Section 1: SETTING AND CONTEXT

1. Culture and Community Context

The school community at Fort Collins High School does not appear to have
withered since I attended the school half a decade ago. Most of the students that I come
across on a daily basis are in high spirits and happy to be around their peers. From what I
have observed, students and faculty members/teachers get along handily and enjoy one
anothers company.
The learning culture in the classroom I have been observing is one generated by a
mutual respect between the students and the instructor. Mr. OConnor has worked hard to
create a safe and humorous relationship in his classroom. It is one that seems to be a great
fit for learning for many of the types of students that are in his FC class. The most
important thing that Mr. OConnor promotes in his classroom culture is that he wants
students to succeed. He is not interested in failing students, and he will constantly go out
of his way to help students on his own time to ensure that students succeed. I have
embraced this attitude and I often spend my planning periods helping to catch students up
with work they may be struggling with.
2. Existing Support and Community Involvement
As far as programs go, there are clubs, sports, and activities on a daily basis that
appeal to a wide range of student interests. Some of these include Remington Street
Review, Musicals, Peer Counselors, Spilled Ink, Gay-Straight Alliance, Board Game
Club, Environmental Club, and many more. Students are encouraged to join some sort of
club, sport, or organization that they may have an interest or passion for. The reason
FCHS pushes for having so many different organizations and activities is so that all
students have the opportunity to find a group or sub-community within Fort Collins High
School that they fit into. Fort Collins High School is all about acceptance and pushing
one another to do better in whichever field one decides to pursue.
Parents can be involved in these activities in a number of ways. They can join the
Boosters Club, which consists of parents helping to raise money and volunteer in any
way they can for a sport, activity, or organization. Parents also have the opportunity to
meet with teachers during teacher-parent conference nights. Additionally, because
teachers are now more accessible than ever with e-mail, text, and other technical devices,
parents can easily contact teachers and find out how they can help their own kids on a
daily basis.
Most of the clubs mentioned before, along with plenty more, encourage
appropriate student behavior. According to the Pillars of Excellence at Fort Collins
High School, student organizations should do their best to display acceptance of others,
pride in their work, integrity, respect of themselves as well as others, and most of all,
responsibility. Fort Collins High School wants all of their organizations to excel, but to
always keep these things in mind, because as students of FCHS, they are constantly
representing the school with their actions. Specific clubs/organizations that attempt to

display these traits may be the Standing Together Club, GSA, FCA, NHS, Student
Council, and the Link Crew.
The overall learning climate, as I touched on before, is one that promotes student
and teacher encouragement and support in order to help one another succeed. Academics
comes first at FCHS and teachers want students to work hard to progress their learning,
but also enjoy the process of learning as well. From what I have observed from veteran
teachers (including my two mentor teachers), the most important aspect of establishing a
positive and accepting classroom culture and community lies in building relationships
with students from day one. This foundation helps to keep students engaged and
continually achieve new goals throughout the year.
3. Demographic Characteristics of the School
The demographics of the school are broken down by Ethnicity/Race, Gender, and
Economic status based on free and reduced lunches. Ethnicity/Race: White (66%),
Hispanic (25%), Asian (4%), Black (2%), Mixed (3%), American Indian (1%). Gender:
Male (55%) and Female (45%). Economically Disadvantaged Students: Free Lunch
Program (25%), Reduced-Price Lunch Program (6%), Economically Advantaged (69%).
These statistics regarding the demographics of FCHS can be found at usnews.com. They
may alter slightly, as students transfer, join, or drop out of school.
The overall mission of the school is to get students college-ready, or at least, posthigh school ready. The teachers I have observed have legitimate reasons for what they are
teaching and are quick to explain how it can be applicable to the post-high school world.
It is also clear from listening to the senior faculty at FCHS, including Mr. Eversole, that
Fort Collins High School wants to grow their students and teachers into the best people
they can be. They want all students to achieve great things in their areas of interest, and to
take pride in what they do, as well as the school they represent.
4. Classroom Environment and the Students
The students I teach are enrolled in Mr. OConnors 9th grade English class and
Mr. Stephens 9th grade English class. As far as Mr. OConnors English FC class, most of
the students are categorized as having reading level deficiencies, and that is why they are
enrolled in an FC class, however, there are students in the class with other disabilities and
learning hindrances that may have had them placed in the class. For many of these
students, English is a second language, and this is one of the main reasons that they are
struggling readers and writers. I spend three class periods with English 9 FC and two with
English 9. Ill first discuss the classroom environment and the students in the English 9
FC class.
The students have a lot of motivational needs in English 9 FC. When they come
across a lesson that is difficult or lengthy, many of the students tend to shut down. When
we read the complex narrative of The Odyssey graphic novel, Mr. OConnor and I have
been encouraging students to embrace struggling, and see the act of struggling more as a
process of learning than anything else. That being said, many of the students are bright

