Whitney Mothena Contextual Factors There are many factors that are important to think about when dealing

with students and their education. The arrangement of the classroom, access to technology, rules and routines, and scheduling should be considered when starting a classroom. A classroom should also be inviting and a positive place for students to be. In Mrs. Deals classroom there many things that make the learning environment better for her students that include classroom factors, student characteristics, and instructional implications. In this classroom there are many factors that help aid in the male and female students learning. There are a variety of places for her students to sit including tables and desks. They have unlimited access to five computers and a smart board, and are given the ability to use their smart phones to aid in their learning when needed as well. The teachers were given I-pads and they are hoping to be giving each student one within the next year or two. They have book shelves with different types of resources including books from their classes, and dictionaries that include a thesaurus. There are also five computers that the students can access to do research and type papers. Teaching students with diverse background can be complicated therefore knowing your students is very important. The accommodations every student in her class gets includes extended time, and alternate testing locations. In some cases a few students are given the opportunity to retake a test if they get a grade below a 70. In her 4th block class there are 3 African Americans and 4 Caucasian students. Her students have an average GPA of 2.88 with the lowest GPA being a 1.20 and the highest GPA

being a 3.58. All of her students are on track to graduate on time with one student planning to graduate a year early therefor they are all taking Math, Science, Social Studies, and English at grade level. Some of her students are taking classes at the career center such as Culinary Arts, Computer Science, Auto Technology, and Machine Tool. She also has a student who is taking JROTC. She does not know which of her students are on free or reduced lunch, but does always keep snacks in her desk just in case students are really hungry. Communication is very important between parent and teacher. Mrs. Deal always communicates with the parents of her students at least every 4.5 weeks by way of email and phone calls. It appears that most of her students come from backgrounds where their parents at least care about their children and want them to get a good education, but the parents dont appear to be very involved in the classroom activities. All of this information should be considered when preparing to teach students for an entire year. It is important to know your students background, home life, interests, and life goals when creating your lessons. This would be important because you wouldnt want to teach students something like how to make change or balance a checkbook if they have been doing theses type things for years. Its also important to know what they might not know because you wouldnt want to skip the money aspect if they have never dealt with that sort of thing. Student interest surveys help you to gain a little bit of knowledge on where your student is coming from. When given a student interest survey containing 17 questions the students had very different answers to the majority of the questions. The students in her class have

very diverse interests and ideas about the future, such as their favorite book from childhood, what types of music they like, and who they look up too. On the other hand they were very similar in things like what they like to do when they get home and their aspirations to be successful one they graduate from high school. The majority of these students are members of some type of club either on campus or off campus and they all have something they are responsible for doing such as taking care of a sibling or cleaning house once they get home. Lastly, they all have things they wish they could have told themselves three years ago, such as remembering that their family is most important and to not let people or relationships get in the way of their education.

Included bellow is a copy of the student interest survey that 7 students completed:

http://www.union.k12.sc.us/ems/Teachers-Forms--Student%20Interest %20Survey.htm
Please answer these questions to the best of your ability. You may skip answers you find to be uncomfortable. 1. What is your favorite book from childhood? Most students chose Dr. uess books. !. What is the farthest point you"ve traveled away from home? #nly $ had traveled out of the country and one student had only traveled as far as %harleston& %. $. What is a recent movie you en'oyed& and what did you like about it? (he ma'ority of the students chose action movies. ). What is your favorite place to be and why? every student had a different favorite place& but every students favorite place was somewhere they were alone and en'oyed it because it was quiet. *. What is your favorite food? * chose fast food& 1 chose a home cooked meal& and 1 student said he likes any food.

+. What is your favorite kind of music? ! like all music& ! like country& and $ like rap,hiphop -. What is your favorite sport? $ baseball& ! country& and 1 doesn.t have a favorite. /. (o what or0ani1ations , teams , clubs do you belon0? answeres ran0ed from nothin0 to thin0s such as 2ational 3onor ociety& 4eta %lub& and hunt clubs. 5. 2ame someone you admire and tell why. 1 teacher& ! dads& 1 mom& 1 0randmother& ! said all of their family members. 16. What are two common activities you do after 0ettin0 home from school. answeres ran0ed from sleepin0& playin0 football& chillin& and huntin0 or fishin0. 11. What is a responsibility you have? work around the house and takin0 care of siblin0s 1!. What wish do you have for someone else? ma'ority stated they wished their friends would stay on track. 1$. What do you want to do for a career? ! military& ! cosmetolo0y& 1 welder& 1 police officer& 1 computer technician. 1). What is somethin0 about which you daydream? food& huntin0& sleepin0& not bein0 in school& and the future. 1*. What is somethin0 about which you are curious? bein0 a doctor& why people are bullied& and whats for dinner. 1+. What would the title of a book about your life be? answers to this question were typically 7the book of....8 and 7my life8

17. 9f you could 0o back two years a0o& what advice would you 0ive yourself? 2ot to let people 0et in the way of you education& and to be a roll model and to look out for other.