My School
Central High School
Address:
1 Lincoln Blvd, Bridgeport, CT 06606
Phone:
(203) 275-1502
Website:
I teach at Central High School — part of the Bridgeport Public School system — in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was originally constructed in 1873 but moved to the current building in 1964. The school went through major four-year renovation that was completed after my first year teaching. The high school is split into "two schools" — Neighborhood Central and Magnet Central. Central High School is the largest high school in Bridgeport and is located in an area with a large immigrant population. The area directly surrounding the school has a relative high level of poverty compared to nearby sections of the city, as well as a higher level of crime. Despite this, Central High School continues to see a downward trend in chronic absenteeism over the last few years, with 16.6% of students chronically absent in 2017-2018 (down from 25.3% in 2016-2017). We have a variety of school extracurriculars, including football, basketball, track, volleyball, chess, debate, tennis and soccer. I currently am a member of the Student Governance Council and offer after-school assistance to students who need additional practice. On top of the Magnet program, Central offers ESL, Special Education and Mentor programs. We also have an organization located in our building, called Build On, which partners with the students in our school to volunteer in their community, as well as take them on service trips in developing nations.
Demographics
(2017-2018 School Year)
There are 1,612 students enrolled in the school with 50% male and 50% female. 46.1% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. 12.6% of students are English Language Learners, and 15% are students with disabilities.
Students By Race:
40.8% Black/African-American
40.6% Hispanic/Latino
13.4% White
3.8% Asian
0.7% Native American
Educators By Race:
12.3% Black/African-American
5.7% Hispanic/Latino
78.7% White
2.5% Asian
0.7% Native American
Per Student Funding in Connecticut by District
http://ctschoolfinance.org/spending/per-student
Connecticut State Department of Education School Profile and Performance Report Year 2017-2018
School Funding
Connecticut has 172 public school districts, and funding per district varies greatly. "While Connecticut’s average per-student spending is $16,988, there is a wide difference in spending levels. From Danbury, which spends $12,828 per student, to Cornwall which spends $35,155 per student" (CTSchoolFinance.org, n.d.). Bridgeport has the eighth lowest spending per student in the state — at $14,241 — even though it is the largest city in the state and has many high-poverty areas within it.
Allocation of Funds
Although Bridgeport has one of the lowest spending amounts per student in Connecticut, our school has interactive white boards in each classroom, along with Chromebooks and WiFi. On the other hand, we are not allocated supplies, except for one ream of paper per month, and many teachers either have no textbooks or just enough books for one class. We have departments within the school and district (ours being the World Language Department), but the resources have been cut to a point where there is little to no meaningful professional development.
Inside My Classroom
My classroom is reflective of the school as a whole with similar demographics in all of my classes. I teach Spanish 1 and 2, so many of my students do not speak much Spanish. I do have Heritage Speakers, who have varying levels. Since I teach the lower levels at my school, my Heritage Speakers often can speak or understand listening to the language but are not able to write or read. I teach five classes, and all my classes have between 26 - 29 students. We run on a block schedule, with my first period every day for 50 minutes and the rest of my classes every other day for 100 minutes. In my classroom, I have an interactive white board and Chromebooks. I also bought and raised money for resources, like mini white boards, decorations, and project supplies. We have textbooks, but there is no required classroom, and I use the book as a reference but make my own curriculum. This year our department has started using common assessments, but still we mostly make and use our own.
More About My Classroom
I work to maintain a classroom that is consistent with much of what I learned in Mariale Hardiman's The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (2012) and my Johns Hopkins courses, such as Effective Practices in Teaching and Learning and Seminar in Transformational Leadership and Teaching. This includes creating an emotional climate for learning, an immersive experience for maximum Spanish retention and a positive physical learning environment. Every day I make sure that students feel safe and welcome in my classroom and that no one is going to judge them, while also working to make my classes as immersive and well-rounded as possible.
Routines
On top of establishing class expectations, I introduce and reinforce routines that allow for smooth and consistent transitions every class. “Establishing classroom routines lets the students know what is expected of them academically and socially in the context of the classroom” (Hardiman, 2012 p. 69). Some of my students have become visibly stressed out — especially those with trauma — when classes were inconsistent and there was no solid foundation in the class structure. I witnessed this my first year when I was experimenting to find routines that worked well for my class setting. Although I always switch up different learning strategies and activities to spark student interest, students know that there will always be a similar foundation to the class. This includes a Do Now when students enter the classroom, an introduction of the agenda for the day, flashcard practice with other students, and an Exit Ticket at the end of class. There are also reccurring activities that students are familiar with that I use on a regular basis, such as mini whiteboard practice, gallery walks, speed dates, and platforms like Duolingo, Kahoot, and Gimkit.
