Profile: Developing Tomorrow's Educators: Davis' Passion for Education Spreads to the Shelby County Community
Published Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 4:03 p.m.
Written by Scott Mims | Special to reporters
Dr. Jennifer “The Ji” Davis of the University of Montevallo knew she wanted to be an educator for as long as she could remember. Dr. Davis spoke loudly to her imaginary students, much to the concern of her brother.
“I was the kind of kid who would always ask the teacher for extra copies and go home every day and play school with them,” Davis recalls of her childhood. “I have played in schools all my life, and what still drives me is of course the love for children. But above all the creativity and the challenge of meeting the needs of every student in the classroom. is.”
When you hear Davis talk about education, it doesn't take long to realize how much she loves her job. She says it's also her hobby, and she doesn't think of it as “work” at all.
Davis is in his 15th year of teaching at UM and also serves as program coordinator for Elementary Education, Elementary/Cooperative Education, and Deaf Education, having served in this role for four years as of fall 2023. I am. Montevallo Connection Facilitator. Montevallo Connection is a program that connects teachers, administrators, and students at Montevallo elementary, middle, and high schools and her UM. Davis also coordinates student-teacher placement in surrounding areas.
“I teach introductory methods courses, and that's my favorite part,” Davis says. “I focus on elementary school classroom management and social studies, so both are my passions.”
If education is in Davis' blood, so is education in Shelby County. Davis, a graduate of Carrera High School, graduated from his UM in 1999 and returned to earn a graduate degree in management. She taught elementary school in Shelby County Schools, moved into administration, and then returned to UM to prepare new teachers. Currently, her four children attend Shelby County schools.
“This is really a full-circle moment for me because I get to help prepare these pre-service teachers to return to Shelby County and the surrounding areas,” Davis said.
Developing future educators
When students first come to Montevallo, they spend the first few years fulfilling general education requirements. Then move on to the block course. In the first block, the foundation block, students take classes, but she observes them in the classroom for 50 hours to make sure the lessons are what they really want to do.
Sometimes, students come up to her at the end and say, “This isn't for me,” and Davis says she appreciates their candor.
“I’m grateful that they understand that early on and are able to find and pursue a career that they’re passionate about,” she says.
The second is the methods block, where students learn literacy, classroom management, and technology strategies to use in the classroom. The third is a pre-internship block where students learn strategies for teaching social studies, math, literacy, and science.
The final step is an internship. This is like a regular job from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day of the school week.
At the end of each semester, a series of special meetings are held to discuss professional qualifications with each student. Davis explains how disposition meetings work.
“I can say, 'Here's what you think you're great at. Or here are some areas you'd like to focus on for the next block.' It's the kind of conversations you have without a job,'' but I would have preferred them to have these conversations with me rather than with a future employer. They are future principals,” she says. “The great thing about our program in every block is that you come to class for eight weeks, we teach you all the content, and then you actually go to public school for the next eight weeks so you can: Once we have put this into practice, we will go into schools to check on students and provide support as needed.”
Because of the continuing teacher shortage, elementary school teachers are being hired before they graduate, Davis said. Once you submit your final portfolio, you will receive a supplementary salary until the end of the semester before graduation, after which you can get a full-time job.
bring the teacher to the classroom
Davis estimates that 25 to 30 students take her program each semester at UM. Of course, this has a huge impact on Shelby County and the surrounding area through the placement of students and teachers. Additionally, much consideration is given to the placement of each student and teacher based on the needs of both the student and the school.
“When we ask the county or the surrounding counties to send a student, it’s like, this student is an athlete and they need to be here because they have to go back to practice to keep their scholarship, or this student needs to be here. Sometimes it’s like, I need to be here because I work downtown, and I have to go to this school to get there,” Davis says. “This student is a parent, so he needs to be at this school to pick up his kids on time. This student may not have transportation, so he needs to be in the car with this friend. must go to this school. In our class, the students also have different and diverse hobbies and needs, which is really cool.”
When asked what makes UM's Elementary Education program different from other programs, Davis said she thinks it's because the majority of professors have been teaching in public schools for quite some time. She also notes that partnerships with the Shelby County community allow students enrolled in the school to put what they learn at UM into practical practice.
“Even during the (COVID-19) pandemic, our students were allowed to attend Shelby County Schools. I was very surprised by that. Even when we had to close, our students attended school online.” So it was the best experience in a terrible situation,” she says.
The project also introduces students to real-world experiences. During the fall 2023 semester, when Davis was teaching social studies, her class, with the help of her husband, Montevallo Fire Chief Brad Davis, taught a lesson on community helpers.
“We were so close to the fire station that we went straight to it at the end of the lesson and they were waiting for us to ask questions,” she recalls. “The great thing about being part of a community like this is that you can share resources across the board.”
The Montevallo Connection is another way she connects people in the community, specifically in Montevallo. Four times a year, she invites Montevallo elementary, middle and high school principals and teachers to join her UM faculty to discuss ongoing projects and ways they can support each other. For example, UM's foreign language department may provide interpreters to elementary schools, or UM athletes may read to children to inspire them. Davis recalls a particularly heartwarming example when some of the girls at Montevallo High School didn't wear dresses for prom.
“They contacted our family and consumer sciences department and not only collected and found the dress, but hemmed and altered it for us, which was great,” she recalls. “What's special about this community is that we all look out for each other. Everyone looks out for everyone, so it's a very welcoming place.”
Davis has four daughters. Avery is a senior at UM and Carter is a senior at Montevallo High School. Ms. Bradley is a senior at Thompson High School, and Ms. Gracie is married and lives with her husband, Jake, and her daughter, Clara, at the West Point Military Base in West Point, New York. Additionally, Dr. Davis lives on a farm and feeds pigs and cows each day when he returns home. She also delivers “Meals on Wheel” to people in the community two Fridays each month.
“I love those people. They are my friends, one woman was my middle school gym teacher, and now she is bedridden, but I love those people. They are family to me. ,” she says.
Perhaps Davis' love for education may be best observed during a typical car ride home.
“Because I know that (students) don't all learn the same way and that they all need to be exposed to different instructional methods. So for me it's always, 'Oh my God. I go home thinking, “What should I do?'' Is it different for this student? 'And in this university classroom, from elementary school students to students, I've been working to figure out what's the best way for them to learn the content, and that's exciting to me,' she says. .
Davis, who has worked as an educator for 24 years, said there was a time when she thought she would consider other options for her life at this point, but the truth is, there is no place for her anywhere else.
“I love it, I really love it,” Davis says. “And now that I’m at the point where I can stop, I don’t want to stop.”