Cfa Sphs

Contextual Factors Analysis Of

South Portland High School By: Nicole Brewer

Community, District and School Factors: South Portland is the 4th largest city in Maine, it is made up of 18 different neighborhoods and is part of Cumberland County. It is home to Southern Maine Community College, two lighthouses, the Maine Mall, beaches, several ports, and business of all sizes. South Portland High School, home of the Red Riots, is the only high school in its district which serves the community of South Portland. In the district there are two middle schools and five elementary schools. There are 890 students at South Portland High School (SPHS) and the student to teacher ratio is 15:1 (​District Snapshot)​ . The high school was recently renovated and the new section was available for use in 2015. The high school’s mission statement is,​ “​The South Portland High School community believes that all students are able to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for post-secondary education, career, and citizenship. Toward that goal, every student will graduate as a capable learner who is able to think critically and produce quality work.” According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017 the population of South Portland was 25,483 with 18.3% of the population was of school age. It is estimated that 12.4% of the population lives in poverty(​U.S. Census Bureau​). At South Portland High School 43% of students are receiving free or reduced lunches. There are two middle schools and five elementary schools in the district and it is interesting to see that there is a divide drawn by geography. One of the middle schools has 28% and the other has 50% of students receiving free and reduced lunches. Some of the elementary schools are as low as 17% and others are more than double that(​Nutrition Reports)​ . There is a clear difference laid out based on geography in South

Portland, you can drive down one street and see high end houses with beach views and the next street up is apartment buildings.

There is also noticeable racial/ethnic diversity at SPHS. While 20% may not seem like a large amount it is quite the difference from schools in Northern and Western Maine (​South Portland)​ . There does not seem to be a big divide created by race or ethnicity. The community is more welcoming and so the students mirror that behavior. There are students for whom English is their second language but the school has a system in place to provide them with the support that they need to be successful. One way that they do this is having classes specifically targeted for ELL students and testing to help identify students. SPHS was one of the leaders in implementation of Proficiency Based Education and the use of a 1-4 scale. Recently there has been controversy around the implementation and reporting of grades with the current system. Students and parents have been going to the school board looking for a change. The students don’t like Jumprope which is used to display their grades and the tracking system which shows their progress. This is something that the students have taken a stand on and aren’t afraid to discuss. They made their voices heard and it lead to the

administration saying that there would be a change. It has caused confusion for parents, students and teachers though, because no one knows right now what the system is going to look like. For the most part teachers are just trying to reassure students that they will look out for them and that their grades will reflect their learning and effort throughout the school year. For me this means that I have to be aware of the changes and make sure I know how to reassure students. The Honors classes are especially worried about their grades so it is important that I make sure that given the system they are being graded fairly. The school day starts at 8:10am and gets out at 2:25pm with five minutes between classes for transition. SPHS uses a block schedule with 4 Blocks every day. There is also ten minutes of Home Base every day after Block 1 where students go to their Home Base and get announcements and maybe have an activity to do. There are four sections of lunch every day that break up Block 3, each lunch is twenty minutes long. The days alternate between Red and White and in the event of a snow day the schedule is pushed back, so if there was a snow day on a White day, the next day back to school would be a White day. Students who wish to take technical classes have the opportunity to go to Portland Arts and Technology High School. They can start this program in their Junior or Senior year because there are both one and two year course options. Students also have a unique opportunity to take classes online through Virtual High School. Virtual High School offers many courses that students all over the world can take. Students can use these classes for electives or to get a core class that they might have missed. Mr. Lamarre (my mentor) teaches AP Statistics for Virtual High School and is the site coordinator for SPHS. This opportunity is available for 25 students every semester and for most of them it is a successful experience. There is no mandatory time

during school that they have to be working on these classes so it is best for a student choosing to take an online class to be a self directed learner and to be willing to prioritize.

Classroom Factors: Mr. Lamarre has two sections of Math II and Honors Math III which are along the lines of Geometry and Algebra II, as well as an online course in Statistics that he teaches through Virtual High School. The classes range in size from 17 to 28 students, which means organization and maximizing space is essential. The classroom layout is individual desks set up in rows. This allows students to work independently or move their desks when collaborating. There is enough room to walk through all the desks so that the teacher can be circulating and easily get to students who have questions. There is a word wall with vocab words from the year at the back of the class to remind students of key vocab words and posters to remind them of important facts and shapes. There are no clocks in any of the classrooms, this was a decision that the school made when building based on the cost and the fact that everyone has devices. Both Math II classes have an Ed Tech that is there to assist a couple of students. It makes the parts of class when they have independent work easier because there is another person there to answer questions and keep kids on track. For most students all it takes to get them back to work is proximity. Some of them don’t like to ask for help but if you ask them if they are all set they will ask questions. For the Math II class the biggest thing is to give them lots of practice and reassurance that they are doing it right. Both Honors Math III sections work hard and will do what is asked of them. The White day group is 27 students and they can be a talkative group if you leave too much room for transition. The upside to them being a more talkative group is that they are willing to help each

