Student+Audience

10th Grade

The school is small and semi-rural. The local population includes a mix of white and blue collar workers. Approximately 75% of the school’s graduates will pursue higher education.

This class is mostly taken by sophomores, with the occasional upperclassman thrown in. The sophomore class includes a student population of 132, of which 94 % are white, 5% are multiracial, 0.8% are Asian, 34% receive free/reduced lunch, 17.4% are special education students, and 1 is ESL student. The average class size for Health and Wellness is 27 students.

Since this class is required of all graduates, there will be a mix of education levels, interests, and previous learning experiences. All students should have some basic website evaluation skills from their freshmen English class. Like most adolescents, these students are motivated most by things that apply or appeal to them personally. Most students will have personal connection to at least one health topic; it may affect them personally, a friend, or someone in their family. Hopefully at this age they are also starting to look toward their future independence. By allowing students to select their health topics and helping them to see how learning these techniques will benefit them as adults, this learning experience has a strong “real world” connection.

4th Grade

The 4th grade students in this same town are housed in an intermediate (3rd -5th grades) school. The intermediate school is home to approximately 475 students. Last year only 67% of students passed both Math and English/Language Arts ISTEP tests. The student population consists of 93% white, 4% multiracial, 1.5% Asian, 1% Hispanic, and .5% black students. Nearly two thirds (64%) of students received free or reduced lunch. 17% of students are in special education and .5% of students are ESL learners.

Nearly 80% of this year’s 4th graders passed the English/Language Arts portion of the ISTEP. They also enter in to this health class with a basic idea of the varieties/types of resources and resource evaluation (including website) from their research project work earlier in the school year. This health class consists of 24 students. About half of the students in this class still retain a passion for learning and enjoy seeing their own progress and meeting the expectations of their teacher and parents. The remainder of the class is divided between those who are on the fence about how they feel about school and those who seem to be convinced it is not for them.

In an attempt to reach out to those students who already seem disillusioned with the educational system, I will use several tactics to try to connect them to the learning experience. First I will try to present the material and interact with the students with a joyful countenance and humor. I think that encouraging the students to find health topics that relate to them in some way will also be a great way to get students invested in the learning and also help them to see the real-world value.