and learn at a fast rate. Students are actively engaged almost every class period. When a
question is asked many different students are willing to participate.
Some of the students have mental disabilities, and so those students must be
catered to at times, but in general, even those students seem to be on the same page as the
rest of the class. The majority of the students seem to be most interested in popular
culture, as many teenagers are, and trying to make a connection with students based on
something outside of classroom content is a great way to show them how relevant
literature is inside and outside the classroom. Whether it is creating an inside joke or
commenting on a student discussion about a sports game, students seem to generally
appreciate when either Mr. OConnor or myself attempt to connect with them.
The class culture Mr. OConnor and myself have created is up beat, entertaining,
and one that pushes students to work hard and grow. Even if students dont understand
something right away, we try to explain to them that being confused when learning new
material is normal, and as long as they try their best, they can grow as learners. There is
also a lot of laughter in the classroom. Mr. OConnor and myself create a humorous
atmosphere that gives the class energy and liveliness on a daily basis.
The room itself is on the second floor down Prospect Hall. One side of the room
contains large windows that offer a view of the tower outside of FCHS. The windows
also bring in natural lighting to the room, which is an upgrade from rooms I have been in
before with only florescent lights and no windows. The downside to these large windows
with black blinds is that heat gets trapped in the room. Often times by the end of the day
the room reaches above 80 degrees, which can seriously hinder student learning. The
room is decorated with funny English related posters, as well as student integrated
activities from the past. This helps to show that Mr. OConnor has a sense of humor.
Also, by displaying projects created by former students, as well as class photos of
students who have passed his class, it conveys that success is achievable.
Naturally, there are bookshelves everywhere, which contain class sets of books, as
well as all sorts of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books that students have the
opportunity to check out from Mr. OConnor. The room is carpeted and all of the desks
are laid out in a way where half the class is facing the other half of the class. This creates
an environment that has no one true head of the classroom, and keeps students from not
being a part of the class by sitting in the far back, as the rows only go three rows back.
Mr. OConnor and myself try to get all students involved on a daily basis. We are
constantly roaming the room and calling on different students to participate in class.
During my unit I have done my best to deliver content to students in many different
mediums. For instance, we read the graphic novel version of The Odyssey. We watched
multiple clips from Greek mythological films. I also read aloud multiple books and
interacted with them verbally and using technological tools, such as Peardeck and Google
Classroom. Through this six-week unit of The Odyssey, it was clear that students enjoyed
the opportunity to learn through different mediums.
The second class that I am a part of is English 9 with Mr. Stephens. This
classroom is located just a few doors down from my English 9 FC class. Mr. Stephens has
coined his classroom the cave, because it is actually a classroom split in two, and
somewhat appears as a small den. The two classes I help to teach with Mr. Stephens have
significantly larger student populations, though the room is much more condensed.

Though the initial structuring of seats was a problem, we eventually worked together so
that we could fit all of the students comfortably in the classroom. We chose to organize
groups of students into pods - each pod seats anywhere from four to six students.
Mr. Stephens and myself have created a classroom culture that is very
lighthearted, yet, it is one that demands respect when we are teaching content. Being on a
cell phone or any technological device that is not directly related to the lesson we are
teaching is discouraged. We have created a culture of respect in our classroom. Students
must respect themselves, their peers, as well as us (the teachers).
Initially, we allowed students to select their own seats, however, most of them
could not handle the seats that they chose. Based on the interactions we observed in the
class, we decided to create a new seating chart. We are constantly moving students
throughout the room to seats that we believe will better improve their learning situations.
While most of these students would not be considered reading deficient, they
are all at an age where they struggle with optimizing their reading and writing abilities. I
do my best to push students when they feel they are struggling.
We do have a few students that have had severe behavior issues in the classroom.
This includes coming to class late, eating in the classroom, speaking out of turn, and allaround being disrespectful to the classroom culture that we have created. We often
address these students in the moment and we ask them to either fix their behavior or to
take a break from the class (as to not hinder the other students around them). Though we
have strict rules surrounding respect, the overall tone of the class is enjoyable and
engaging.
Mr. Stephens and I work hard to find grasping material when we are selecting
texts for the class. Similarly to my English 9 FC class, we have students work through
different mediums when interacting with different texts. For instance, they may respond
to questions while reading a story on Actively Learn, or they may spend the day creating
a hand crafted one-pager based a character from a text.
Overall, I have worked hard with my mentor teachers to create positive,
respectful, and safe cultures in both classes. Though the classrooms may be structured
differently and are composed with different types of students, both have similar
environments. It has been a great experience seeing two different types of classes for an
entire semester.
5. School-wide and Classroom Policies
Fort Collins High School has been such a thriving and successful school for so
long largely due to the cohesiveness and oneness that the school lives as. This includes
having school-wide policies that every teacher and faculty member abides by. Some of
the most important structures that exist throughout the school are those in place for
management of students, accommodating all student needs, finding resolutions for
different types of conflicts.
FCHS has a structure in place for categorizing all students. This is called MTSS,
which stands for Multi-Tiered System of Support. Every school in the Poudre School
District has some form of MTSS, but the process of how they are managed is different at
each school. There are three tier levels of support. The MTSS starts all students on Tier 1,

