An Exemplary EC-6 Generalist s Contextual Factors: Community District and School Factors: The city of Huntsville is predominantly Republican with a population of 1, 232 people per square mile and located in Walker County. The number of residents that are foreign born is 1,944. The ethnicity of Huntsville is 8% German, 6% Irish, 5.5% American, 2% French, and 1.9% Scottish. A few nicknames for Huntsville are; The Prison City of Texas, and The Big H. There are also 65 registered sex offenders currently in Huntsville, Texas. Compared to the Texas state demographic average, the Black and Hispanic race are above average. The amount of foreign born residents is also vastly higher than that of other states. The amount of people who rent houses or apartments is also above the state average, as is the institutionalized population, and the number of college students. Below state average are the lengths of stay since moving, the number of rooms per house, and the house ages. The Huntsville Independent School District (HISD) has been in operation for over 100 years now. There are nine district campuses that about 6,000 students attend. The district consists of; a Pre-K center, four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, one high school, and one excel center including grades K-12. This year due to low TAKS test scores Huntsville Elementary is currently rated as academically unacceptable.
Classroom Factors: My classroom placement is a self-contained third grade classroom. The classroom is very small with limited space, the desks are pushed together to make groups and provide a pathway for teachers and students to maneuver around the room. The walls have a lot of decorations, there is hardly a blank space left in the room. There are cabinets and closets to store the teacher s and students materials. There is a storage room next to our classroom as well as down the hall for supplies and materials. There is a restroom in the classroom, along with a sink and water fountain. The technology we have in this classroom includes; an Elmo overhead projector, a promethean board, a cd player, two electric pencil sharpeners, and three computer monitors. The Promethean board is a great tool and very useful in the classroom as well as the Elmo to project examples on the board for everyone to see. There is not very much parent involvement in our classroom at this time. However, recently we have had a few parents bring cupcakes and cookies for their child s birthday. Some parents have written notes to the teacher about changes in pick-ups or about their child struggling in class, but other than that, there has not been a whole lot of parent involvement at this point in time. The rules in the classroom are simple; 1. Keep your hands and feet to yourself, 2. Listen while others are speaking, 3. Raise your hand and wait to be called on, 4. Respect yourself and others, and 5. Obey all the classroom rules. Our classroom routine starts off the day with breakfast in the classroom from 7:30-8:10 a.m. along with the Pledge of Allegiance and other announcements. After breakfast and announcements we go over The Math Target the Question for the day, and then check last nights homework. Next, we will
do our math lesson until about 9:40 a.m. Then it is time for our reading predictions and lesson until 10:30 a.m. when we go to recess. We come in and go to lunch next from 10:50 to 11:20 a.m. When we return to our classroom we proceed to our spelling/writing lesson until 12:20 pm. At 12:20 pm we go to our specials for the day which could be; Art, Music, or P.E. The students return to the classroom at 1:15 pm. From 1:15-2:15 pm. we break the students into groups for tutorial time. From 2:15-3:00 pm. we will either have a Social Studies or Science lesson, and then pack up at 3:00 pm. to get ready to go home. As for classroom management and discipline, each student gets three warnings. For the first warning their name goes on the board with a check mark. The next time, they receive another check mark by their name. The third time they will receive a third check mark on the board, the student gets their folder marked, and has to walk around a cement square their entire recess time. If this behavior continues throughout the day the child will also receive a call home. To reward good behavior the child may receive good conduct marks in their folder or sometimes a sticker. If the children bring their homework all week long they will get to choose something from the treasure box. Student Characteristics: There are twenty one students in the classroom. Of the students in this classroom, there are nine boys and twelve girls. The ethnicities of the students are; seven Black students, twelve White students, and two Hispanic students. Eighteen students are eight years old and three students are nine years old. In our classroom we have five students with special needs. They range from dyslexia, emotionally disturbed, ADHD, and other learning disabilities. We also have about five students that are gifted and talented, that often finish everything in a more timely manner, so we have to have other
things planned for them to do. The students in our classroom vary greatly when it comes to developmental levels. We have some children that are reading on a pre-k through first grade level, whereas others may be on a fourth, fifth, or even sixth grade level. As for cultural background in our classroom, we have two students of a Hispanic background that also speak some Spanish, and the other students are of African and American cultural backgrounds. Some of our students are visual learners, others are audio and hands on learners. Not one child is the same as the next, they each have their own style of learning and as a teacher one of the most challenging things to do is to teach to such a vast variety of learning abilities. One example is a student that has severe dyslexia, and therefore must have all of her tests read to her. My students had prior lessons in the second grade about greater than, less than or equal to, and greatest to least symbols. They already knew what the equal sign, greater than and less than signs meant. What we need to work on is the arrangement of the greater than and less than signs. I focused my lessons and assessments more on those details. Instructional Implications: I believe that the contextual characteristics of the community, classroom and students have played the most important role in the instructional planning of my lessons. The children in my classroom need hands on learning and numerous of visuals and re-teaching to let the material sink in. This is in part due to the fact that the community as well as the U.S. right now in general is struggling to rise above a low socio-economic status. The children may also bring things that happen at home, like their attitudes, to school with them. These things in turn may create a distraction to their learning. Because times are hard children may also be limited in funds to buy school supplies, which is why my lessons contained things that were already attainable in the classroom or that I brought for them to use. To be an effective
teacher in this classroom and community I need to be open to learn all about my students and their needs so that I can prepare lessons that actively engage my students. These lessons need to incorporate life lessons and hands on materials that they can see and touch, not just tests that force them to remember specific facts and two days later they forget. I need to use materials that are affordable or natural and easily accessible to all my students. It is also important that I as the teacher teach and reteach things that are fuzzy or unclear to my students before I move on. If this is not done then the students will be continually lost and lose focus.