I currently work at Melrose Park Elementary School in Lake City, Florida. Melrose Park is a very unique school. Melrose Park severs over 567 students from Pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. Minority enrollment is 56% of the student body, majority black, which is less than the state of Florida average of 61%. The Student population has declined by 5% over five years. The teacher population has declined by 7% over five years. Over 75% of the student body qualifies for free lunch and come from low economic families. Melrose Park Elementary is currently a “B” school and is funded mostly by Title I, Title IV and School Improvement Grants. Our school administrative team consist of a: Principal, Behavioral Resource Teacher (BRT), Curriculum Resource …show more content…
I try to have a positive attitude every day. I am smiling, I am alive and happy. I am kind, clean and neat and professional. I think my appearance and posture is really important in my environment. I cannot be negative and walk around with a frown on my face and expect my teachers to be positive. I have to be the change I want to see and it must begin with me!
My main responsibility in this school is teacher support. I find ways to spark student inspiration through my teachers. I encourage teachers to be unique and never being afraid to try new things. Because standardized methods of education often leave little room for deviation, our students lose. I strongly encourage teachers to take creative risks in order to give students the highest-quality lesson. It is ok to teach by impulse every now and then. It will bring excitement and fun in the
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If we want an environment that is safe and conducive to learning we must begin with Hallowell five steps of excellence. We must first put the right people in right position and then make connections. I agree with Hallowell (2011), Mangers help people find and mine the gold that lies within them (p.20). After this course I will pass this book on to my Principal. I would like to implement the five steps of the Cycle of Excellence in order to teach our administrative how to bring the best out of our
Another school in the same district is located “in a former roller-skating rink” with a “lack of windows” an a scarcity of textbooks and counselors. The ratio of children to counselors is 930 to one. For 1,300 children, of which “90 percent [are] black and Hispanic” and “10 percent are Asian, white, or Middle Eastern”, the school only has 26 computers. Another school in the district, its principal relates, “‘was built to hold one thousand students’” but has “‘1,550.’” This school is also shockingly nonwhite where “’29 percent '” of students are “‘black [and] 70 percent [are]
This school has had 5 principals in 4 years. I spoke earlier about this school being a part of the I-zone. The I-zone is a special subset of schools within Shelby County that are given the task of leading a school from the bottom 5% to the top 25%. In that there is a high turnover rate with administrators and teachers. I was selected to be a turnaround principal given a certain amount of time with the authority to make necessary changes. The community asked for a principal they could relate to. They wanted to be involved with the school and wanted resources given back to them so they could help their children. I listen to community concerns and established a parent power committee so they could be partners in education with us. We reached out into the community to garner some wrap around services to help and support our students. We gained seven (7) new Adopters who have formally taken the charge to provide resources that all students will need to achieve academically. Life Church gives us food. Bellview Baptist Church comes in and tutors all our 2nd grade students. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity has volunteered to come in and work with our students on STEM projects. We have Omega Psi Phi who comes in an exposes our kids to social and character development. And the list goes on. There just so many programs and organizations ready to work with us because they know
Money will not solve or make this problem go away, no matter how many social workers are hired. Schools will succeed despite their financial circumstances if they have the basic components of motivated students, parent support, caring teachings, and strong central leadership. While this is the typical model of a suburban school system, Wilson High School proves that it can work anywhere. When ones thinks of urban public schools, overcrowded classes, underpaid teachers, and a lack of resources often come to mind. The fact is these problems can happen anywhere. While the environment at Kennedy could never be compared to the worst DC high school, the assumptions made against these schools are the same. By erasing these notions and confronting the problems one by one, we will be one step closer to reaching equal education for all.
