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Student Teacher Name: Heather Corpuz

Mentor Teacher Name: Toni Romias Support Teachers: Melvin Ramos, Tommie Tibayan
Grade Level: 6th Grade Number of Students: 35
Content Area(s): General Education (departmentalized)
Special Needs Considerations: ASD, learning disabilities, and hearing impaired.

Assignment #2
How Well Do You Know Your School Community?
Lehua Elementary School is a public school located in Pearl City, Hawaii. It is the oldest
school in Pearl City and has become the first school in Hawaii and the 45th in the world to be
named a “Lighthouse School” in the Leader in Me Program, which is a three-year certification
and training regimen that is designed to help students develop into 21st century leaders. For
2017-2018 school year, Lehua Elementary School enrolled roughly 234 students. Based on their
School Status and Improvement Report, approximately 38% of students come from military
families, these families live in the Pearl City peninsula housing. The remaining population of
students come from Waiawa and live in Pearl City near and below Kamehameha Highway.
Lehua is heavily known for their student population to be dominated by military families. Due to
this transient nature, many of Lehua’s students are well-traveled and are only there for a brief
part of their elementary school experience. High turnovers and new student rates are expected
every school year because of this.
Lehua Elementary has a diverse population, with 25.6% of students identified as
“White,” 17.5% “Filipino,” 16.2% “Native Hawaiian,” 12.8% “Micronesian,” 7.6% “Black,”
6.4% “Samoan,” and 4.7% “Hispanic.” Additionally, 61.1% of the student population is
identified as low-income, 20% of students have limited English proficiency, and 9.8% of
students are enrolled in Special Education programs and/or receive Special Education services.
Lehua’s Special Education program takes many different approaches. In some cases, teachers
and staff will get pulled-in to assist or co-teach in the student’s general classroom. Other times,
students may get pulled out of their general classroom to work on specific skills and/or to receive
additional support and services from another teacher.
Lehua Elementary School is located on 791 Lehua Avenue. The location of Lehua
Elementary is unique, it holds a strong mix between urban and suburban feel. Students living in
the surrounding area tend to reside in either the peninsula, or low-income and subsidized
housing. During school days, you will see many students walking to and from school, as well as
riding their bikes, skateboards, and scooters. Younger students who walk to school are often
accompanied by their parents. Students also carpool and get dropped off. Since Lehua
Elementary is located next to a community park, you will often see homeless or “sketchy”
individuals loitering in the nearby area. Due to safety concerns, many faculty and staff members,
as well as crosswalk guards and Lehua’s JPO team supervise and patrol the drop-off and pick-up
zones. Surrounding the school’s campus are many local businesses and resources for community
services that the school can benefit from, such as churches, a fire station, an urban garden center,
the District Court House and Health Center, and the Pearl City Nursing Home. Many students
are also involved in school clubs and extra-curricular activities provided by Lehua elementary.
These activities include Student Council, JPO, Math Olympiad, Campus Beautification, the Pearl
City Elementary School Complex Track Meet and Basketball tournament, and the Pearl City
Complex Music Festival. There are also high rates of family and parent involvement, as well as
high military volunteers participating in school activities.
Student Teacher Name: Heather Corpuz
Mentor Teacher Name: Toni Romias Support Teachers: Melvin Ramos, Tommie Tibayan
Grade Level: 6th Grade Number of Students: 35
Content Area(s): General Education (departmentalized)
Special Needs Considerations: ASD, learning disabilities, and hearing impaired.

