Description of students

There are fourteen students in the Math 3 class.  The class is an advanced class for seventh graders.  Most of the seventh graders at Waldo Middle School are in Math 2 class.  The racial demographics of the classroom do not mirror that of the entire school.  The class population is 50% white, 29% Hispanic, and 14% Asian.  The classroom diversity does not align with that of the entire school.  I often wonder why the class makeup does not align with the school and why there are not more Hispanic students in the class.  Since the class is an advanced class it makes sense that six of the students in the class are considered TAG.  Since the class is an advanced math class I will not need to make accommodations for this students and this will make my lesson planning somewhat simpler.  The small class size and advanced nature of the class gives the class an interesting dynamic.  They are all typically well behaved and engaged in the material.  Very rarely have I seen any issues with classroom management.  As a teacher the small class size should be very advantageous.  I will be able to give a large percentage of the students’ individual attention.  I can also get a better feel for how the students are progressing with material.  The small class size also gave me an opportunity to learn all of the students’ names early on.  This has allowed me to build relationships early on and I feel like I have gotten too know them well. 

The class as a whole seems to get along very well with one another.  I haven’t really noticed any many cliques within the students.  I have seen them pair up outside of the class but not in any type of way that excludes other students.  There is one student who does seem to “pester” other students.  It is mostly things like grabbing pencils, hiding notebooks, and tapping on desks.  They are mostly harmless and seem to be a way for him to get attention.  This affects me as a teacher since I have to deal with this and usually just requires some type of acknowledgment.  As a teacher I just have to make some extra effort to keep him engaged.  The only real cliques that I have noticed are ones that are setup by the sitting chart.  The students seem to focus in on their individual groups and they progress together.  For my teaching I will probably have to spend more times with certain groups since other advanced with the help of their teammates.  I have to make sure that I let all the groups answer questions and not always calling on the groups that is working most efficiently.  Overall it is a great group of kids who are ready to learn and work together.  They are very willing to engage in questions and mostly strive to do well.

Community Factors Description of Classroom

The classroom that I am teaching in for my practicum is located in the northern most hall of the building.  To enter the room you come in from the northwest corner.  On the door is the name of my cooperating teacher and a sign saying which book she is reading.  A sign like this can be found on most doors in the school.  The south wall of the room looks out into the court yard.  The court yard has trees and a little walking path and a charter school that shares the building leaves their bikes there.  I see both positives and negatives to how the courtyard affects my teaching.  On the one hand it gives the room a calm pleasant feel which gives the classroom a connection to the outdoors.  But, at the same time it can be a distraction to me and the students by taking away from our activities inside the classroom.  But when all is said and done I would much rather have the large windows then a solid wall.  The other three walls are full of boards, cabinets, and posters.  The north wall has several posters that relate to math such as a Mayan Calendar and a board that describes the student’s jobs.  The west wall has whiteboard and a bulletin board containing grades and vocabulary words.  The whiteboard is full of information such as goals, dates, and important information.  As a teacher I really like this area that the students face.  It brings all their attention up front and to relevant information.  This is the area where students look to find the teacher and classroom information.  The east wall which could be considered the back of the classroom contains several cupboards with math manipulatives and a sink.  The perimeter of the classroom contains small posters that give general math vocabulary and how it can be understood.  Overall the walls really influence the way I teach in the classroom.  They are full of valuable information and I can point to relative tools such as a number line, vocabulary, or the daily learning target.  The desks are arranged in what could be called a typical math classroom.  The desks are place in groups of four scattered throughout the classroom.  The arrangement is good for walking around and be able to access all the students.  There are 32 desks in the room but the class I am teaching only has 16 students.  This affects my teaching because it makes the class seem more intimate.  It gives it an interesting feel and facilitates discussion.  There are empty desks yet all the students “choose” to sit together.  The teacher’s desk is in the southwest corner of the room.  This really doesn’t affect my teaching since very rarely do I sit there since my cooperating teacher is in the room.  If I was to sit in the desk it would give a great view of the class and make me feel very important.  I imagine sitting in the desk would give me just a little bit of confidence in being in the class.  Overall the feel of the classroom is a math class but with a lot of color.  The color gives the room a vibrant feeling.  This vibrant feeling makes me feel good to be teaching in the room.  I hesitate in saying but compared to other math classes I have seen it makes them look boring and drab.

Description of Community

It is difficult to get an accurate portrayal of the demographics of the community that surrounds Waldo Middle School.  The most general way to describe the demographics of this area is to summarize the demographics of Salem and most specifically the zip code that the middle school resides in.  The median age and sex of the community is 32.8 years for males who make up 52.9% of the population and 34.8 years for females who make up 47.1% of the population. (Zip 2010)  The community surrounding the school is made up of 16.2% Hispanic/Latino, 65.6% White, 1.8% Black, 1% Native American, 2.5% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.1% Other, and 2.3% Multiracial. (Zip 2010)  I am skeptical that these numbers accurately portray the surrounding community since the school population is 67.1% Hispanic. (ODE 2009).  

