me see it on the phone the next day. It is neat to see my students succeed inside and outside of class and see those ‘light bulb’ moments when they get it.”
She found out her love for teaching during her undergraduate work. “I thought physical science labs at Ole Miss and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a teacher.”
Of course, she said this was no surprise to her late aunt Melba Gamble who taught at the Baldwyn school. “All my life she told me I would make a good teacher.”
Wood has 21 students from all three high schools in the tenth through twelfth grades. “This course covers safety and ethics, technical drawing, scale drawing, CAD, robotics and the physics behind the robotics, tech writing and engineering on the first year level.”
If a student successfully completes the first year they can go for a second year to learn electrical systems, fluid systems, thermal systems, computer numerical control, laser engraving and much more.
She had her first TAC meeting this past week. “Dr. Wright discussed several topics with us and some highlights were to focus on acceleration instead of remediation,” Wood said.
“Acceleration is a form of ‘just in time’ teaching where we are preparing and teaching content to each student with what they need to know for the present whereas remediation focuses on skills of the past.”
Wood said she learned that current research shows that remediation does not work, but acceleration does.
“We also discussed the new Social and Emotional Learning Standards for learners and the Mississippi Connects program where all public schools in the state will have the technology for students to learn at home and at school.”
The mother of two young children, Addis is five and Mae Morgan is two, she is married to Justin Wood and they live in Sherman.
She received notification of her honor through an email. “I am excited to have a voice at the state level because Career Technical Education is my passion.”
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October 07, 2020 at 09:00PM
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Wood chosen to serve on state advisory council - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
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