Following the Crenshaw documentary, we discussed how additional funding or the introduction of slightly “better” teachers is unlikely to aid in academic performance. It generally takes real change to the economic well-being of the surrounding area to improve students’ performance in schools. While it is certainly not my area of expertise, I would argue that this isn’t entirely true for all areas. In the previous documentary, we saw that Crenshaw High School was a reasonably well-funded school. It was on-par with many public high schools around the country from an appearance standpoint. Certainly, the students’ performance at Crenshaw was very low. There were important aspects of school such as special education and Hispanic-language accommodations that needed significant improvement. I do think, though, that Crenshaw was at a higher level of overall education quality and structural safety than many of the
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most important, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
[The school where I teach is the only high school within a city school district that is located within the confines of a larger metropolitan area. The school receives Title 1 funding, with 56 % of the students being eligible for free or reduced lunches. This high school offers a variety of degree programs and coursework, such as, advanced placement coursework and exams, international baccalaureate and culinary arts certification, technical and college prep diplomas, one of the largest Air Force ROTC programs in the area, and alternative programs through which students have the ability to earn credit for the courses that they had previously failed. This school is very diverse, of the 2,291 students 46.0% are African American, 30.0% are Hispanic, 18.0% are White, 3.0% are Multiracial, and 2.0% are Asian. The area surrounding the school is just as diverse as the students that attend the school. A majority of the homes within this school district are single-family homes and can range from small-scale mansions to unmaintained older homes. There are also a large number of apartment complexes and condos in the area as well. A portion of the student population comes from outside of the district in order to participate in the high school’s international baccal...
When talking about a school that is mostly filled with African Americans, it is common to picture it as somewhere that has limited programs due to low funding from the government and located where poverty rate is high. Normally the thought of a brand new facility or more investment in schools is not associated with African American schools. The universal problem of mostly black schools is the fact that there is a lack of funding for the school and it...
Rachael Hawson (3416) Module 3 – Design in Historical Context A Study into the History of Albion Road Boys School Torpoint (Penntorr), by comparison to the surrounding villages, is a relatively new town development, furthermore it's development did not begin until during the late 18th century 'commissioned by Reginald Pole Cerew in the Parish of Antony in 1774. ' (Wikipedia. n.d.) and remained relatively unchanged until the late 1800's when further developments were planned. This study is intended to highlight the historical importance of the Albion Road School and the education system at the time of its erection to date, therefore it would be beneficial to look at the education system within England as a whole at this time. During the latter half of the 18th century there were very few educational facilities available, most of them being run by the
“An essentialist philosophy of education puts the teacher front and center as an intellectual and moral role model. Direct instruction is encouraged, but other instructional methods are used if they prove effective. Students are expected to listen and learn as they follow the rules of a classroom” (Philosophical Foundations 276). I believe that the teacher should be the main facilitator in a classroom, but that students should have a say in the classroom. I think it is important that a teacher guides and directs a classroom so that everyone is on the same page, but also gives room for students to be creative and have a
For some students, school is the only way of escaping their tragic home lives and interacting in a positive atmosphere. Teachers should always have a positive attitude because when they are in a pleasant state of mind, their students will usually be in a good mood as well. They must encourage and inspire students to
What is the role of the teacher, and what steps will you take to ensure that you are fulfilling this role?
Writing a reflection and a summary of dozens of experiences is very challenging and demanding. I cannot count how many ups I had, yet I cannot deny the fact that I had some downs where I could transform them to ups. The year was full of challenges, excitement, fear and lessons. Each Wednesday I had mixed emotions. Every time I came to school I had the same fear and heartbreaks. In my reflection I am willing to compare between Adan at the beginning of the year and new Adan I became.
We need to continuously assess and evaluate our students so we can set appropriate goals for each student and individual instructions. Each child learns different, so as a teacher we need to have different styles of teaching for positive reinforcement.
They always told me to plan and think ahead. But they never specified how far ahead. Well I guess now I know. Education is what you and I have been doing since we were able to talk and say our ABC’s, but is knowing how to spell our name and count to one hundred the main importance of education? I never knew the full meaning of being educated, Or to what extent education went to. I would just always take it year by year and I would always move to the next grade so I figured I had nothing to worry about. So many questions about why are these things we are doing in class so important? What are the teachers trying to prepare us for? They keep saying “Later on down the road…” but what is down the road? Why should I be preparing?