Waldo Middle School is located in northeast Salem, Oregon.  The neighborhood surrounding the school would probably be considered middle class.  The neighborhood is bordered on the north my Silverton Rd. and to the south by Market St.  The west side of the neighborhood is bordered by the State Fairgrounds and on the east side the middle school is bordered by Interstate 5.  When walking around the neighborhood you will see a go mix of houses that seem to be well taken care of and those that are somewhat “run-down.”  The neighborhood has a nice feel to it and I get the impression that it is a relatively safe neighborhood.  It also seems like a lot of the homes have children since there are quite a few houses with play sets, hoops, and a tree house.  The streets that surround the neighborhood are very busy and you have a lot of traffic.  Not really sure what effect this traffic has on the neighborhood.  I get the feeling that people cut through during commuting times.  There is a police officer that spends a great deal of time patrolling the area around the school which probably adds the feeling of safety in the neighborhood.  North of the school feels somewhat industrial and doesn’t have the most welcoming environment.  However, to the east of the school before you hit the freeway there is a very large and well maintained bike.  This definitely adds something positive to the neighborhood's overall atmosphere.

I don’t think the information about the surrounding community will highly influences my teaching.  I would be curious to know how close my students live to the school and what their daily commute is like.  I would imagine if there start to the day could be very different depending on how they get to school.  Perhaps they walk to school or possibly they have a long bus ride in traffic.  This might give me a different idea about how I approach the start of the day.  As far as the neighborhood goes I will probably try and incorporate information about the community into math problems that I give to students.  For example I might use area equations that deal with the nearby park.  Another possible application would revolve around a distance equation for navigating and using familiar street names.  This might help things be more relative and see how math could be used practically.

Community Factors Description of School

Waldo Middle School is located in northwest Salem, OR.  According to ODE Waldo middle school has 756 students, which include sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. (ODE free lunch)  The school’s student population is made of many different multicultural groups with minorities accounting for 72.1% of the students...  The student population is made up of 67.1% Hispanic, 23.9% white, and 4.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.9% Native American, 1.6% black, and 1.2% multi-ethnic. (ODE ethnicity)  The ODE website also loosely provides general information about the socio-economic status of the student’s families.  Of 756 students 57.8% are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

The school has an extensive staff made of math, science, language arts, social studies, physical education, and elective departments.  There is also an extensive support staff in addition to the primary teachers.  The library has two members of the staff who are the library media specialist and the library assistant.  The office staff has approximately seven members.  There are three school counselors who each focus on a specific grade.  In addition the counselors and office staff there is also a family center that provides connections with volunteers.  At Waldo there is a large population of bilingual students which results in a number of staff supporting these students.  The ELL department is staffed by seven teachers.  Another integral part of the school is the instructional assistants.  There are approximately 14 instructional assistants and the majority of this staff is made of bilingual speakers.  

          The school is square in shape and as a person enters they would immediately see the media center.  To the right and around the corner of the main entrance is the main office, teachers’ lounge, counseling office, and the family center.  The flow of people will go past the cafeteria on the right and then past the gym which are located on the east side.  There are three halls that run east to west and the “main hall” goes around the middle.  In the very center of the school is two court yards that contain trees, walking path, and a pond.  The fields and track are located on the north end of the school.  

The school has recently been remodeled so it doesn’t have a lot of character.  This recent remodel left the school with very few signs and not a lot of color on the walls, which gives the school a very sterile feeling and looking at previous pictures of the school this hasn’t always been the case.  As the school gets further into the year more things will probably go up on the walls.  This sterile environment is very prominent when you first enter the building.  The entire feel is not helped when you have to access the front door by pushing a button and waiting to enter.  I understand the safety concerns because the main office doesn’t have a visual of the front door but the setup doesn’t provide the most open inviting environment as you enter the building.  One warming aspect is the interior area of the school that is full of trees, a pond, and a walking path, which is really nice to look at as you walk the halls.  The required student dress code also gives an interesting feeling to school.  I am unfamiliar with dress codes like this in schools and it is somewhat shocking to see.

Overall I feel that the support staff and the overall makeup of the school are reassuring to me as a teacher.  I am not sure how I feel about the dress code in the school.  It makes me feel like I am at a private school teaching students.  It makes me somewhat uneasy since the one reason for the dress code is to prevent students from wearing “gang” colors and clothing.  It worries me to think about thirteen year old kids who are involved in gangs to the point it becomes a serious issue at school.  On the opposite side of this is partly makes me think that things are getting blown out of proportion and it actually isn’t a huge issue.  I can basically see the positives and negatives of it and I am not sure if I am for or against it.  As a teacher it is hard for me not to think about the dress code and the reasons for implementing it.  I cannot help but think that this aspect of the school’s culture will have some type of impact on my instructional decision making.  Whether that is positive or negative I am not sure at the moment.

Reactions to different kinds of kids

Kids you find it easy to like: positive sense of humor, follow directions, ready to talk, questions
Kids you find it hard to like: negative disruptive sense of humor, kids who are mean to other students, student who talk back
Kids you are sorry for: minority students, students who get made fun of, students who act out for attention
Kid you feel threatened by: unpredictable students, students with explosive personalities
Kid you identify with: Native students, student who just want to fit in, B average students
Kids you gravitate toward:  student who get work done, students who make an effort, students who don't make an effort
Kids you feel inadequate around:  students who don't speak much English, students who don't make much of an effort
Kids you probably don't even notice: students who don't ask question and don't talk in class