Caitria Jade Cunningham

Professor Keeley
Education 302/303
10/13/14
Context
This unit is designed to be taught at East Grand Rapids Public High School to a class of
sophomore students. There are twenty-six students in this class. Twenty-two of that group are
Caucasian, three are African American, and one is biracial. According to the National Center of Education
Statistics, 3,493 of the population under eighteen identify white whereas only 38 identify as African
American (NCES, 2000). The community is largely white, and nearly all of the students are from the
community. Although EGRPHS allows for students of choice within the educational system, they have
tried to limit the number of students not coming from within the community. My teacher explained this
as a precaution against setting students up for failure, as EGRPHS is a rigorous school and previously
most students of choice had not been prepared well enough for it. Consequently, the vast majority of
the students in the school and the entirety of those in my class come from within the East Grand
Rapids community.
This community is quite wealthy. The estimated median household income for this district in
2012 was $104,262 (City-Data, 2012). Although there are certainly families on the other end of the
spectrum, they are not the norm. The school is boosted and supported by the wealth in the community
in addition to federal and state funding. The building of East Grand Rapids Public High School is old, but
it is in good condition and has many resources. There are always enough textbooks, there are three
different computer labs, despite the fact that every student has his or her own laptop, two different
auditoriums, a gym, a football stadium, and they put on charity events. The school does not lack funding
or resources, and the students are generally well-supported and cared for in their home lives.
In this specific classroom, as I have said, all of the students are from the surrounding
community. Most of them have gone through the school system in this district. They are familiar with

how things work here, and they know how to function within the system. There are about 1,000
students in the high school, and it is then small enough for all of them to be familiar with each other.
They are comfortable with one another and are able to communicate well, as a general rule. However,
there are still clear communication barriers. Twelve of the twenty-six students have documented
learning disabilities. These range from a girl who is partially deaf to dyslexia and students with attention
deficit disorder to students with emotional disorders. The attendance sheet reveals the identities of
these students through small squares of different colors, so I have to be careful about who is able to see
the sheet and that I close it after I am done with attendance each day.
This wide variety of abilities and talents makes for a very diverse class that cannot be taught in
just one way. Some students will be able to dive right into Twelfth Night; others will need to see it
performed; still others will need much more help. One challenge will be harnessing the enormous
amount of energy in that classroom. There is nearly constant chatter and the students tend toward
conversation and movement, more so than in other classes that I have observed. This is not necessarily a
bad thing. While it makes the class atmosphere more resistant to a lecture-style lesson, it moves them
closer to active participation and action, which I think is the best way to study a play anyways.
Conversation and discussion is not a problem, but keeping the conversation and discussion focused on
the play could very well be.
The classroom is set up in two U shapes, one smaller U inside the other. This is conducive to the
sort of discussion and conversation that we want, especially since the students are in seating charts.
They are facing each other, but they are also facing the teacher, giving me authority and the students
input into what is happening. This sort of mutual control can be very beneficial to genuine and authentic
conversation and work. Additionally, there is a large empty area up front that can be used as a stage on
a regular basis, which should be helpful for the various performances in which I want the students to
take part. I am excited about this unit; it fits the school, the students, and the community.

References
East Grand Rapids, Michigan (2013). In City-data. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
East Grand Rapids Public School (2013). In National center for education statistics. Retrieved October
13, 2014.