Liesl Bryant

EDUC 450
Section 1: SETTING AND CONTEXT

The School Community:

The school culture at Rocky Mountain High School is one of
inclusion, acceptance, and support from staff and students alike. It is a
school norm that everyone supports each other in their endeavors and
strives to achieve their best work. There are so many programs for
students at Rocky that it would be impossible to list them all here.
There are a wide ranging number of clubs for students to participate in,
typically during the lunch hour, there are extra curricular sports and
other organized teams. RMHS has a wide number of extra curricular
choral and band ensembles, and a musical theater department that
puts on shows regularly. For students who are struggling, there are a
number of programs including groups, counseling, the voyager
program, and the wellness center for students to take advantage of.
RMHS even has a peer-counseling program. Parents are involved in
several aspects of the schools functions, including helping out on
various committees and volunteering to raise money for several extra
curricular opportunities through the school. Parents are people who
counselors work with regularly to keep track of their childs progress,
and parent chaperones are sometimes involved in events through the
school. One of the key programs that encourages student participation
and the expectation to behave in the lobo way is LINK Crew. This
team of students (supported by staff) welcomes the ninth grade
students on their first days of school, introducing them to their new
home and teaching them about what it means to be a student at
RMHS. This attitude of the lobo way is infused in every aspect of the
schools functions, including their mission statement: Rocky Mountain
High School inspires, guides, and supports our students, faculty and
staff to reach their maximum potential in a caring, challenging and
safe environment. As of 2014, 36% of students participate in AP
classes, and the ratio of male and female students is close to 50/50.
The total percentage of enrollment of minority students (in this case,
non-white), is 24%. The number of economically disadvantaged
students is 26%. The total number of students enrolled at Rocky is
nearly 2,000 students with number of full time teachers at about 100.
RMHS has a graduation rate of 85%, and performs better than state
and district averages on AP/IB testing.

Students and Classroom:

The students I will be teaching are mostly sophomore choir
students with less than five juniors and one senior in the class. Their
development as choir students is on track for students of their age.
They all like to sing, and many enjoy music theory and music history.
There are a number of crossover students who take both band and
choir, and one who takes orchestra and choir during the same class
 Liesl Bryant
EDUC 450
period. Their class culture is relatively communal, and often quite
causal. This is likely due to the way Ms. Hohweiler runs her classroom.
The physical environment reminds me strongly of my high school choir
classroom as it is set up almost identically to it (see diagram below).
There is plenty of space to move around, and lighting is both natural
and from overhead lights. The learning context is strictly musical and
social/emotional. In class, students need to interact frequently, and are
taught not only how to sing with developmentally appropriate
technique, but are exposed to music history and music theory on a
regular basis. The demographics are about 50/50 boys and girls (with
about 30 students in the class), up to five of the students are on some
kind of IEP or 504 plan, and one or two may be on free and reduced
lunch.

Risers (with chairs)

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 Liesl Bryant
EDUC 450

Section 2: Modifications, Adaptations, Accommodations

Consider: Who are your learners? What are their special
needs? Exceptionalities? Alternative ways of learning?
Giftedness?
Consider: What specific ways have you included to make
certain student learning needs are being met? Multiple
Intelligence activities? Learning style understanding? Special
seating? Special handouts? Etc.
Include two specific examples of students (without using
names) for whom you provide modifications, adaptations and/or
accommodations. Create 2 hypothetical examples if you do not
have students who are labeled.

My learners, as stated above, are a diverse group of mostly

sophomore students. None of them have visible special needs. A few of
them have special permission to use the wellness center periodically
and are on IEP or 504 plans. Some need more time on tests, others
need provided notes. There are a few students who go above and
beyond on a regular basis. They are not frequently given opportunities
to further their learning unless they pursue it themselves on their own
time. There are a few students who have fidget objects to use during
note taking time, and many use headphones during individual work
time to help them focus on tasks, and there are two girls in the class
who need a lot of remedial work on their music theory to help them
understand music history concepts.
Specific things I have done to help struggling students include
the following. I have used proximity to help them stay on task, sat with
students during individual work time and tutored them on music
theory, provided written notes for students who are better at absorbing
information aurally during class time, and allowed students to leave
who needed to take a mental focus break. There is one specific student
who comes in during lunch to finish taking tests on which they need
more time. Another student I work with frequently needs to take breaks
to help manage anger issues and is sent to the wellness center
regularly.