Context
This semester I have been given the opportunity to student aid at Godfrey Lee elementary school. I spent last year at the early childhood center but being at the elementary school has been a different experience. I have been placed in Mrs. Zadel’s Classroom where I am to observe and help out in whatever way she feels is appropriate for me as an aid. The class contains 26 students ranging from different cultures and backgrounds. After talking to the Principal I found out that the school was at their max student amount and that there was other schools in Grand Rapids struggling with the same issues (Surian,2013). My classroom is primarily Hispanics with about 9 African Americans and 4 Caucasians. This past Wednesday we received a new student who transferred late to Godfrey lee. Since its an upper level class the level of English is pretty proficient however the amount of students that have special needs or need special attention are high. Although the students all are able to speak english in school 60% of the students do no speak english at home. Throughout my morning over 1/3 of the classroom leaves for various reasons. Three students get special help with writing. Another two students are gone almost the whole morning and other students leave for different reasons. During the mornings the topics that are touched on in my class consist of math and spelling/writing. Since I am a math and integrated science major I will hopefully be able to teach math lessons instead of focusing on writing. Because of the way that math is set up I would be working with the students in the middle of the math spectrum. I would have around twenty seven students that I would get to work with.
Godfrey Lee Elementary School consists of students from the third grade until the fifth grade. Before first grade students are at Godfrey Lee early childhood center and after 5th grade they move onto another building the building is split up into sections with the 3rd grades and 4th graders at one end, in the middle of the school there is a music room and the gym/cafeteria. There are 7 third grade teachers, 4 5th grade teachers and 5 5th grade teachers as well as specialty teachers for art, music, P.E. and Special Ed.Down the a separate hallway are the fifth grade classrooms. In my 5th grade classroom students start the day off with breakfast, and then move onto math, spelling/writing, reading and then science with specials mixed in depending what day it is. The school right now is working on MEAP math and have multiple tests coming up much of the day is focused on these topics. In my classroom we do not use textbooks, therefore I am unsure which series the school uses. I do however know that they focus on the Common Core standards because these standards are displayed around the room.
Godfrey Lee is located in a area of town which is of lower income and has a lot of poverty. Right next to the school is a dollar tree a laundry mat and a couple of small food places and a liquor store. Upon walking around the block we saw houses being renovated. Some vacant houses and some run down houses. The school draws from the surrounding area but it also included students who have to bus or be driving a 10-15 minutes drive. The majority of the students are from broken homes with low incomes. Over 90% of students qualify for free and reduced meals (Godfrey,2013).
Upon researching Godfrey-lee Elementary school I found out that Godfrey Lee Elementary School did meet AYP in the 2011-2012 school year however in the 2012-2013 school year they did not (Michigan Department of Education, 2012).
Sources
"Search For Public Schools." Godfrey-Lee . N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=Godfre-Lee&School&School&SchoolTyp
Surian, J.(2013, Oct 20). Personal Interview
2011-12 AYP Results (2012). In Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved Nov. 17th
This semester I have been given the opportunity to student aid at Godfrey Lee elementary school. I spent last year at the early childhood center but being at the elementary school has been a different experience. I have been placed in Mrs. Zadel’s Classroom where I am to observe and help out in whatever way she feels is appropriate for me as an aid. The class contains 26 students ranging from different cultures and backgrounds. After talking to the Principal I found out that the school was at their max student amount and that there was other schools in Grand Rapids struggling with the same issues (Surian,2013). My classroom is primarily Hispanics with about 9 African Americans and 4 Caucasians. This past Wednesday we received a new student who transferred late to Godfrey lee. Since its an upper level class the level of English is pretty proficient however the amount of students that have special needs or need special attention are high. Although the students all are able to speak english in school 60% of the students do no speak english at home. Throughout my morning over 1/3 of the classroom leaves for various reasons. Three students get special help with writing. Another two students are gone almost the whole morning and other students leave for different reasons. During the mornings the topics that are touched on in my class consist of math and spelling/writing. Since I am a math and integrated science major I will hopefully be able to teach math lessons instead of focusing on writing. Because of the way that math is set up I would be working with the students in the middle of the math spectrum. I would have around twenty seven students that I would get to work with.
Godfrey Lee Elementary School consists of students from the third grade until the fifth grade. Before first grade students are at Godfrey Lee early childhood center and after 5th grade they move onto another building the building is split up into sections with the 3rd grades and 4th graders at one end, in the middle of the school there is a music room and the gym/cafeteria. There are 7 third grade teachers, 4 5th grade teachers and 5 5th grade teachers as well as specialty teachers for art, music, P.E. and Special Ed.Down the a separate hallway are the fifth grade classrooms. In my 5th grade classroom students start the day off with breakfast, and then move onto math, spelling/writing, reading and then science with specials mixed in depending what day it is. The school right now is working on MEAP math and have multiple tests coming up much of the day is focused on these topics. In my classroom we do not use textbooks, therefore I am unsure which series the school uses. I do however know that they focus on the Common Core standards because these standards are displayed around the room.
Godfrey Lee is located in a area of town which is of lower income and has a lot of poverty. Right next to the school is a dollar tree a laundry mat and a couple of small food places and a liquor store. Upon walking around the block we saw houses being renovated. Some vacant houses and some run down houses. The school draws from the surrounding area but it also included students who have to bus or be driving a 10-15 minutes drive. The majority of the students are from broken homes with low incomes. Over 90% of students qualify for free and reduced meals (Godfrey,2013).
Upon researching Godfrey-lee Elementary school I found out that Godfrey Lee Elementary School did meet AYP in the 2011-2012 school year however in the 2012-2013 school year they did not (Michigan Department of Education, 2012).
Sources
"Search For Public Schools." Godfrey-Lee . N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=Godfre-Lee&School&School&SchoolTyp
Surian, J.(2013, Oct 20). Personal Interview
2011-12 AYP Results (2012). In Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved Nov. 17th