Zachary lies 16 miles North of the city of Baton Rouge. Since its split from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, the Zachary Community School district has been recognized as the #1 district in Louisiana for 12 years in a row. The Zachary Community School District has maintained high standards of excellence in the areas of academics, athletics, community service and extracurricular activities since its start in 2003, which has caused a rapid increase of population into its seven schools that follow the grade cluster approach. This community puts education as a priority--so much that it has been ranked above all other public school systems in the state for over a decade. The community views on education impacts children learning due to the way that the grade clustering system provides a way for the members of Zachary to feel connected. All students in the public school system go to the same schools and experience the same modes of education. Because of the way that the system is set up, there are many implications for teaching. Administration at each school is able to focus on the needs of their specific grades, taking in to account what is developmentally appropriate for their students.
The Zachary community is home to a population of 16,174 people as of 2015. The poverty rate in Zachary is 4.5%, with 6.37% of it's people living below the poverty level. The average household income is above the state average at $75,533; however, the unemployment and renters percentage is significantly below state average. The percentage of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher is significantly above state average, showing there are many well educated community members. 91.06% of people over 25 have an education of a high school degree or higher and 24.96% of those people have a Bachelor's degree or higher.
School Context
“Northwestern Elementary School is committed to the best interests of all students by establishing a climate in which the school, parents, and community emphasize academic excellence, develop a sense of responsibility and respect, and help students develop a better understanding of themselves and others.”
Northwestern Elementary School is a school hosting Kindergarteners in the Zachary Community School District. The school has 21 regular education teachers and 9 ancillary teachers including a librarian/computer teacher, music teacher, and speech interventionist. Alongside the teachers, the 422 students are led by 4 administrative personnel. The school wide expectations are: "Be respectful, be responsible, and be your best." All teachers attend PLC meetings with the principal, Mrs. Davis, for instructional support. The school is gated to ensure maximum safety of its students, however welcomes parents and visitors through its main entrance. Parental involvement is welcomed throughout the school to promote a positive and encouraging learning environment for its students. The teachers, administration and ancillary staff work hard to create a child centered and academically excellent atmosphere for its children. The open door policy of this school allows students to feel supported by their teachers and parents and makes room for students to support their peers by being exposed to a safe learning space.
The school playground is shown here, as Northwestern recognizes the importance of play and physical development in the early childhood stage. The school's playground had various equipment to climb on, including, monkey bars, spider nets, and rock walls. There is also a pavilion and a boys and girls bathroom with water fountains. Teaching should be centered around this school's ability to promote development in all areas. Through the use of outdoor equipment an imagination, educators should prompt students to experience play with their peers, in order to build relationships with other students as well as gross motor skills--contributing to the development of the whole child.
Child and Classroom Context
Mrs. Dauthier’s Kindergarten class is made up of 23 students ranging from ages 5-6. The students come from a variety of backgrounds and cultural groups. Every child completed preschool prior to entering kindergarten, however, some are more advanced than others. One child is pulled out for gifted intervention while, 4 are pulled out for remedial intervention in math and reading. Many of the academic struggles in the class stem from a lack of phonemic awareness and letter recognition that hinders the child’s ability to excel in most subjects. Apart from that, some children are diagnosed ADHD which affects their focus and motivation in a fast paced setting. Because many students in the class have not yet been in a setting where they were previously able to build relationships with their peers, many areas around the classroom provide opportunity for student interaction. At the front of the class, student spend time in a morning meeting, where they are able to facilitate learning, as well as challenge each other about daily questions. This is also a time for the class to come together as a community and create a safe, comfortable place for students to share.
Student Characteristics Breakdown of Mrs. Dauthier's class:
Gender:
13 boys
9 girls
Race/Ethnicity:
13 Caucasian
9 African American
Ages:
10 Five Year Olds
12 Six Year Olds
Special Needs:
1 diagnosed child with autism
2 diagnosed students with ADHD
Adults Present:
Mrs. Dauthier: Lead Teacher; 25+ years of experience
Ms. Rodrigue: Student Teacher
Student Learning Styles:
In order to promote an encouraging environment even further, the room is filled with many centers where students can engage in self directed play. Because our class is made up of students from different backgrounds and with learning styles, there is an implication to meet a variety of needs. These centers make sure that all students are being reached and supported developmentally at school. It is very important to think of the whole child when beginning a lesson. Each child learns differently and through a variety of learning styles. I observed each child during center time and assessed which centers they went to most frequently. This is a time for students to interact with things they are interested in throughout the classroom. My reasoning for monitoring the choices of centers being made, was to get a better insight into the learning styles that my students enjoy the most. This information allowed me to plan my lessons according to each student's interests and learning styles.
Using the information from my first chart, I matched each of the student center choices to a corresponding learning style. The data showed that many of my students were tactile learners and many were also verbal learners. Due to this, many of my lessons will allow for hands on learning as well as room for discussion with peers and teachers. There will be room for students to explore seeds in the science center for a more tactile approach. I also plan to have many group activities before and after experimentation to allow students to talk about their predictions and what they learned. By doing this, I hope to meet the needs of all of my students.
Instructional Implications
The city of Zachary is a very diverse community demographically. This also translates into their publics school system. Many instructional implications exist when planning a unit for such a wide range of students. Students prior knowledge as well as exposure to the material at home can effect their learning in the classroom. There was some prior knowledge of nature and plants, however most students still had many more things to add to their schema.
The classroom has a very wide range of parental involvement. Some parents are involved in every aspect of their child's school life while other parents show little to no involvement. Because of this, I prompted students to take their learning home with them by asking them questions to think about at the end of each day. This way, students could talk to their parents about the information, or think about it on their own, but there was no pressure to complete an assignment. All of our experiments were handled in class to account for the parents who did not have to resources to do it at home.
On huge restriction for us is the amount of time that is allotted for science. Due to a heavy focus on reading and writing in my classroom, there is not a designated time for science each day. Because of this, I had to make time for my lessons throughout the day in order to engage my students in science concepts. Due to our time crunch, our lessons need to be implemented in a way that effectively conveys the purpose of our teaching as well as our learning goals. In order to do this, I plan to incorporate the introductory portions of my lesson in morning meeting and calendar, and reinforce the lessons through our whole groups sessions before lunch and in our discussions after experimentation.
My lessons will allow for a lot of group discussions in order to create a learning environment that encourages wonder. In order to account for students who have a lower understanding of the material, I will pair them with more advanced students so that they can learn from peer discussions. Extra small group discussion will also be used as a way to make sure that these students are not getting overlooked. My pre assessments will be used to further plan any of my lessons and I will be prepared to make changes to fit my student's needs throughout the lesson as these factors vary.