About My Classroom
With 315 students from preschool through eighth grade, West Education Campus is one of the smallest educational institutions in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system. Indeed, it has only one homeroom class for each of its middle school grades. If anything, West’s vibrancy is enhanced by its size. Scholars, teachers, and administrators form a tight-knit community of learning, and parents frequently describe the school as a “hidden gem” and one of the district’s “best-kept secrets.”
West’s independent website reflects these descriptions and emphasizes the numerous opportunities that its scholars receive despite their school’s small size. West is one of a handful of DCPS schools that employs a Schoolwide Enrichment Model in which all students—not merely those identified as gifted and talented—engage in learner-driven projects designed to enhance their knowledge and skills. West also has an active partnership with the Flamboyan Foundation that supports family engagement throughout the school year, from preliminary home visits to more intensive, student-led parent-teacher conferences. Scholars experience a wide range of special classes during the year; in addition to visual art, physical education, Spanish, and library, they rotate through a set of fine arts courses (including graphic design, dance, and choral and instrumental music) provided by the local Fillmore Arts Center. Several homerooms even participate in DCPS’ vaunted Embassy Adoption Program.
West’s official DCPS page tells the story of a quickly-improving Title I school. Nearly all of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and so many qualify for free breakfast that the school provides breakfast in homerooms for all of its scholars. A few years ago, West struggled to retain talented teachers and had very low scores on standardized tests. Now, however, the school is retaining most of its teachers and student scores are on the rise. They are now slightly better than the district average and are increasing at a faster rate. Student satisfaction and attendance are also on the rise.
I teach math for West’s 30 sixth graders, 17 seventh graders, and 24 eighth graders. Each class has a 90-minute math period every other day. In addition, 11 of our most advanced eighth graders take algebra with me during three 90-minute blocks each week. I teach this course using a project-based learning model. My students are 56% male and 44% female. 65% are black, 31% are Hispanic, and the remaining 4% are white, Asian, or mixed-race. 13% of our scholars have special needs addressed by Individualized Education Programs, and 8% are Spanish-speakers who received specialized English instruction. Overall, 20% of my scholars are on or above grade-level, and another 29% are within one year of grade-level. The remaining 51% are more than a year below grade level, and some are as many as seven years behind.
This wide gap in abilities presents significant instructional challenges because, with the exception of the algebra class, students are not grouped by ability levels. West is very focused on small-group instruction, so I spend the majority of most class periods working with small groups of scholars who are at relatively similar levels. This means that I rarely, if ever, teach a single lesson to the entire class. Instead, I work with the most advanced scholars on grade-level content while providing remediation connected to this content for struggling students. District pacing requirements set a pace that challenges my most advanced students, so I frequently work with the special educator who supports the middle grades and the school’s math interventionist to set appropriate targets for students who are behind. I also collaborate periodically with the other three general educators on the middle school team (who teach English, science, and social studies, respectively).
In addition to my teaching duties, I coach the school’s GeoPlunge (geography bowl) team, run a daily hour of after-school homework help for scholars across all grades, and fulfill some leadership roles within the middle school team. I also serve on the Local School Advisory Team, which advises the principal about budget-related matters. Finally, I am active in coordinating extracurricular activities and events from the GeoPlunge and bridge teams to Family Math Night and the Harvest Festival.