I believe I was placed in a unique position for student teaching. My mentor, Mrs. Romias,
works as a SpEd/Resource Room teacher for students in grades 4-6 with disabilities, as well as
academic and behavioral issues. To fulfill and maximize my student teaching experience, my
mentor found it best for me to work alongside with Lehua’s sixth-grade teachers, Mr. Ramos and
Ms. Tibayan. In the remaining time of this semester, I have been observing, getting to know the
sixth-grade students, and teaching in both their classrooms.
At Lehua Elementary, there is a total population of 35 sixth-grade students; 13 girls and
22 boys. Students range in ethnicity from “White,” African-American, Asian, Hispanic,
Hawaiian, Samoan, Micronesian, and Chuukese. There is a total of 3 ELL students, 4 students
receiving Special Education services and support (3 of which are on the Autism spectrum), and 1
student who is hearing impaired. All students are proficient in English, even if it is not there first
language. Based on their student surveys, several students have stated that they primarily speak a
different language at home. There are also a handful of students who come from military
families, and numerous students who moved from another school within the past two years. The
sixth-grade class display common interests towards sports, playing video games, being outdoors,
and participating in recreational sports and social activities.
As part of my student teaching experience at Lehua Elementary, I have been working
closely with their two sixth grade teachers. This grade level is departmentalized in which ELA,
Social Studies, and Health are taught by Ms. Tibayan, and Math, Science, and P.E. are taught by
Mr. Ramos. My mentor, Mrs. Romias, is Lehua’s SpEd/Resource teacher for grades 4-6. So, she
works collaboratively with the two sixth-grade teachers in providing services in ELA, Math, and
Social Studies for their students. When it comes to the learning needs of the two sixth grade
classes, it varies greatly. As mentioned earlier, out of the 35 students, 11.43% receive SpEd
services (4 students; 3 of which are male students that are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum,
and are noticeably behind their peers in social development), 8.57% (3 students) are ELL, and 1
student is hearing impaired. The sixth-grade class includes 5 high achieving students of who all
excel in reading and writing, but particularly shine in math. There are also 3 students who are
classified as “low” and are reading between a third and fourth grade level. Based on the survey
given, as well as working and getting to know these students, there is a great number of students
that show interests in learning kinesthetically and prefer to be working in groups, and with visual
and auditory information.
Lehua Elementary is consistent in terms of establishing learning goals and assessing
students’ academic level. As sixth grade teachers, Ms. Tibayan and Mr. Ramos must take extra
steps to be sure their students adjust well to their new learning environment next school year. To
get ready for middle school, students are given the goal of mastering pre-algebra skills including
adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percent, and
integers. For reading, the goal is to help sixth graders develop more sophisticated skills such as
reading for speed and comprehension as well as interpreting texts.
This school relies on a variety of methods to assess and measure students’ academic
levels and success. Grade level and school level teachers use multiple avenues of assessments
from iReady, to classroom-made, formative and interim assessments, as well as the Smarter
Student Teacher Name: Heather Corpuz
Mentor Teacher Name: Toni Romias Support Teachers: Melvin Ramos, Tommie Tibayan
Grade Level: 6th Grade Number of Students: 35
Content Area(s): General Education (departmentalized)
Special Needs Considerations: ASD, learning disabilities, and hearing impaired.

Balanced Assessment (which is used to assess the attainment of the standards). Lehua
Elementary uses iReady to assess students 3 times a year. The data from iReady is then used to
drive instruction and to place students into tiers of interventions. Grade 6 also relies heavily on
IXL to support students’ growth to grade level. IXL is used in the 6th grade to reinforce and
refine mathematical and reading concepts, as well as to supplement course objectives. All
students are provided with an IXL account that they can access anytime, even practice skills at
home. To monitor students’ ongoing progress on IXL, teachers use the website’s Analytics tools.
This tool allows the teachers to track individual and whole-class growth, strides, and cumulative
achievements. It also enables teachers to diagnose student needs and “trouble spots,” meaning it
monitors the skills that students are struggling with the most. With this data tool, grade level
teachers can then collaborate and identify students who need flexible small group practice.
learning goals, students are given multiple formative assessments throughout the learning
process. For students to monitor their goals and progress throughout the year, they have what it is
called a “Leadership Notebook.” In this notebook, students keep track of the personal and
academic learning goals that they have set themselves. The Leadership Notebooks also play a
helping hand in supporting the learning needs of every student because it tracks their behavior
and encourages parents to be involved and aware of their goals.
As part of my student teaching experience, something I would like to implement with this
grade level is to provide more game-like activities where students can move around and work
collaboratively with peers. Throughout the semester, I noticed that many of the students’
assignments have them immobile and confined to their desk. Being that students are approaching
middle school and that their bodies are growing; I notice that they tend to move around and that
they like to socialize and talk a lot. It is part of the school experience and for some students, it is
what motivates them to come to school. By implementing more opportunities where learning
enables students to be active, and to socialize and discuss, students will feel more engaged. It
would be nice to see a change in how these students learn for mathematics and ELA. I think this
would allow the students to be more engaged in the learning, especially for those who show a
kinesthetic preference. Overall, I would like to create lessons and activities that will develop a
greater engagement alongside with their peers and will get students actively involved in the
learning process and material.

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