Colorful and Enticing Classroom
I have the fortune of working in a recently-renovated school with big, beautiful classrooms. Despite that, the classrooms need quite a lot of decoration to add character to them, as they still look prison-esque if there is little to no decorations on the walls or cabinets. As Hardiman (2012) mentions, “When the outside surroundings [regarding the classroom] are varied, information is enriched and retention of content is improved” (p. 88). Since I have worked at my school, students have regularly come by to look at all the flags on the walls. Many of the students often state how much they like the classroom. The flags are meant to both add color to the room but also be a welcoming environment for my students — many who have parents and grandparents from different countries. I personally find an enticing setting much more a driver for creativity than when I am in plain, boring settings. The classrooms I remember from high school — where I can still remember what we learned in the class — are the ones that had character and the teachers were fun and energetic. I apply this belief to my students, as well. By having a colorful classroom with pictures, signs and quotes all over the room, I try to make my classroom as inviting and conducive to learning for my students.
Expectations
I start the year setting and reinforcing the routines and expectations of class with my students using “fair, non-aggressive strategies to manage disciplinary processes” (Hardiman, 2012 p. 73). I stress the non-aggressive strategies, as I have found that my students are more willing to follow class expectations when I am less authoritative as a disciplinarian. That does not mean that I let students do whatever they want — I still hold them to high expectations. However, I am not authentically strict, and my students would recognize that right away.
PowerPoint slides for a "Do Now," Daily Objectives, Flashcard Practice, and "Exit Ticket." These are examples of classroom routines that I employ every class.
Positive and Safe Classroom Culture
In a language-learning classroom, where students need to practice the language speaking and interacting with other students in order to become conversational or fluent, students need to feel comfortable and safe in "a nurturing environment where all students feel connected to a caring adult" (Hardiman, 2012 p. 73). Otherwise they might hesitate to take chances in the target language for fear of being made fun of by their peers or their teacher. To avoid this, I spend much of the first few weeks facilitating icebreakers and activities where students get to know each other. Throughout the year, I regularly group students at random and have them work with each of their classmates. This fosters a more-welcoming and familiar atmosphere, so that I am able to encourage students to take risks and make mistakes in the target language. I have noticed a significant difference in student comfort levels compared to my first year teaching, where students were very resistant to speaking to students in the class even at the end of the school year. When students participate, I give “behavior-specific praise [over] generalized praise” (Hardiman, 2012 p. 68). The feedback is positive, but it is not vague or generalized, so students know exactly what they did well and what they can improve.
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Classroom Lighting
Another important element to a positive and calming learning environment is access to natural lighting. Unfortunately, I am restricted from going outside with my classes on most occasions, so it is imperative that students are exposed to sunlight and not just artificial lighting — especially during the winter when it is both dark when we start school and soon after the school day ends. Not only can the lack of sunlight lead to depressed feelings, but as Hardiman (2012) mentions about a study researching student exposure to sunlight and outcomes, “Students who studied in classrooms with the most day lighting demonstrated 20% better scores on mathematics assessment and 26% on reading assessments” (p. 91). Luckily, my classroom faces the sun most of the day, so only for a short period of the day do I need to use the lights in my room.
Background Music
I play music in every class — as students enter, during transitions and activities, and even during assessments. I notice a calming effect on students when music is playing, especially around lunch hours when students can be the rowdiest. As Hardiman (2012) mentions, “Music has been shown to have relaxing effects on adults in experimental studies” (p. 93). It is also conducive to learning when the music playing is in Spanish. Music creates a much more immersive environment, as it is a great way to learn the language in a much more colloquial manner. Many of my students are not exposed to Spanish much once they leave my classroom, so as a language instructor, I goal is to expose them to as much of the language as possible. Music in the background can help reach this goal.
References:
Hardiman, M. M. (2012). The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-century schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Profile and Performance Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://edsight.ct.gov/SASPortal/main.do
Spending Per Student. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ctschoolfinance.org/spending/per-student