Falls City, Oregon, named after the waterfalls on the Little Lukiamute River, is a town of about 947 residents. Nestled in the Coast Range, it was once a bustling lumber mill town. It formerly had three operating mills and supported a large logging community. Now the town consists largely of one main street with two schools, a library, a grocery store, a bakery and bar, and some boarded up storefronts. The population is 92.86% White, 0.93% African American, 0.1% Asian, 1.66% Native American, and 3.62% Hispanic (City-Data). The median household income is $32,461 while the median income for a family is $36,528 and the total income per capita at $13,858, indicating that Falls City is a fairly low-income area (City-Data).

            Another indicator of Falls City’s low-income status is the meal program at Falls City Elementary. Every morning the students gather in the cafeteria before school and are served breakfast. The teachers meet the students in the cafeteria, talk to them while they are eating and then escort them up the stairs and to their classrooms. At lunchtime the school provides the students with another meal, and after school the students are offered a meal before participating in the after school homework programs or enrichment programs. The enrichment programs consist of art, music, and field trips as these are not offered during the normally scheduled school day. My cooperating teacher mentioned that these programs are highly valued in this community as many if not most of the students are low-income and/or in foster care.

School

Falls City Elementary is a school of about 120 students in grades K-8. Falls City Elementary is a small school building located just about two blocks off of the main street. It has 8 classrooms, a small cafeteria, a multipurpose room, and a playground. Upon entering the school you will see the main office and the principal’s office, although the principal is not always in the building because she also serves as the principal of Falls City High School and divides her time between the two schools. Falls City Elementary has a program that is know to the students as FACES. FACES stands for Family Academic Clubs and Enrichment for Success. The program offers after school programs for students including homework club, music classes, and art classes. They also hold parenting classes and provide opportunities for parents to volunteer at the school.

            The school has one teacher who teaches kindergarten in the morning and special education in the afternoon. This is sometimes an issue because there are many kids with special needs that could use assistance throughout the morning, but she in unavailable at that time. This is a theme that can be seen throughout the school: there just simply is not enough support personnel in the school for all of the students with disabilities or behavioral issues. Because of this, these students are in mainstream classrooms, which can be very disruptive to other students at times. I believe that overall however, the classroom teachers do an excellent job at handling these students, making the disruptions far less severe than they could be. This is something for me to think about as an aspiring classroom teacher as well. Although there are no special needs students in my practicum classroom, if I were to find a job at school with limited resources, such as Falls City, I would need to be aware of the possible issues that may arise for me as a classroom teacher with very limited support from the special education staff such as how to deal with outbursts from these students (I have seen my teacher deflect these incidences many times).   

Classroom

            The classroom that I have the privilege of working in consists of two adjoining rooms. One room is carpeted and holds enough chairs and desks for 30 students. The tables are set up in groups of four or five, but students usually sit with only one or two other students because the average class size is only about 10 students. The other room that is accessed through a door in the back of the classroom has about twenty desktop computers lining the walls of the room and lab tables set up in the center. There are about three sinks in this room as well. This room serves as the science lab and also as the computer room. Part of the math and science curriculum used at Falls City Elementary is on the computer, so students spend about half of their instructional time in this room.

            Students are grouped into classes based on grade level with the fifth and sixth graders together and the seventh and eighth graders together. The sixth graders begin their mornings with math instruction in table groups while the fifth graders work in the computer room. After an hour they switch places, and then for the last hour of the morning both the fifth and sixth graders work on science together. Then all of the students go to lunch and in the afternoon the seventh and eight graders have a math science rotation.

            The school overall has a very warm and comfortable feel. All of the staff members know nearly all of the students and work with them on after school activities as well as in class. With so few students it is a lot easier for a teacher to know which students need more help, and it makes differentiating the curriculum simpler as well. In the particular class I am working in, the teacher is able to spend time with each student individually, explaining assignments or answering questions. This creates an atmosphere where no student feels alone or left behind. Also, the fact that this classroom is set up in table groups and students are encouraged to work together promotes a tight knit community.

      There are twelve students in my 8^th grade math class. Two out of these twelve students are on IEPs. One student is on a 504. All of the twelve students are Caucasian and none of them are ELLs. Both of the IEPs for these students determine that they shall receive extra time on tests, especially when reading is involved. After discussing the IEPs with my cooperating teacher, I also learned that one of these two students often receives extra help on homework assignments, as well as being required to complete smaller homework assignments. I will need to differentiate my homework assignments for this student, but most likely not for the other. My cooperating teacher said that although the second student is on an IEP, it does not seem to apply much to math class, as she is working at grade level, completes tests and homework at the same rate as her classmates, and is a high achieving math student. He said just to make sure that she keeps up the good work because if she does start falling behind or does end up needing extra modifications, they need to be available for her. For both of these students I will not necessarily need to differentiate my instructional methods unless it involves students reading something on their own because other than needing extra time on assignments, especially ones that involve reading, they are right on target in math. Both of them are learning at grade level and showing great progress throughout this class so far.  There is one student in my class who has a 504 because he is a diabetic, but this should not affect classroom instruction or his academic achievement unless he needs to leave to check his blood sugar, or there is a medical emergency. I also need to be aware of his condition, and my cooperating teacher briefed me on what to do in case of an emergency when this student has low blood sugar.

            Most of the students seem to be on grade level or possibly slightly behind, although that is just my personal opinion from observing and comparing their understanding of the material being taught to what the standards say they should know.

            Overall, I think that Falls City elementary is a very friendly school that is doing a very good job of educating the population of students that they have. The school district is very small and does not have the resources that many other, bigger school districts have, but they are doing well with what they do have. I enjoy working in this community as it provides a great opportunity to get to know the students better than I could in a larger school.

City Data. Falls City. Website © 2003-2011 Advameg, Inc. Retrieved Sept. 28, 2011. http://www.city-data.com/city/Falls-City-Oregon.html