other and work together to figure out problems. I think that they would really enjoy the occasional group exploration to discover new material instead of just notes. The Red day group is smaller with only 1 students. They are also a much quieter group during instruction but they will answer and ask questions if prompted. This class would benefit from exploration that would get them talking and collaborating more in a positive manor. Most days the routine in class is the same. They start with a warm-up and then a formative that covers what they did the previous day. Then there is time for notes and instruction followed by a chance for them to start working on the assignment for the day. For the most part the behavior in class is good, most students listen and can be redirected. The biggest thing is that students are constantly asking to go to the bathroom or get water. Some students do and come right back while others will leave and be gone for 10-20 min. Those students who are gone for extended periods of time are generally not engaged in class when they are there. It is essential to be aware of who those students are so that you can catch up with them and check in to see if they need additional support, such as after school help or resources to use on their own. The technology in the school is all new and being put to use by the math department. All the classrooms are lined with shelves and cupboards so there is more than enough storage in the rooms. Along the tops of the shelves are several outlets which are used regularly by students to charge their iPads which are essential during class. The projectors can be used traditionally or as an Apple TV and there is a smart pen that allows them to control their screens from the white bored and make notes that don’t have to be erased but will follow the slide as they move to the next. The notes that they take with the pen can also be saved so they could give notes to students

who missed class that day. Many of the teachers have websites where they keep unit outlines and resources for parents but they use Google Classroom for the students day to day work. All students have school provided iPads that they use in class. In Math they use a smart notebook to take notes so they have them with them at all times. The only drawback to notes on the iPad that I’ve seen is that students are constantly zooming in and out on the screen to write but still be able to see the visuals. A plus is that they can pull up their notes while they are doing work on their iPads to refresh their memory. They use IXL for some of the work in class and homework. The students have an app on their iPads for IXL and it allows the teacher to get real time data on how the students are doing and what problems they may be getting wrong. You can set a limit on what score the students have to get on each problem set and it will keep giving them problems until their score reaches the desired level. The only downside is that it takes points away for problems that you get wrong, but the teacher can see the highest amount of points that you earned and Mr. Lamarre uses that as students scores if they can’t reach the requirement. He always tells the students that they shouldn’t spend all night doing it so they should come in and see him if they can’t get to the set score for some reason. It is essential for the teacher when using this tool to consider the level at which students can achieve and not give them unattainable goals so they don’t get frustrated and stop working. This is something that I will take into consideration when assigning work in and out of class. I will use the level of understanding I see in class to help me decide how much work the students need to do individually.

Strength/Needs Analysis and Student Characteristics: I have chosen to look at Red Block 3 Honors Math III, this is one of our smaller groups at 19 students and I have been working with them since the first day. I had the students fill out a survey so that I could get to know a little bit more about them and take a Multiple Intelligences (MI) survey to learn more about their learning styles. The first question on the survey was, why do you believe you are in an honors class? I asked this question because in a Math Department meeting the conversation turned to, how do students end up in honors classes. I thought it would be interesting to see their responses because the group includes Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors. The Juniors listed that they wanted to be challenged. Sophomores mostly said that they are smart and that CP classes would have been too easy for them. The Freshman all listed a reason that had to do with testing in elementary and middle school. I was surprised that none of them said anything about their parents wanting them to be in the class. I wasn’t surprised that for most of them the reason was an extrinsic source. Many students don’t have faith in their math abilities and that is something that I want to help them develop through giving them constructive and direct feedback. Many of these students are used to being told that they are smart but I want to tell them why I think they are smart and good students. As a group the most common teaching styles that they identified as best were lecture and hands on learning. To me this means that I will keep doing notes in a lecture style but I will try and make the homework and practice a little bit more interactive for the students so they can get to work with what they are learning. Many of them identified the area that they wanted to work on in math as retention of knowledge. This is something that I have noticed students struggle with everywhere. It is easy to remember a concept when you are using it every other day but

when you haven’t seen it or used it in months it can be challenging to recall. One way that I could help students get better at retention is to throw in a question in the daily warm-up that covers something they learned earlier in the year. Even if the students can’t do the problem, when we go over it and they see it done again there may be a spark of recollection from many of them. This table shows an overview of each student and the information gathered in the survey. It was interesting to look at where they all fell academically in the class. For the most part the Freshman are highly motivated and do all the work and that shows in their performance in the class. One of the Juniors, LM, seems to have an ease with math and always does well, they are also willing to help other students who may be confused. JC is also a Junior and seems to be doing well but has taken this class before at another school. They couldn’t be placed in a Pre-Calculus class as it was too late in the year. LD and AB have been struggling with the content even though she is doing the work. MB missed many days of class so they will need to do some catch up in order to recover those units. The Juniors are a mixed group as far as their work ethic and math knowledge. As for the Sophomores, most of them do the work and understand enough to be successful in the class. KR and GT stand out, this is because they want to do well and put in the work to maintain their grades. Grade

MI

Student

9 JB

Wants to work on

Other/ Extracurriculars

E

Retention

Has a twin. Jazz, Math Team, Band

E

Retention

Mom works at school. Soccer, Track, Skiing, Flute, Sopo Unite

M

Factoring

Swimming, Softball and

Musical

9 ET KM

Class Level

Musical

10

Kinesthetic

Spanish Club 11 LD

IS

Field Hockey, Lax, Sopo Unite, Skiing

M

Graphing

Dad involved in grade movement. Soccer, Tennis

M

Memorization

Involved in the drama program.

