About My Classroom
About My School
I currently teach at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School (JM) in Baltimore City, MD. Our school is located in the Hollins Market neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore. We serve students in grades Pre-K through 8th grade. JM is a turnaround school. In addition to rigorous and innovative approaches to improve student outcomes in a short time, we offer comprehensive access opportunities to ensure students get multiple education and social supports. Our students access resource periods and supports including: Art with a Heart, Library, Gym, STEM, Coding in Schools, Special Education services (inclusion and pull our resources), technology (laptop carts, two desktops in each room, Smart boards, tablets), counseling services, psychology services, speech pathology, and social work supports. We are a community school building that is partnering with UMBC and The Family League of Baltimore, ROCACP Youth Mentoring Program.
Along with the resources mentioned above, we are also able to provide many academic intervention services within the classroom. All academic interventions are supplemented with teacher created and differentiated work for the individual student. These interventions and strategies include: Do the Math, Eureka Math, Baltimore City Reading curriculum, SABEs science program for Baltimore City, Fundations standard intervention, and Fundations small group Tier III intervention.
JM is a Title I school, and 100% of students receive free or reduced lunch each day. We also have a food pantry for families and surrounding community members. JM provides food and goods, two afternoons per week, to supplement home meals. The majority of our students are walking students and can get from home to school in less than an 8-minute walk. Our demographics reflect our neighborhood, as well as Baltimore City. We have a population that is mostly African-American, and a large portion of English Language Learners. See more about our demographics below:
I currently teach at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School (JM) in Baltimore City, MD. Our school is located in the Hollins Market neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore. We serve students in grades Pre-K through 8th grade. JM is a turnaround school. In addition to rigorous and innovative approaches to improve student outcomes in a short time, we offer comprehensive access opportunities to ensure students get multiple education and social supports. Our students access resource periods and supports including: Art with a Heart, Library, Gym, STEM, Coding in Schools, Special Education services (inclusion and pull our resources), technology (laptop carts, two desktops in each room, Smart boards, tablets), counseling services, psychology services, speech pathology, and social work supports. We are a community school building that is partnering with UMBC and The Family League of Baltimore, ROCACP Youth Mentoring Program.
Along with the resources mentioned above, we are also able to provide many academic intervention services within the classroom. All academic interventions are supplemented with teacher created and differentiated work for the individual student. These interventions and strategies include: Do the Math, Eureka Math, Baltimore City Reading curriculum, SABEs science program for Baltimore City, Fundations standard intervention, and Fundations small group Tier III intervention.
JM is a Title I school, and 100% of students receive free or reduced lunch each day. We also have a food pantry for families and surrounding community members. JM provides food and goods, two afternoons per week, to supplement home meals. The majority of our students are walking students and can get from home to school in less than an 8-minute walk. Our demographics reflect our neighborhood, as well as Baltimore City. We have a population that is mostly African-American, and a large portion of English Language Learners. See more about our demographics below:
JM Demographics |
Hollins Market Demographics |
Baltimore City Demographics |
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To learn more about JM, visit;
*Population information taken from Baltimore City Health Department
*Population information taken from Baltimore City Health Department
Classroom Information
I teach second grade at JM, and provide English Language Arts, math, social studies, and science instruction. I have 25 second grade students in my classroom community. See demographics below:
There are many school wide initiatives that take place within my classroom, along with many differentiated tasks and lessons that are meant for my specific students. We spend 30-40 minutes a day on Fundations, as a whole group lesson, to target foundational skill standards. Along with that, we follow the Fundations block with "Drop Everything and Read (DEAR)" to allow students time to read and look through books that are within and outside their reading levels. They are able to read books of interest and choice and read with a partner around the room. This encourages students to keep reading during structured time and also gives me a chance to see what they're interested in to change what books I might pull for their guided reading books.
Along with our Fundations and phonics block, we also complete between 60-80 minutes of small group guided stations everyday. Students work in their leveled groups to complete work during these stations that are catered to their needs and differentiated based on the colored folders inside of the center bins. While students are doing their station work, I work with a small guided reading group to provide additional support. This time allows me to meet with each student group and to make sure that all data is accurate and to keep an eye on students that need more support or need to move up groups and push their skills.
Although reading is a key focus for our school this year, there are also a couple of math interventions that we are working with. Each day I meet with two different small groups to review Do the Math on the level of that group. I have two intervention groups that I work with. The lower based group I meet with three times per work and the group right above them, I meet with two days per week. During this time, the other students are completing their stations and work that is meant and built around the strengths and skills that they need reinforced with practice. Similar to reading, these groups allow me to watch and monitor the progress that my students are or are not making.
I am a member of the Attendance, Events and Green Team. I am the chair of the Green team. Our collaboration team consists of second, third and fourth grade teachers that meet every Tuesday after school and every Wednesday during our planning period to complete vertical collaborative planning. During collaborative planning meetings, we discuss interventions and strategies that, we, as a school are working to implement for the students in the classroom.
I teach second grade at JM, and provide English Language Arts, math, social studies, and science instruction. I have 25 second grade students in my classroom community. See demographics below:
- 12 female students
- 13 male students
- 92% African American
- 8% Caucasian
There are many school wide initiatives that take place within my classroom, along with many differentiated tasks and lessons that are meant for my specific students. We spend 30-40 minutes a day on Fundations, as a whole group lesson, to target foundational skill standards. Along with that, we follow the Fundations block with "Drop Everything and Read (DEAR)" to allow students time to read and look through books that are within and outside their reading levels. They are able to read books of interest and choice and read with a partner around the room. This encourages students to keep reading during structured time and also gives me a chance to see what they're interested in to change what books I might pull for their guided reading books.
Along with our Fundations and phonics block, we also complete between 60-80 minutes of small group guided stations everyday. Students work in their leveled groups to complete work during these stations that are catered to their needs and differentiated based on the colored folders inside of the center bins. While students are doing their station work, I work with a small guided reading group to provide additional support. This time allows me to meet with each student group and to make sure that all data is accurate and to keep an eye on students that need more support or need to move up groups and push their skills.
Although reading is a key focus for our school this year, there are also a couple of math interventions that we are working with. Each day I meet with two different small groups to review Do the Math on the level of that group. I have two intervention groups that I work with. The lower based group I meet with three times per work and the group right above them, I meet with two days per week. During this time, the other students are completing their stations and work that is meant and built around the strengths and skills that they need reinforced with practice. Similar to reading, these groups allow me to watch and monitor the progress that my students are or are not making.
I am a member of the Attendance, Events and Green Team. I am the chair of the Green team. Our collaboration team consists of second, third and fourth grade teachers that meet every Tuesday after school and every Wednesday during our planning period to complete vertical collaborative planning. During collaborative planning meetings, we discuss interventions and strategies that, we, as a school are working to implement for the students in the classroom.