Contextual Factors Affecting The Classroom

Mountain City is a diverse city and it has population over 165,000, according to case 4: Mountain City Schools. The Mountain City is home to the Mountain City School (MCS) district, which involves of approximately 29,500 students, as well as, a staff of 1,825 certificated personnel and 1,395 classified employees. (Peterson 41) The district is included of a post-high school educational program, five high schools, one alternative school, ten middle schools, and forty elementary schools. The administrative offices, also known as “The Hill”, view the employees within the district along with performer, decision making, and guiding finances for all the schools. (Peterson 41) MCS is important part of Mountain city.

The school that I work in is located in Frederick, Maryland. We have nearly 800 students that attend Kindergarten through 5th grade, and with diverse backgrounds. The school is located in a very prosperous neighborhood, with several additional sections of townhomes and apartment complexes which house Section 8. All of these are within walking distance to the school. In Frederick County there are over 2,500 ELL students and more than 11,000 that are FARM (Free And Reduced Meals) students. Our graduation rate is superb with an over 93% graduation rate and a 3.5% dropout rate. This

School districts experience changes in educations on a regular basis. Some of these changes occur as a result of local, state, and/or federal issues. One way to prepare for local changes that are related to revenue and expenditures is to stay informed. Attending school board, PTA, and city council meetings is a good way to stay informed on what is occurring in your local area. The problem of financing education once, considered the responsibility of only a few specialist with vested interests in the schools—boards of education, school administrators, state departments of education, and state legislatures—developed into a priority item for virtually all citizens. (Brimley 2008) All

They have to cut programs to save money for more important uses. Not many schools in our district still have an orchestra, band, and choir due to lack of funding. Schools are removing influential groups that could help students figure out their future plans and who they are. The building should not suffer either. Proper maintenance and care must be taken to create a safe and appealing learning environment. Most of these problems could be fixed by inducting a smarter budget. Activities and learning do not need to suffer any longer. It’s time to put an end to the money situations here at

It is a magnet school with over 101 teachers. The student to teacher ratio was 16:1, allowing for smaller classes compared to that of Bradshaw Mountain High School (Potomac High School). The race composition as of 2014 is 14% White American, 49.6% African American, 7.4% Asian American, 22.5% Hispanics, and 5.8% are of two or more races. 45% of the student body receive free or reduced lunch (Potomac Senior High School). That is roughly 756 students out of the 1,680. To receive reduced lunch in the state of Virginia, a family of four must have a combined income of $43,568. For that same family to receive free lunch, there must be a combined income of $30,615 (Notices). Out of the 414 students I graduated with 84% said they were going on to higher education (347 students) (Prince William County Public

I attended the Bond County Community Unit #2 school board meeting on June 26, 2017 in Greenville, Illinois. At this meeting, the Bond County Community Unit #2 budget was discussed for the 2017 – 2018 school year. As with many school districts in the state of Illinois, financial problems and the state budget crisis threaten to result in deep cuts within the Bond County school system. It

I attended the March 9, 2017 meeting of the Cumberland, Rhode Island School Committee. There were six members present: Raymond Salvatore, Karen Freedman, Amy Goggin, Stephen Hess, William Dennen, and Paul DiModica. At the beginning of the meeting, it was announced that Mark Fiorillo was not in attendance. Unfortunately, though I grew up in Cumberland, I did not the public schools, so I was somewhat unfamiliar with the programs discussed.

Scenario 6: Tom is a boy in grade one who everyday comes in and puts on a dress from the house center, he then tells everyone that he is a girl and wants to be referred to as a she. The teacher has mentioned this situation to Tom’s parents but they seem to pretend as if they did not hear anything.

Last semester was exceptionally challenging; however, it was extremely beneficial because I had to work harder than any of my other classes before. I think various elements contributed to me being unsuccessful in Nursing 204. My aunt died in March with Lupus and that affected me in a huge on the grounds that she played a big role in my life, since I was a child. I was still in the denial stage and my emotions took over, which caused me to become less motivated in school. I just felt like I had no inspiration last semester and I should not have let my emotions hindered my education. In high school, I generally experienced difficulty taking tests that were not seeking the direct answers, and the Nursing 204 tests were not quite the same as the tests I would regularly take. My procrastination last semester played an enormous role in failing the course. When I initially

Meeting the needs of diverse learners has not been a simple task. An incredible amount of time and energy has been spent in creating a culturally responsive classroom. As stated in the literature review, reflection has been a critical component of creating such culture. As a white female and a product of the upper-middle class, I was quickly forced to apply my knowledge of cultural responsive pedagogy when I accepted a position teaching a Title-1 school with over 90% of students representing various minorities in Metro Atlanta. I swiftly realized that my students and I derived from different backgrounds, but I knew I had to make learning relevant and develop personal connections with my students.

In order to create a positive classroom culture, teacher need to promote positive relationships between students and with students by taking an interest and have respect for each other. It is extremely important for teacher to get to know the students, their families, and their culture. When a student knows their teacher cares about them, then a relationship of trust will exist between a student and teacher. According to Sayeski and Brown (2011), “teachers who had positive relationships with their student had 31 % fewer discipline problems and rule violations over the course of the year than teachers who did not” (p. 12). In order to know more about them, I will send home a poster board where the students can fill it with any information they would like me and their classmates to know. This constructivist approach gives them the opportunity to be creative and choose what they want to share. The essentialist approach of sending home a questionnaire for the family to fill out will help collect information important to understanding the student. This is the only category where I consider myself an essentialist and constructivist due to how information will be gathered about my students, but this will allow me to build the framework for a positive learning environment for everyone. Having students create a poster will allow their peers to get to know them as an individual. Another way to create a positive environment is having students work together to keep

Mr. O’Connor shared results from a survey that was conducted in the spring, as well as the outcome from two focus groups. An item that was stressed very strongly in the assessments was that people aren’t aware of how much Monroe Public Schools has to offer. Strategies were discussed such as fostering an emotional connection with parents and community leaders; developing communication formats that are effective and consistent; and to create a feedback system

The context of the classroom is a 6th grade math class. The students are at varying developmental levels from below level to advanced/gifted. The types of learners I have are the auditory, visually, and mostly the bodily/kinesthetic learners. I have students who are from multiple ethnicities such as Hispanic, White, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African American. I also have students with varying exceptionalities.

The overall functioning of a classroom is impacted by trust, safety, and consistency. When a student does not feel safe he or she will reflect this through his or her behavior. Trust is important for students to take risks and allow learning to occur in the classroom. Trust, safety, and consistency are beneficial in the learning environment. A classroom where students feel safe, realize the teacher is consistent, and trust is developed, will allow students to grow and change socially, emotionally, and academically. This will offer a positive learning environment.

Mrs. Ross has her fourth grade students move their desks together into groups of 2 to do a group activity. She instructs them to pair with anyone they choose. Teresa raises her hand, “I don’t want to pair with Megan again because she doesn’t do any of the work. Can I have someone else?” Megan who is soft-spoken just looks down at the floor as the class waits for the teacher’s response. Mrs. Ross asks Teresa and Megan to come with her outside and instructs the class to carry on with the activity.