Context for Learning

                                                       
                The classes that I am observing are the Health class and the Intro to Fitness class. These classes are required for students to take. They need .5 credits of Health and 1.5 credits of Fitness. One semester class is equivalent to .5 credits. I will be observing these classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:30 to 2:30. I have spoken with the Vice Principle and she is working on finding me an English placement where I can fill in more of the required hours. As far as I can see this class is not any particular type. It does not have any Honors statuses and simply a requirement for students to graduate.
                The official names of the classes are Health and Introduction to Fitness. These classes run in semester blocks. Each of these classes is 55 minutes in length on Mondays and Fridays. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays the classes run 50 minutes. The schedule runs the same classes each day but there are slight time adjustments due to a MAPS advisory schedule on Tuesdays where students meet once weekly with an advisor to answer any questions about the school schedule, experience, or graduation requirements for 30 minutes in a classroom setting. On Wednesdays students have a similar 30 minute period where they meet in a classroom for additional help and support for their school experience. On Thursdays there is teacher collaboration in the mornings and it is a late start for students.
                There is not a specified Health book that students use for either the Health class or Intro to Fitness class. There is a curriculum that is set up by the District per the state mandated standards. My cooperative teacher teaches alongside this curriculum, adding in her own material to meet the needed standards. In the classroom there is an overhead projector connected o the computer- similar to ones used at Eastern. Students also go to the library often to use the computers there and work on group projects where they are able to collaborate with different students on presentations on certain subjects.
                The class I am choosing to discuss the demographics of is my 5^th period Health class. In this class there are29 students:21 male and 8 female. This class is intended to be taken during the 9^th grade. However it is not a requirement that they take this class during this time so there are a variety of grades in one class. For this specific class there are 25 9^th graders, 3 10^th graders, and 1 11^th grader. The school as a whole is quite diverse in both ethnic background as well as financial status. I am not 100% on which specific ethnicities certain students are but from what I could obtain there are22 Caucasian students, 3 Hispanic students, 1 Pacific Island student, and 3 Asian students.
                There are 3 students in this class that are English Language Learners. This aspect of the class makes for interesting discussions as well as grading tests homework and handing out worksheets. I have taught lessons where the ELL students in my class took 15 minutes to answer 2 questions on a worksheet simply because of the language barrier. Even with my assistance they still had another student help them and speak to them in their own language. This makes for a very interesting dynamic but one that is helpful to my education experience.   Almost 1/3 of my class qualifies for free and reduced lunch. My P.E. class has similar demographics but there are a few more students from different ethnic backgrounds. Each class I have taught varies in race, gender, and ELL students vastly from one period to the next. It sure makes for interesting lessons!
                From my perspective as well as my cooperating teacher, there are no students who qualify as gifted in this class period. There are more students who are underperforming during their schooling.  There are no specific students who qualify under the 504 section for accommodations. My teacher is very lenient with underperforming students and gives them many opportunities for growth and learning. She always works very closely with ELL to help them understand the content as best she can.
                I really enjoy being at this school and learn a lot from the diverse group of students that I get to work with.