Colleen Brewer

SES 440
Dr. Dauenhauer
Understanding the School Community

Community (Greeley)

● Greeley, CO is safer than 20% of cities in Colorado and 21% of cities across the United

States (higher the better) (Not good) 1 in 34 chance of being a victim of crime

○ https://www.areavibes.com/greeley-co/crime/

Since Greeley is safer than 80% of other cities in Colorado, that still does not mean that it is the

safest. As a teacher, we will want to build a safe environment for our students. When our

students come to class, we want them to feel as safe as possible because they may not feel safe

outside of school. Since the chances of being a victim of crime is 1 in 34, some students may not

feel safe while they are at home. It is our responsibilities as teachers to make sure our students

feel safe when they come to school. We want out students to enjoy school as well as feel safe in

a positive learning environment.

● 73.41%: ​English Speaking Only, ​26.59%: ​Other Languages

○ http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/greeley-population/

Greeley has a high rate of students that speak English as their primary language. Even though

73.41% of Greeley’s population is English speaking only, there is still 26.59% that speak other

languages. As a teacher, it is important to know that not all of your students will be able to speak

perfect English. Knowing this, it is important to have visuals when you are teaching. The visuals

will help the students who do not speak English understand what they are supposed to be doing.

One way of using visuals in your class would be to have a video of yourself or another person

demonstrating the skill that is being taught. With the teacher talking and showing the video, it
will help the students who do not speak English understand what is expected of them because

they can just watch the video and try and participate in the activity. In the chart below it shows

the graph of the percentages of all the languages that are spoken in Greeley.

● There are multiple locations across Greeley where students can have access to

Recreational spaces & Facilities.

○ https://greeleyrec.com/facilities/greeley-recreation-center/

○ https://gis3.greeleygov.com/ExploreGreeley/

As physical educators, we want our students to engage in physical activity outside of the

classroom. Greeley has a lot of recreational spaces and facilities that are all around town that

anyone can access. In the recreation spaces, students can be engaged in the Junior Nugget

Basketball league put on by the recreational centers. This opportunity can give students the

chance to practice the skills learned from P.E. in a different setting. As teachers, we can provide

information regarding physical activity events that are happening around Greeley to encourage

students to be physically active outside of the classroom. With all of the facilities located around
Greeley, there are a lot of chances for students to get engaged with physical activity with their

family and friends.

School district (Greeley-Evans Weld County School District 6)

● Student-Teacher Ratio is 19:1

○ https://www.niche.com/k12/d/greeley-evans-school-district-6-co/#teachers

The student-teacher ratio in Greeley is higher than the national average but it is still attainable for

any teacher. Some classrooms in different districts have about 30 students in their class. That

amount of students can make it hard to maintain control in your classroom. Knowing that the

ratio in Greeley is 19:1, it makes it easier as teachers to actual teach their students. If the class

sizes are too high, then there may not be enough materials/equipment for every student. In

physical education, there a many times where the class sizes are three times as large as a regular

classroom teacher. With the ratio being small in the Greeley school district, it will make it easier

for physical education teachers to use their space appropriately when teaching students about

being active for a lifetime. If your class is to big, it will make it hard for every student to

effectively learn because the teacher will not have enough time to help every student that may be

struggling.

● District Mission: Mission statement- ​PREPARES THE WHOLE CHILD FOR A

SUCCESSFUL FUTURE BY PROVIDING A QUALITY EDUCATION IN A SAFE,

SUPPORTIVE, AND DIVERSE ENVIRONMENT.

○ https://www.greeleyschools.org/domain/8204

Having this mission be issued across the district will impact my teaching because I will need to

incorporate these values at all times in my class. Providing a safe, supportive, and diverse
environment will be issued in my class by having positive and supportive signs located around

the gym. I would also have pictures of different students participating in sports along the walls

with a wide range of skill levels so that every student will feel welcomed and safe when coming

to class. We want every student to be successful in the future so by having a foundation of

feeling safe and supportive in a diverse environment, students will learn to respect and support

their fellow classmates throughout their education.

● 81.5 % Graduation rate in 2018

○ https://www.greeleyschools.org/Page/12700

Since the graduation rate is fairly low, as teachers we want to try and emphasize the importance

of education early one in our students education. As physical education teachers, our goal is to

have students enjoy physical activity outside of class. Another goal is that we want our students

to enjoy their actual academic classes. In order to encourage this, we will want to try and have a

positive learning environment in every aspect in school. We never want to be negative towards

education in general towards students. In order to increase the graduation rates, every teacher in

every district needs to be positive about education and emphasize the importance on why your

life will be better after you graduate college. In the picture below, it shows the graduation rate in

District 6 as well as other statistics across the district. I also think it is interesting to see the

amount of high school students who are taking courses at UNC or Aims.
 School (Jackson Elementary School)

● “SAINTLY” Behavior: Students at Jackson Elementary are expected to demonstrate

these behaviors at school. Teachers are working hard to model and teach "Saintly"

behavior at school. In addition, families should be reinforcing "Saintly" behaviors outside

of school.

