Classroom Characteristics
I have 26 students in my first grade class at _________ Elementary. Their ages range
from 6 years old to 7 years old. Most of the students start at the age of 6 and turn 7
sometime throughout the year. There are 16 girls and 10 boys. Twenty-two out of the 26
students speak a language different from English in their home. Two of the 26 students
came from developmental kindergarten and receive 30 minutes of resource room
education per day. One of the 2 students from developmental kindergarten has very
specific social needs that are described in his Individualized Education Plan. Aside from
academics, he needs additional help with learning how to socialize and function around
his peers and other people. Three of the students in my class receive additional speech
therapy 2 times a week and 2 of the students receive occupational/physical therapy while
at school. All of these students have very particular needs that the students are required
to work on while in class with my support.
The ability level of the students range from students who are working below grade level
to students who are working at somewhat higher than grade level. There are students
who are learning their letter sounds, and then there are students who know their letter
sounds and are working on learning word chunks, memorizing sight words, and reading
fluently. Finally, the higher groups of students are working on fluency and
comprehension. It is a challenge to address all ability levels, especially when there are
many different languages spoken and many different learning styles and special needs for
these students.
I have the desks are arranged in groups in the classroom. I try to arrange the groups so
there is a range of ability levels in each group. I have the students do a lot of work either
as a whole group or in partners, therefore, I make sure that there are people in the group
who know what to do and can help the others. I know there are some students who have
trouble understanding directions and this is why I put them with students who do
understand and can help them. A common routine I have the students do when I ask a
question is to tell a partner what the answer is first before raising their hand. This helps
those students who aren’t sure about the answer or are too shy and not confident to feel
like they can answer to the whole class. I also have the students do a lot of talking to
each other and then sharing to the whole class before they work independently. This
helps to avoid the problem of those students who just sit and talk when they are supposed
to be working and it helps me gauge who understands and who needs some extra help.
Because there are many students who are just learning the English language, I try to focus
on vocabulary with everything we do. I use many GLAD strategies in all of my teaching
to help include the ELL students and the students who are academically lower. One of
the strategies I use is drawing pictorials of science concepts with labels and leaving those
pictorials on the wall for students to reference. I also use chants and songs to teach sight
words, classroom rules, and science concepts. I have found that no matter what language
or ability level, the GLAD strategies help to engage all students.
Characteristics of School and District
The school district I work for has 4 high schools, 5 middle schools, and 15 elementary
schools. This district is very diverse. It encompasses communities that are economically
very high and also communities that have large immigrant populations and subsidized
housing. The district has adopted a math curriculum that each school is required to use.
The district also offers many professional development opportunities.
_______________ Elementary is a Title 1 school. According to the October 2005 WASL
report, at _______________ 85% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch,
53.3% are White, 24.9% are Hispanic, 8.3% are Asian, 7.5% are Black, and 2% are
American Indian/Alaska Native. _______________ comes from an area that houses
many immigrant and low-income families. There are many students who are just
entering the United States and do not speak English. _______________ also takes all of
the homeless students from the district. Many of the students stay at the school for a
short period of time while their families are looking to move to better living situations.
This past year was the 2
nd
year the 4
th
grade students did not make adequate yearly
progress on the WASL in math. This has caused many changes at _______________.
There is a lot of pressure for the students to pass the WASL this year and the principal
has implemented some programs to help the students make more progress. There are
intervention groups in reading, math, and writing every day for 30 minutes. The teachers
are asked to attend weekly staff meetings and have weekly grade level meetings. Once a
month the principal organizes either a half-day or a full day to meet and plan with grade
level teams. These are called Professional Learning Teams. As a grade level team we
write SMART goals to ensure that we are all on the same page and that we are working
toward a common goal as a grade level. The principal of my school also brings in extra
resources to help teachers. We have had a writing residency, we are implementing a
computerized math program, and a math residency will be coming to work with the 4
th
grade teachers. All these programs are to help the teachers at _______________ teach so
that students can achieve to their highest potentials.
Characteristics of the Community
The community of people that make up _______________ are mainly immigrant families
or families that are considered low income. The parents of the ELL students have
expressed to me how difficult it is for them to help their children with homework and
academics. I have had parents who come to see me before and after school to ask for
help on homework and reading handouts that come home. I have even had parents ask
me to help them read medical information because they couldn’t understand what the
forms said. _______________ also has many families who do speak English at home,
but have very low income and do not have the resources to help their children. I have
observed that some of the community from _______________ is very close knit. Many
of the students from my room go home with other students’ families or babysitters. The
parents seem to help each other with child care and the students come to school with
many stories of playing at the community park with their classmates.
The PTA at _______________ so far has been very small. I think this is because either
the parents work full time or the parents don’t feel comfortable enough coming to the
meetings because they do not speak English. There is a church that has adopted
_______________ and helps with the school carnival and other events that are designed
to raise money and benefit not only the learning, but also the overall well being of the
students.