Understanding The School Community

Ross Richardson
SES 440
Dr. Dauenhauer
2/19/20
Understanding The School Community
1. Community (Greeley)
● The average income for each person living in Greeley is $36,523.
- Implication: Considering the average family size is 2.7 children per family, it is
safe to assume that earning $36,523 a year is clearly not enough to support a
family. With these earnings, it is safe to assume parents may struggle to provide
basic necessities to their children such as food or clothing. This indicates to me as
a teacher that I need to be mindful of my student’s home life and what financial
situations they are currently struggling with. This may include noticing when they
haven’t had much to eat, sleep, or even if they happen to show up without proper
attire.
● The Greeley CO crime rate for 2016 was 456.63 per 100,000 population, a 0.35%
increase from 2015.
- Implication: This indicates to me as a teacher that I need to be more attentive to
students who may come from a family of crime/abuse or suffer from some sort of
disturbance in their neighborhood. Offering up myself to be someone they can
talk to or go to for help is very important for any teacher to do, especially when
students may be under distress. If students trust me and feel comfortable sharing
their personal stressors with me, I will feel very grateful and be able to help them
in the best possible way I am allowed to (reporting to police or giving them extra
support).
2. School district (Greeley-Evans Weld County School District 6)

● Graduation rates for District 6 have increased from 78.7% to 81.5% as well as the
dropout rate decreasing from 2.3% to 2%.
- Implication: This is a great statistic to see, especially when students are coming
from poverty and crime. This indicates to me as a teacher that I must continue to
encourage growth and promote success at an early age, especially students that
have attended a Title 1 school in the past similar to Jackson Elementary.
However, students must understand that their background may be harsh, but their
future is always bright. It is my job as a Physical Educator to promote physical
activity for a lifetime, but also promote self-motivation and growth as well.
● 26% of all students in District 6 are English-Language Learners
- Implication: This indicates to me as a teacher that my lesson plans, as well as
classroom, need to include visual cues and visual aids to assist English learners.
Given that students who are English-Language learners are mostly Spanish-
speaking, incorporating Spanish into my lessons or having other students translate
what I am saying is a great way to accommodate ELL Students to make them feel
more comfortable. If these students are more comfortable in my class, they will be
more inclined to participate and give a better effort.
3. School (Jackson Elementary School)

● Jackson Elementary school is a K-5 school with roughly 464 students. There are 82
kindergarteners, 83 first graders, 78-second graders, 80 third-graders, 68 fourth graders,
and 73 fifth graders. The school demographics are roughly listed as, 68% Hispanic, 18%
Caucasian, 6% African American and 1% of two or more races, Hawaiian and American
Indian each.
- Implication: With so much diversity and cultural differences, this indicates to me
as a teacher that students must be celebrated and encouraged to express their
cultural/religious beliefs no matter what circumstance. However, as a teacher, I
need to be aware of cultural/religious beliefs affecting some activities as well.
This may include certain religious beliefs such as the practice of fasting in which
my student will most likely not have a lot of energy to participate in full effort. A
huge factor that goes into effective teaching is knowing your students on a
personal level. My goal is to connect with students individually in order to create
a more meaningful bond to the point where I have a thorough understanding of
their attitude, beliefs, and personal needs.
● Jackson Elementary is a title one school. 90% of the students at Jackson are on free or
reduced lunch.
- Implication:
4. Classroom (Physical education environment at Jackson)

● Mr. Jioni Reliford is a fantastic physical educator and leader in the classroom. He also
does a great job of connecting the physical activity to real-world facts and evidence.
- Implication: I was fortunate enough to observe a lesson at Jackson Elementary
School in which Mr. Reliford was able to connect jump-rope to heart health. It
was interesting to see because he was teaching a 4th-grade class where most
students probably were not too concerned with their heart health at that age.
However, he was able to break down cardiovascular disease in a way for the
students to comprehend that physical activity (jumping rope) is a great way to
stay healthy. I also plan to incorporate facts like this in my future lessons to make
the content I teach relevant to the students. Making lessons relevant will not only
keep the students engaged but the content will resonate with them more, making
them conscious that they need to be physically active for a lifetime.
● Mr. Reliford’s classroom protocols are very fine-tuned and respected; Students know
what they are supposed to do as soon as they walk through the door.
- Implication: In order to effectively run a classroom, having proper classroom
management and routines is vital. If students are clear on expectations and
execute tasks such as warmups, transitions, or setting up/putting equipment away,
it will make time for more physical activity. I plan to mimic MR. Reliford’s
routines such as his warm-up. Quick, easy, and effective, he has his students
sprint and jog the baseline and sideline of the basketball court a few times before
they sit in their ‘role call’ spot. Mr. Reliford also does a fantastic job of making
transitions smooth by setting up/taking down equipment as the students are
finishing up a task. Additionally, Mr. Reliford has students help set up certain
tasks to reduce transition time. All of these aspects are effective means of what
goes into making a classroom flow sufficiently.
● Mr. Reliford’s classroom includes many posters that display self-assessment,
rules/guidelines, and student achievement all throughout the walls.
- Implication: Displaying classroom rules and achievements for all the students to
see is a great reminder of what is expected of them (such as Mr. Reliford’s daily
self-assessment). It’s one thing to tell students the expectations, but if students are
able to visually see what is asked of them they will be more inclined to cooperate.
This relates to achievements as well as students are able to constantly see their
growth or success displayed in the gymnasium which boosts their confidence and
willingness to put in more effort. Students will often brag and boast about their
accomplishments at this age level as well, which may encourage their peers to try
harder to succeed as well.

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Ross Richardson

● The average income for each person living in Greeley is $36,523.

2. School district (Greeley-Evans Weld County School District 6)

3. School (Jackson Elementary School)

4. Classroom (Physical education environment at Jackson)

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