○ S​afe, ​A​chieving, ​I​ndependent, ​N​eighborly and ​T​rustworthy

○ https://www.greeleyschools.org/jackson

This unique characteristic of Jackson Elementary School will influence my teaching process by

trying to have students show this type of behavior in my class. By having this behavior enforced

throughout the entire school, it will influence my teaching process by making my classroom a

safe environment for my students. When students come to P.E. they are expected to model the

same behaviors that are enforced during the rest of their day at school. P.E. is a place to have fun

and explore new opportunities but it is also a place where you should feel safe while achieving

new skills that are taught in your class. Overall, this characteristic will impact my teaching

because I will need to try and incorporate these behaviors into all of my lessons. In the picture

below, it shows what being a “SAINT” in P.E. looks like. Each letter has an example of what a

student can do to show “SAINT” behavior while they are in class. This poster is posted on the

wall right when you walk into the gym. Every time the students walk in, they are able to walk by

this poster as a reminder to what their behavior should look like while in P.E.
 ● All students are to wear white, yellow, black, gray, or navy blue collared shirts and navy

blue black or khaki pants. Females can also wear skirts or jumpers but should not be

more than one inch above the knee. Shoes should be white, brown or black dress shoes or

tennis shoes. Sweatshirts or sweaters should be white, yellow, black, or gray (no stripes,

logos or emblems). The only logo that is permitted is the Jackson elementary logo.

○ https://www.greeleyschools.org/cms/lib/CO01001723/Centricity/Domain/12/2017

-18%20Handbook.pdf

Having a school dress code makes a form of unity within your classes. It makes it so your

students don’t feel peer pressured when it comes to their clothes. Every student will be more

focused on their academics per say because the students will be worrying less about what they

wear. In P.E. we will want every student to feel like they have an equal opportunity to succeed in

your class. They should not feel pressured to perform a skill that they are not comfortable with.

This will influence my students learning process because they will know that they are in a safe
environment to learn. Having modified equipment will also help students feel like they are

succeeding along with their peers. With students have a choice as to what equipment they want

to use, they will feel more accepted from their peers because they will be able to perform the

same skill being taught just with a different type of equipment.

● Our Mission: For all students to acquire a strong foundation for lifelong learning and

reach their maximum potential within a safe, nurturing, accepting, and challenging

environment. Our goal is for each student to become a responsible and productive citizen.

○ https://www.greeleyschools.org/cms/lib/CO01001723/Centricity/Domain/4827/Ja

ckson%20Elementary%20brochure%20082614.PDF

Jackson Elementary Schools mission is for students to reach their maximal potential within a

safe, nurturing, accepting, and challenging environment. When students come to P.E. they will

be in a safe environment when it comes to teaching because while students are in P.E. they will

know that it is okay to fail at something. When students come to P.E. they will learn to challenge

themselves with different skills that are being taught. In order to learn how to effectively do

something correct, you must be willing to fail in order to try new ways to succeed. In my P.E.

class I will try and teach students to accept their peers skill levels. Not everyone is going to be an

athlete in your class. As the teacher you want to try and let all of your students know that it is

important to accept the differences among your classmates because it can help them as a learner

learn how to help their lower skilled peers get better at a skill. Overall, this mission statement

will help me as a teacher try and help all of my students feel comfortable in my class as they try

new and challenging activities to help them become a responsible and productive citizen.
 Classroom (physical education environment at Jackson)

● Equipment is 1:1

○ Observations

Having enough equipment for all of your students is very critical when planning a lesson. When

planning a lesson, you may have this great idea for a unit but you must first see if you have the

correct amount of equipment needed for your students to be successful. At Jackson, there seems

to be enough equipment for every student which can help your overall teaching process. By

having enough equipment for every student, it gives each student a better opportunity to learn the

new skill. Also, every student will be participating the whole time because they will not have to

wait around for equipment. Jackson also has a wide range of materials that is helpful when

adapting certain activities for your students. If you have multiple kinds of equipment, it gives

your students choice as to what they want to use when participating in the activity.

● Class Schedule: Only have P.E. once or twice a week depending on rotation

○ Observations

At Jackson, students only have P.E. once or twice a week depending on the rotation schedule.

This makes it very hard to plan out your lessons because you are not able to see your students

every day for a week. Knowing that your students only come to your class once a week, you

need to plan out your lessons so that your students are going to be successful in the least amount

of units. Throughout the school year you will also need to plan out what type of units you will be

teaching and then plan accordingly with the amount of times your students come to P.E.

Knowing that your students only come once a week will help you plan out how to set up your

lesson so that your students are gaining new knowledge on certain skill themes as well as
learning about the different components of fitness. It will be important to try and hit everything

you want your students to learn in all of your lessons because you may not be able to work with

them on certain skills due to the amount of times your students come to your class.

● Material culture: Many posters around gym emphasizing students being physically active

○ Observations

When students walk into P.E. they should be excited. They should be able to look around the

gym walls and see themselves and peers being physically active by posters or paintings. The

walls should have encouraging words about being physically active as well as a word wall where

students can look back at to see all of the new skills and cues learned throughout the year. When

I design my future class, I will want to try and include pictures of both males and females with

different athletic abilities and ethnicity. I will want my students to look at the wall and say “wow

that person looks just like me when I participate in physical activity”. I also want my walls to

have encouraging words all around so that students feel comfortable when participating in my

class. Every student should be able to look at the walls in the gym and feel encouraged to

participate in physical activity outside of school. The posters around the walls can motivate

students to be active because they will want to try and be just like the person on the poster.

In the pictures below, you can see that there are posters and sayings all around the gym

with encouraging and motivating words one them. There are also posters showing healthy foods

that should be eaten everyday. Lastly there is a P.E. word wall with all the different words or

cues used throughout the year in each lesson taught. This can be used as a reference for students

to refer back to.