Samantha Brewington

Trish Engelhardt
EDUC 450
March, 29th, 2018
Setting and Context
School Community:

Rocky Mountain High school is home to 9th – 12th graders in Fort Collins and

has a student body population of just over 2000 students and roughly 500 students

per grade. The population is largely Caucasian, and then Hispanic, with about 75%

being Caucasian, then there is roughly 15 % of the student population being

Hispanic. By gender the school is just slightly higher in male students by about 80

students total. Nearly 1/4th of the students are free lunch eligible.

Rocky Mountain, or commonly referred to just as Rocky, is home to lobos and

often refers to “The Lobo Way”. The mission statement for Rocky is to “inspire,

guide, and support our students, faculty and staff to reach their maximum potential

in caring, challenging and safe environment. The school community built “The Lobo

Way” and stands for their belief in the high values of their school community. These

values include: the value and dignity of each individual, development of intellectual

and creative skills, in the importance of self-discovery, in equal opportunity for

learning, in preparation for life’s work and lifelong learning, in a safe environment,

in opportunities for service to society, that all community members are empowered

through participation and that education thrives in a democratic environment.

Rocky is “committed to excellence for all”. The school and attitude of it faculty really

strive to promote what “the lobo way” means to them and for the students and it

shows through their actions.

 Opportunities for involvement at this school are almost endless for both

students and parents. There are many departments filled with a variety of course

choices for students. Departments include: CTE, integrated services, Language Arts,

Media, Math, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Science, Social Studies, Visual

Arts, and World Languages. Some programs at Rocky to help students extend their

knowledge, thinking or career path include, advanced placement classes, concurrent

enrollment courses, and Gifted and Talented program. To help bring students up

when they need a little more help the school has the voyager program. Their

integrated services program for students with special needs provides opportunities

for achievement and skill development. Activities at Rocky are vast and widespread

allowing all students to participate in an activity that suits their interest. There are

clubs or activities in everything from yearbook, to student council, and Sign

language club to the River Watch club.

The culture at Rocky promotes their learners to learn in a encouraging and

inclusive environment. There are opportunities for students to take classes that

peak their interests and give them a well-rounded education as well. Students are

promoted in their development of their content knowledge and skill development

through their block schedule allowing more time and commitment to student

learning.

Students and Classroom:

The class I am teaching in and taught win is woodworking in Tech Ed. Third

quarter was Engineering woods I, and this quarter is a combined Woods II , and

Woods III class. In both classes it has been completely male students. Woods I was
filled with mostly freshman and some sophomores, with 2-3 upperclassmen. The

ability level in that class, specifically in the shop, was mostly low but developing.

That was fitting, as that was the basis of the course though to develop their skills

and attitudes to shop and workplace behavior. There was a lot of interest in video

games and sports throughout the students in this class. In woods II and III there is a

higher level of skill and motivation to participate. There are 2 students that are in

Woods III and their skill level and independence is at a much higher level, allowing

them to be independent workers and develop their cabinetry project with less

dependence on instruction and teacher help. We do have two students who need a

little more structure and guidance on work and are at lower developmental levels

but show genuine interest and motivation in working. The class culture shows the

ability for students to work independently and make their own choices, good or bad.

There is also the air that students are able to utilize their ideas in their projects and

designs as long as they meet the required pieces for the project.

In woods I the class covered the basics of shop safety and tool use through

various projects that utilized technology and computer design software. Using that

there is brief review in woods II and then students utilize the skills from the first

class to develop a manufacturing project as a collaborative project with the whole

class. For the students that are in woods three they build even further on their wood

working skills to design and build a cabinet with fixed and adjustable shelves, a

drawer, and the door.

The physical classroom that we utilize is actually multiple rooms combined

together to form the technology lab or classroom. There is the classroom that fits
approximately 25 students easily in tables that faces toward a smart board and

white board and the front table. south side of the classroom is the metals shop, on

the north side we walk into the “offices” and computer lab, the connection to woods

shop is based out of the computer lab.

* See diagrams on following pages**

Computers