Contextual Factors Template

Total Number of Students in the School: 364

School Socio-Economic Make-Up (i.e., % free and reduced lunches): 28%

Grade 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 4th
Level/Subject General General General General General General General General General General
Taught Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music

Number of 20 20 22 21 20 21 21 21 20 21
Students in
Classroom
Grade Level/ 4th 4th 5th 5thGeneral 5th General 5th 5th 5th 5th 12:00
Subject General General General Music Music General General General General
Taught Music Music Music Music Music Music Music
Number of 22 21 20 19 19 18 19 19 29
Students in
Classroom

Contextual Information: Class Class Class Student Learning Adaptations:

(List the number of students identified 1 2 3 (Describe at least one example of a strategy to
in each class you teach and identify the provide equitable opportunities, accommodations,
class in which you are teaching your or modifications you attempted for any student
unit) identified within each contextual characteristic)
I should allow every student the opportunity to
Gender 11 10 9 try out every instrument when it is time for
Number of Females: 9 10 13 them to try out for band., and show them
Number of Males: examples of both male and female professionals
on those instruments.

Ethnic/Cultural Make-Up Music is a world-wide subject that stems from

Caucasian/White: 18 19 18 many different cultures, so I would expose the
African American/ Black: 1 0 2 students to music from different cultures.
Hispanic/Latino: 0 0 1
Asian/Pacific Islander: 1 1 1
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0 0 0
Giving students instructions both visually and
Language Proficiency aurally is a way to provide students with a
Number of English Language 0 0 1 variety of ways to receive and process
Learners (ELL): instruction.

Academic Performance Peer teaching lets the above average students

Students Performing 0 1 1 teach while giving below average students more
Below Grade Level: opportunities to understand the concept.
Student Performing 20 19 21
Above Grade Level:
 Students with Special Needs Creating alternative lesson plans for individual
Learning Disability: 1 1 0 students with special needs is a good way to
Emotional/Behavioral Impairment: 0 0 0 give students a way to learn the concept at their
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): 2 1 0 level.
Developmental Disability: 0 0 1
Intellectual Disability: 0 0 0
Speech/Language Impairment: 1 0 0
Autism Spectrum: 0 1 0
Gifted: 0 0 0
Blind/Visual Impairment (VI):
0 0 0
Deaf /Hearing Impairment (HI):
1 0 0
Physical Disability:
0 0 1
Other Health Impairment:
0 0 0

Military Connected Students 1 1 2 Students that transfer into my class during the
school year can be given extra notes and help to
catch them up on the concept being taught.

Student Characteristics:
Describe the developmental characteristics of students in your classroom.
(Cognitive, Physical, Emotional, Social).

Cognitive: Students learn how to play instruments, read music, identify and perform notes/rhythms.

Physical: Students are constantly involved with kinesthetic activities, from as simple as patting/clapping to more
complicated movement such as multi-layered body percussion and carefully timed movements.

Emotional: Students learn how to process music through emotions. They learn what kind of music makes them
happy, sad, energetic, lethargic, etc. Many Dalcroze activities also encourage teamwork to accomplish a goal to
learn a concept. This teamwork leads to positive emotional feelings when the team is successful.

Social: Music is socially involved subject. Many activities in a general music classroom encourage students to
work together to learn and comprehend a concept being taught. Students must learn to work together to achieve a
musical goal. This continually builds their social connections.

Highlight the prior knowledge and interests of students in your classroom.

Students come into my classroom with basic music skills. General music teaches them rhythm, notes, and a
background of different types of music. Some students take music lessons and already understand some of the
concepts being taught.

Describe the implications these characteristics have on planning and instruction.

(e.g. What instructional strategies will you use to meet the unique learning needs of all your students?)
Lesson plans should be constructed in such a way that multiple facets of learning styles can be met. If individual
students’ needs to be met in a more specific way, I can create a plan, or meet with the student/their guardians to
create a plan to make that student most successful.

Environmental Factors:

Describe district, school, and classroom environmental factors impacting the quality of education for all
of your students.

My district is in a suburban area. Economic status has a wide range; varying from very low income to affluent.
The faculty and environment of the people in the town is very personable, welcoming, and encouraging. The
district also has a district-wide classroom management plan. This plan goes all the way from the elementary
schools to the high school (although the name of the plan changes in the high school, the overall concepts are
extremely similar). This gives the students consistency of what to expect no matter what building they are in
because of how the teachers run their classrooms and influence the environment in their classrooms.

Describe community and family environmental factors impacting the quality of education for all of your
students.

Many students have parents involved in their lives. Parents check their child’s grades and will contact the
teachers with any concerns. During a presentation during the middle of the day during the middle of the work
week, several parents/guardians/family members showed up to watch the students give their presentations,
showing how invested they are with what their students are doing in school.

Describe the implications these factors have on planning and instruction.

(What instructional strategies will you use to address the unique environmental factors impacting each
student?)

Student engagement is the key to their learning. In order to accomplish this, I must create an engaging
lesson, but also a classroom that has procedures in place so that the students know what to expect and
minimal distractions are present in the room. There is a strong family influence in this community that
pushes their students to do their best, which allows me to dig into the subjects I want to teach as well as
expand the subjects I am able to teach.