Diana Ryan

Prof. Gomez
September 8, 2014
Teaching Context Assignment
I will be teaching at Sheridan Elementary, a local district school in Northern
Philadelphia. I believe the specific neighborhood is called Kensington. I am not
familiar beyond my own observations as I walked to and from school last week.
Similar to my observations, key buzzwords that come up on a quick Google search
are: heroin, homelessness, deadly, and hope. Teachers and administrators alike,
describe Sheridan as a safe haven for its students. Unfortunately it is a low
performing school and requires high priority attention from the direction. As a
priority school, district staff will provide recommendations for teacher effectiveness
by observing us frequently. Ive overheard administrators remark that we have solid
teachers, but arent demonstrated by student achievement, or standardized tests.
The pressure is on at Sheridan and I could sense this after only being there
for one week. Although we have great motivation to remove the high priority label,
one obstacle in achieving this is funding. For instance, even though Kindergarten
isnt required in Philadelphia, each of the five Kindergarten teachers will have 30
students this year. I find this incredibly alarming. How can I provide the individual
attention they will need? In addition to observations, another effort to better the
school environment is through school culture. They are trying to implement Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) this year by providing class and
individual incentives for appropriate behavior. They have also recently detailed
non-negotiable behaviors like horseplay and others that have been frequent issues
in the past. Sheridan teachers have even developed a committee to ensure the
implementation of PBIS is uniform. It seemed to have been successful last year; we
hope the progress continues.
I am not really sure how to read my colleagues. Some of them recently
learned about TFA and are unhappy by my lack of experience, but seem willing to
bring me up to speed. Sheridan teachers seem to work collaboratively to improve
quality of learning, but at the same time I am not sure if they believe in their
students. I wonder sometimes if they are trying to emphasize how much I have to
explain to them so that I can understand where my students are developmentally or
if they mean that the students arent capable of more. I had one teacher look at my
collection of books, which I believe to be at a very basic level, and tell me that my
students wont be able to read them by the end of the year. Are we really making
progress if our teachers dont have high expectations or goals? Im not necessarily
sure what high expectations will look like in my classroom, but I imagine that they
will be at the appropriate reading level by the end of the year. While I envision this
for my students, it leads me to question if I can achieve this with my resources.
I am one inexperienced, first-year, teacher who will be responsible for 30
students, some of who have IEPs. I believe I will have an aid some of the time, but I
am not sure as of yet. At the very least I know that I will be on my own in the
classroom most of the day. I will have to utilize my TFA and Penn resources to

support me during the year, which will supplement what the district can offer me as
a new teacher. I will have a teacher come observe my classroom to tell me how I can
improve, but I am unsure how frequently they will do so. In terms of material
resources, as of right now Ive had the opportunity to request some supplies like a
pad of chart paper, a case of copy paper, construction paper, and pencils. I believe
that is all they will give me for the school year, which will not suffice. As a result, I
started a GoFundMe page where I ask friends and family to donate to my class. I
need supplies ranging from ziplock bags to a clock and fans. We dont have air
conditioning and I didnt inherit a fan from the previous teacher. I did, however,
receive some of her old classroom library books, paper, and math manipulatives.
Some of the teachers have donated materials that they no longer needed and offered
to loan me resources as the year progresses. The biggest piece of advice Ive
received is to be creative when it comes to finding resources. For instance, I dont
have cubbies in my classroom so I will get flat rate boxes from the post office and
tape them together. I am, of course, willing to do so, but it saddens me to think that I
will have to be especially resourceful to supply learning materials for my students. A
columnist from the Philadelphia Daily News contacted me over the weekend to
discuss teachers who use sponsorship websites like GodFundMe and DonorsChoose
to provide for their students, so evidently I am not the only one who thinks it is a
shame that there isnt a budget for such supplies.
Similarly to my current situation, I attended an urban, high priority, public
school where teachers were expected to provide as many supplies as possible out of
pocket. My parents encouraged me to actively pursue education as a way our of my
neighborhood, to avoid the trajectory of a young low-income, Hispanic, female. With
the support of my teachers and faith, I received support to augment what my
schools could provide. As a result, I earned a full-tuition scholarship to Trinity
College in Hartford, CT where I studied the sociology of education. Through my
experience at Trinity I volunteered in local classrooms and the public library.
Otherwise, I do not have much experience as a traditional lead teacher. Be that as it
may, I will continue to grow and seek the aid that I need so that I can develop as a
teacher and truly impact my students despite the circumstances.