Context

. The neighborhood around Cesar Chavez is not the most academically beneficial for the

students. According to the United States census, the poverty rate is about 32.1% which is much

higher than the national poverty rate – 12.3%. (US Census,2018; factfinder, 2010) While I am not

stating that all of the students in Cesar Chavez is under the poverty level; however, there is a

significant level of low-income families around the neighborhood that can impact the student’s

academics and behavior towards school. For instance, according to crime mapping.com from the

beginning of our internship – September 25 – there has been approximately 40 crimes that have

been reported; most of the crimes were assault following with vandalism and larceny. This is a

significant amount considering that it has been about 40 days since September 25th. Nevertheless,

my intentions are not to denounce the parents or school but rather simply stating the facts in

order to provide constructive aid to the students. Overall the neighborhood environment is not

the best around the area but the school makes sure that the students come to school safely by

setting cross-guards and having social workers to help the students.

Cesar E Chavez Elementary is located on the southern region of grand rapids Michigan.

The school itself was named after a Mexican civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. The school is a

neighborhood school; this means that most of the student who attends live in the perimeter of the

school. It is a K-5 school that h0as an 80% Hispanic, 12% black 4% white student body.

(NCES). Moreover, more than 86% of student are eligible for free or reduced lunches which

might indicate that many of the students come from a low-income background. This is shown in

various ways within the class such as clothing and hygienic state of the students. For instance,

the school has a uniform policy for the students, yet, many of their clothes have not been

regularly washed, there are stains, marks or very rarely odor, and often have holes or tears in
their uniform. Moreover, from the conversation from my mentor teacher, I have learned there

were many parents who were working late at nights or are often unemployed.

In the classroom, there are 24 students that consist of 2 white, 4 black, and 18 Hispanic

students. Majority of the students are 5years old but there are few students are 6 years old due to

repeating kindergarten. The general classroom environment can often be disorienting from the

student’s constant chatter and movement. While this might be common in a kindergarten class,

some student often engages in distracting behavior – such as shouting at the answers, making

unnecessary sounds – as well as calling their peers within inappropriate names. Many of the

learners are very energetic which could be one of the reasons for the student’s misbehavior.

However, even with the distraction, Mrs Beth creates structure and order within the classroom.

Language in the classroom is mostly communicated in English without any Spanish or

different languages. This is quite interesting considering most of the students or from Hispanic

heritage. Through my experience in the classroom, I have seen a short instance of students

communicating in Spanish but it is rarely seen in the classroom. The English proficiency is

significantly different between the students; there are students who can identify all the letter,

sounds and sight words, and other who can barely identify the letters. Moreover, for some

students, there is clearly a language issue with learning English while for other students, even

Hispanic students, there are cognitively disadvantaged. For instance, Elrond is a Hispanic student

with low English proficiency. For Elrond understanding English or orally communicating is not

an issue, yet, he still struggles with learning the letter of the alphabet. This indicates that the

problem lies someplace else than language. In the case of Elrond, the teacher and I assume it

might be a cognitive issue because the students have shown difficulty focusing during class and

zoning out during the lessons. Overall, even having a majority Hispanic classroom the issue of
learning does not only lie on language but more complexed characteristics. From language to

cognitive issues, there are several areas that need improvement and I wish I could help them

overcome these issues.

Reference:

US Census Bureau. (2018, September 12). Library. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-263.html

Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Cesar E Chavez Elementary. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=Cesar e Chavez

&SchoolType=4&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=261644005319

Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). (2010, October 05). Retrieved from

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk