Setting & Context

For my year teaching English as a Master of Arts in Teaching candidate, I was placed at Claremont Academy in the Main South neighborhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Claremont, which shares a building with Woodland Academy, an elementary school, is about a five minute walk northeast from the campus of Clark University. Claremont’s motto is “Ubuntu,” an African saying that translates as “I am because we are.” Teachers and administrators use the motto frequently and are continually inspiring students to use and intuit it.

Claremont is a school of just over 500 students, grades 7-12. Classes are untracked, and thus my classes were very heterogeneous in terms of students with Individualized Education Plans, 504s, and those classified as English Language Learners. Of the 508 students enrolled at Claremont for 2015-2016, 73% are Hispanic (non-white), 12% are black, 8% are Asian, and 7% are white. 62% are eligible for “Free & Reduced Lunch,” and Claremont provides free breakfast for all of its students. The freshman class this year is comprised of exactly 100 students, while the graduating class of seniors is set to be around 55 students. There are 224 English language learners, L1-L5, at Claremont, comprising 44% of the student population. There are 32 students who are classified as L1 language learners. I have about ten students with EPL scores in my freshman class, and equally as many juniors.

I was placed with two mentor teachers: Peter Weyler, who teaches 9^th grade English as well as theatre classes, and Deirdre Carlson, who teaches 11^th and 12^th grade English classes. They each have over 25 years of teaching experience, and I have been continually grateful for their guidance and wisdom.

For my own teaching load, my duties this year were as follows: 1 section of 9^th grade English, 1 section of 11^thgrade English, substitute teaching sections of ELA classes in the freshmen and seniors halls, and daily ELL support in two of Mr. Weyler’s English classes.

There were considerable challenges and rewards of writing curriculum and teaching for two grades. The 9^thgraders were highly energetic while the 11^th graders were more reserved. I learned a great deal about managing and responding to student misbehavior with the freshman, while my time with the juniors was time I could use to think about insightful questioning. All of my students are capable of producing high-quality work, though some lacked motivation. It is my hope that this eFolio will show the nuanced layers of my year of student teaching and learning, my students, my practice, and the Claremont community.