Mark Twain Middle School is located in Silverton, Oregon, within Marion County. With a population of 13,216, Silverton is one of the smaller cities in the county, however, its small town feel is one most alluring qualities of the city. The median age is 38 years old and the average household income is $45,100. Within in the city of Silverton, there is no large industry or major company that employees a large amount of the locals; the main occupation is agricultural, therefore, there are a lot of family operated farms. The average person is a low-middle class blue collared citizen whose average home is worth $168,600. Approximately 61% of the community own their homes and 39% rent. In addition, 16% of the community is below the poverty line. Within the community members of Silverton, the racial diversity is not very dense, Hispanics make up the largest minority group with 9.3% and the remaining minority groups, African Americans, American Indians, Asian, and other races, barely make up 1% of the community.
Mark Twain Middle School is in the Silver Falls School District that consists of 1 high school, 1 middle school, 11 elementary schools (K-8), and 1 elementary that is 4th – 6th grade. Out of the 13 schools in the district, 6 of them are Title-1 schools and Mark Twain is one of those schools. The immediate surrounding around the middle school compliment the schools financial struggles; the school lies on the northeast side of town surrounded by homes built in the 1970’s that are a little run down, but the yards are kept up and a newer neighborhood that consists of duplex homes. Although, there is a high population of low-middle class community in Silverton, the citizens are very nice, hardworking, and respectful individuals. They are very welcoming to new people into their town and they make sure to shake your hand, ask how you are doing, and if you need anything.
Based on the socioeconomic level of the community, as a teacher, I need to be aware when creating my lesson plans, making sure I get majority of the lesson and work done in class, and not assigning anything that may cause hardship for the students to complete. Typically, students from low socioeconomic households have a difficult time completely homework at home due to their home life, and they do not have the same access to technology as other families, that are not as financially limited. Overall, I need to make sure that I am making the necessary arrangements for the students needs.
The socioeconomic level of the students at Mark Twain Middle School appears to be lower than that of West Salem High. How is your approach going to be different at each school, or is it going to be different? It's interesting that the majority of your students are probably going to be white. How are you going to make those few minority students feel comfortable in your class? What things are you going to do to incorporate their culture into social studies? Nicely done with all of the statistics!
ReplyDeleteNicole,
ReplyDeleteMy approach to my middle school students vs my high school students based on their socioeconomic status will not change. I think my precautions and adaptions will be universal amongst the different grade levels. I just need to be cognizant of what homework I'm assigning and how it needs to be accomplished.
Both my schools are majority white, however, Mark Twain has a lower diversity then West. However, other than being aware of their ethnicity, its going to be hard to really get to know the students in my short time to learn if there are any issues I need to know about them that may cause me to change my teaching style or approach. I will try to incorporate some cultural awareness in my daily warm-ups.
Tony,
ReplyDeleteGiven the low economic standing of many families, are students required to work at young ages to help their parents on family farms? If so, this could impact their ability to complete homework assignments on a regular basis and may be in the best interest to keep all work in-class. It was surprising to see that with only 1 high/middle school, the school district had 11 elementary schools. Seems like they need at least one more middle school to account for the student population, otherwise class sizes could get fairly large. It was also interesting to read that 61% of families own their home. I'd have to check with Salem's percentage, but that seems high (good though for these families). During this program, I will make it a priority to observe this area given all the feedback from others in class. Well written section.