Classroom demographics:

Assignment #1 – Mock school demographics write up (including tech) Due Date:  9/13 Points:  50
Create a blog entry called “Demographics write-up” and include the following:
Four paragraphs about each of the following areas:  1.  Classroom demographics:  students, parent support, and available tech (15 pts)
2.  School demographics: location, population, services and support (10 pts)
3.  Community demographics:  support of students and tech, volunteers, financial support. (10pts)
4.  Tech Standards for your grade level (10 pts)
EXCELLENT POINTS: 5

1)      Classroom demographics:  (a) students, (b) parent support, and (c) available tech

a)      This year in my 7^th grade English classroom I have 33 students. 17 are boys and 16 of them are girls. My students are very passionate about recycling resulting in an over flow of the recycling bin. Students also, in an attempt to live greenly, bring their own reusable water bottles to class.  
All of my students are proficient readers. Their understanding of English grammar is however sadly lacking. They enjoy reading fictional works but struggle with non-fiction works. Most students’ handwriting is nearly eligible. Often times student’s spell words incorrectly and have to look up that misspelled word in the dictionary.

b)       I am very blessed this year to have a hand full of parent volunteers. They come into the classroom during the work time and help student’s when they get stuck. Luckily one of the student’s parents has a doctorate in American Literature and is willing to come in and give a presentation for the Huckleberry Fin. Most of the parents are highly educated (went to college) and all graduated from high school. They are enthusiastic about their student’s success.

c)      Because my students’ parents are well off financially all my students own a laptop. This makes work time substantially easier because my students can work on their papers in class. I am blessed with a Smartboard which allows for students to diagram sentences in class. Also we have document camera which I have a good working knowledge of which allows students to bring up books or papers and they are on the screen.

2)      School demographics: location, population, services and support

a)      Kirkland Junior High is located in downtown Kirkland’s residential area. We have wonderful cross walks but are somewhat lacking in sidewalks in some areas. The sports facilities are wonderful. We have a baseball, soccer, and lacrosse field. The gym is used for our basketball games and P.E. classes.

b)      Population: Students here at Kirkland Junior High are fairly diverse. In a given classroom there are between 30-35 students. Typically the gender ratios are 1:1 male female but this past year we had 48 more boys than girls. We have a variety of ethnic groups here:

·         American Indian/Alaskan Native 4. 0.7%

·         Asian 49. 9.0%

·         Pacific Islander 4. 0.7%

·         Asian/Pacific Islander 53. 9.7%

·         Black 10. 1.8%

·         Hispanic 46. 8.4%

·         White 402. 73.5%

·         Two or More Races 32. 5.9%

c)      We have Free or Reduced lunch programs here but they aren’t used by many students given the fact that we have a 1:1 ratio of laptops to students in the classroom.

d)     The school has a lot of support by the community. We’ve passed many bills to get funding to our school. We also are blessed to be located in the same town as Microsoft, who generously donated Word programs to the entirety of the school’s computers. Nintendo also has been a benefactor of our school by developing educational games for the students to use on school computers. Starbucks donates school supplies and has hired some of the older students for their first jobs.

3)      Community demographics:  support of students and tech, volunteers, financial support.

a)      Parents of students are very involved but there are a few students who’s parents both work and thus need a little extra help. Our after school study sessions have wonderful college student volunteers who help struggling students. We team up with the volunteer’s schools for future student teaching opportunities in exchange for the mentorship in this program. Many teachers also invest in their students outside of class by attending sports activities as well as academic help. Every student has his/her teacher’s school email and can ask questions if need be.
As mentioned before we have a lot of support from technology in our school. Our students love the copious use of technology in the classroom. Through the use of our smart board and student’s cellphones we have been able to involve students in class participation like never before. Students can text in their answers an in anonymously. This provides a safe environment to ask questions and not feel singled out.

b)      Our technology department has a few Apple employees who volunteer and help trouble shoot. The full time employee we have is constantly up to date with upcoming software. He tries to keep us as up to date as possible but doesn’t exceed our budget.

c)      Financially we are one of the few school that is very stable. Due to our supportive community and savvy budget makers we do well. We could use more money to expand our parking lot. It is not sufficient parking. Also we would like to build a third floor because we are growing to the point of over population.

4.  Tech Standards for your grade level: At the 6^th-8^th grade level the Technology Standards are as follows on the OSPI website: http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/Standards/TechStandards.aspx .

EALR 1 – Integration Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems. Components 1.1: Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products and processes using technology. 1.2: Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. 1.3: Investigate and Think Critically: Research, manage and evaluate information and solve problems using digital tools and resources.

EALR 2 – Digital Citizenship Students demonstrate a clear understanding of technology systems and operations and practice safe, legal and ethical behavior. Components 2.1: Practice Safety: Practice safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology. 2.2: Operate Systems: Understand technology systems and use hardware and networks to support learning. 2.3: Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively. 2.4: Adapt to Change (Technology Fluency): Transfer current knowledge to new and emerging technologies. (Grades 6-12 only)