which is basically support that is offered to all students of all different types of needs.
Some of these constructs at Fort Collins High School include Pillars of Excellence,
Lambkin Way, Deans List, and many others. All students have access to these constructs
that are within Tier 1.
The other two levels (Tiers 2 and 3) are typically reserved for students that need
support beyond what is offered on Tier 1. Tier 2 is often for students that miss class time
and that need classroom management behavior records. Additionally, these students in
Tier 2 are often put into classes that are meant to specifically help them in areas that they
are struggling with. Some of these classes include Read 180 and FC classes. Lastly, Tier 3
is for students that are often at severe risk. Many of these students are placed into
sheltered classes or have ISS. These students often receive constant referrals from
educators. If anything goes beyond Tier 3 then there is often an examination to discover if
there are any medical problems that may be hindering students.
The process of how students are moved through tiers depends on the team each
student is assigned to. At FCHS, every team consists of an administrator and a counselor.
These teams meet about once a week. They discuss the future of students that may need
extra support and they determine what tier to move students into.
Teachers play a big role in MTSS. Teachers spend the most time around the
students that are being shuffled through tiers. They are the main reporters of student
activity and it is often the opinions of teachers that highly influence where students move
in the MTSS. One of the most important reasons for the MTSS are the formal records that
it provides for all students. A good system in place is essential for student success. It is
also important to note that this system is not perfect. It needs to constantly change and
shift to best help students and their needs.
One of the main ways that Fort Collins High School accommodates students is by
implementing Integrated Services Educators into classrooms. Many special needs
students require extra attention during class. This is where Integrated Services Educators
come into play. These special types of educators make sure students get the
accommodations in all their different classes. Beyond keeping track and staying in touch
with all of the special needs students, ISEs must communicate with the teachers of all of
these students as well. Being informed and constantly updated
Topic and Rationale: What has already happened in this classroom surrounding
the subject you will be teaching? What do students already know? Why are you
going to teach this topic now? What instructional strategy will you be using? Why
did you choose this specific instructional strategy? (10)
A lot has happened since I have been in the classroom regarding content. I have
picked up on patterns and routines, such as grammar practice every Thursday mornings,
and a constant use of technological tools that help students access materials. When I came
into the class the students were just finishing up Persepolis. Then they did a short unit on
poetry, and now they are moving into the more traditional text that is Julius Caesar. Most
of all, the current Shakespeare unit is giving students the most trouble. As a college
English major about to graduate, Shakespeare is still tricky for me. I also remember being

the age that my students are now, and struggling with the text. It is not uncommon when
working with older and differently constructed languages, and in fact, it can feel like
learning a foreign language at times.
Students have a surprisingly good grasp on identifying proper grammar, though,
sometimes there is a disconnect between identifying the correct grammar being used, and
actually using it themselves in writing or speech. I will personally be teaching two class
periods on Russian Literature. It seems that students dont know a whole lot about
Russian Literature, which is why I am so excited to be teaching them about it. After
discussing a few different units, Mr. OConnor decided that I should choose which unit
held the most interest for me. Because the Russian Literature we will be looking at
involved psychological short stories, that typically come off as more entertaining and
engaging texts (somewhat timeless), I thought they would be more appealing to students
and help me to connect with them better.
For the story The Bet, by Anton Chekhov, I will most likely have students
reading the story on Pear Deck which is an educational tool that I can ask questions to
students through while they read. A strategy that is similar to this is the Say Something
strategy by Kylene Beers, from her book When Kids Cant Read. This strategy interrupts
students as they read, given them a chance to think about what they are reading. This
gives them the opportunity to make a prediction, ask or answer a question, clarify
confusion, and comment on what is happing in the story (Beers, 105). Im choosing to
use this strategy and implement it through Pear Deck, because the students are familiar
and seem to like the new tool that is Pear Deck. It allows them to work individually, but
then reconvene as a class when there is a critical moment in the story. I am hoping that
this strategy makes for a successful teaching period.