E

Checking for small mistakes.

Works fast, makes simple mistakes. Band, Boy Scouts, Track, X-C

M

Graphing

Soccer, Basketball

E

Organization of work

Hockey, Ultimate

M

Doing more homework.

Doesn’t like to waste time. Drama, Speech and Debate

M

Retention

Gets frustrated. Basketball, Job

E

Paying attention for the whole class.

Soccer, Hockey, Ultimate

PM

Not giving up.

Swim, Spanish Club, Job

E

Speed

Chorus, Band, X-C, Ultimate

M

Factoring

Short attention span. Baseball, Football, Rec Ball

M

Practical Application

Bee Club, Earth Club, Field Hockey, Lax

M

x

Just moved back.

Musical

10 LB

Kinesthetic

9

LL

Logical

10

Logical

11 LM

Kinesthetic

10

SR

Verbal/Visual

11 RB

Logical

10 Kinesthetic/Inte rpersonal

KR

11 AB

Visual

10 GT

Musical

10 CD

Kinesthetic

10 CL JC

Concentration

Kinesthetic

10

RO

DM

Logical

10

Didn’t take

11

Didn’t take

DM

x

Anxiety around the classroom.

11

Didn’t take

M

x

Concussion

MB

ED

This bar graph shows the number of students who checked off five or more, out of the ten, of the descriptors of the listed MI trait. This shows me that many of my students like to be physically engaged while they are learning. This is something that I will try and keep in mind especially with 80 minute blocks. I’m not surprised that many of the them are logical thinkers because that is a strength that helps them in math class. Several of the students even listed being a logical thinker as a strength that they have that helps them in math class. The one that shocked me the most was musical, I didn’t realize that the music program at SPHS was so good. The marching, jazz and pep bands are very good and many of my students are involved in those. I also think this fact is impacted by the power that music plays in our lives. Many students use music to help them concentrate when doing work and see music as something they can relate to.

In our classroom students are allowed to listen to music when doing independent work because we know that for many of them it is a great way to stay focused. The pie chart shows the breakdown of the MI that each student had as their highest. I was shocked that Musical and Kinesthetic learning styles were such a high top MI in my class. Traditionally we think of learning as being visual or verbal but that gives us only a narrow view of how our students engage with learning. I really want to find ways to engage these learning styles in my students. Getting them up and moving and letting them listen to music is a start but I feel like there has to be richer ways to engage them. Since these are honors students it is important to find a balance between challenging them and making sure they aren’t overwhelmed. There are different paces at which students learn in this class. Some identify themselves as being quick learners and needing only to see an example, then being able to do it. Others are in honors because they are willing to work hard and not give up which just means that they might need to see more examples or have more time to ask questions. This group is usually good about asking questions when they have them but there are

some that don’t like to ask even if they are confused. Now that I know what students have this tendency I make it a priority to check in with them and make sure they are on the right track during class.

With the layout of the classroom I have become aware of some blind spots that I have as a teacher. The students in the front row and on my left hand side when I am taking notes are often ones that I forget to check in with. I find that I have a tendency to look to the ones in the back and middle of the room more often. This means that I need to remind myself, when I am doing notes and after, to check in with those students to see if they have any questions. Most of the students are very responsive but some need to be prompted to share their questions. I could also assign new seats at some point to get the students mixed up and put the ones that are more vocal in my blind spots so that they draw my attention. When planning my lessons for this group of students it will be essential to keep in mind that they don’t like busy work. I will need to find a way to give them the information and practice, but make it meaningful or fun. Being able to engage their other modes of learning is also something that I am going to work on so that they get the chance to engage those Musical and Kinesthetic tendencies. All of the information I have gathered will help me to better teach

and support my students in the classroom. My knowledge of the community and the individual learner is something that I will take into consideration as I am planning my lessons over the course of my time at South Portland High School.

Citation: “City Maps.” ​City of South Portland :: Police Department,​ www.southportland.org/departments/city-clerk/city-maps/. “District Snapshot.” ​South Portland School Department,​ www.spsd.org/district/district-overview/district-snapshot​. Nutrition Reports​, neo.maine.gov/DOE/neo/Nutrition/Reports/NutritionReports.aspx?reportPath=ED534by District. “South Portland, Maine Population 2019.” ​Total Population by Country 2018,​ worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/south-portland-me-population/. “U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: South Portland City, Maine.” ​Census Bureau QuickFacts,​ United States Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/southportlandcitymaine.