Internship Teaching Context
Alton Middle School located at 2200 College Avenue, Alton, IL,62002. Currently there are 1,454 students enrolled, 58.1% are white, 29.4% are black, and 8.7% are two or more races. There are 444 full time teachers employed at the school. The average class size is 29 people. According to Illinois Report Card (www.illinoisreportcard.com/), there are 65% of students from low-income families. 3% of them are homeless. Although the parent contact is 98.5%. School Principal shared with me that getting parents involved is still one of the most challenging part of his job. Over all academically, Alton Middle School is little bit lower than District performance, but 14.2% lower than State performance. The mission of the Alton School District is to prepare our students with college, career and citizenship skills through a safe and progressive learning environment. The school was the National Award Winner of Promising Practice of Character Education in 2011. The character traits that promoted here are: respect, responsibility, service, cooperation, goal setting, perseverance, courage, honesty & integrity, patience.
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Mr. Stark’s Room 205 is a 7th grade social studies classroom at Paisa House. There are four blocks of students coming during the day and total around 100 students. 52.4% of students consider social studies their favorite subject. 83.67% of them says they get enough support from their teachers. Mr. Stark was a language art teacher for over six years. He put a lot of emphasize on academic reading and writing in his class. Yet students’ literacy skills are all over the places. Some can write like a college student. Some are still on the 2nd Grade reading level. He often uses videos, games, debate as way to differentiate in his classroom. He has very high standard on students being respectful and obedient. Mr. Stark wanted to become a history teacher since he was a young boy. His passion and love for children were constantly expressed in this classroom. Once he said, he got the richest job in the world. I was inspired by many good qualities he has. As a result, students love and respect him too. They feel very safe sharing their thoughts and opinions in his classroom. They also treat me with love and respect. I was always touched by their little notes and gifts given to me. The first day, Mr. Stark kept telling me to make myself at home. They all did make me feel like home. I cherish my three-week with my teacher and children.
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