About My Classroom
I am currently enjoying my second year teaching 7th grade reading at Memphis Rise Academy, which lives in the Raleigh community in Memphis, Tennessee. We serve a diverse group of students in grades 6-10.
My School
Memphis Rise Academy is a Building Excellent Schools charter school in the Raleigh community of Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis Rise Academy, which runs within the Shelby County School District, opened with its first 6th grade class in 2014 and now includes grades 6-10, with a goal of opening 11th and 12th grade over the course of the next two years.
Memphis Rise Academy is unique in many ways, providing several built-in opportunities for students to succeed:
Special Education and ESOL
Focus, Monday-Thursday each week, is built-in tutoring and remediation for students based on the previous week’s data. Students are broken into smaller, leveled groups to work on specific skills and objectives in literacy or math. These groups change each week.
Enrichment, Monday-Thursday each week, serves as an extra “elective-like” course for our students, with topics ranging based on student and teacher interest. Examples of Enrichments include Card Games, Future Business Leaders of America, Handlettering and Calligraphy, 5K, Flag Football, and Pottery, to name a few.
Extended school days and year provides students with more opportunity to take advantage of the value-adds at our school.
Monday-Thursday school is from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday school is from 7:45 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.
Our 2018-19 school year runs from August 13 to June 14.
Saturday School occurs one Saturday each month. Students are invited based on their grades and are provided two extended blocks of instruction, one in math and one in literacy.
Technology access, with a 1:3.2 computer-to-student ratio.
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) provides all of our students with free breakfast and lunch five days a week. Memphis Rise Academy does not have a figure for the number of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, as we do not process FRL applications. CEP estimates our number of students eligible for free or reduced lunch at 85.6%.
My Students
Memphis Rise Academy uses data from NWEA Measures of Academic Progress to gauge academic growth and achievement. Below are the 2016-17 scores for 7th Grade:
*Conditional Growth Percentile, as defined by NWEA, is the school’s percentile rank for growth. For example, if a school’s CGP is 50, this means that the school’s growth was greater than 50 percent of other schools in the NWEA norm group.
Memphis Rise Academy serves a very diverse student population. See below a breakdown of demographics by ethnicity, gender, and students as learners.
Student Ethnicity Demographics:
55% Hispanic or Latino
37% African American
7% White
1% Asian
Student Gender Demographics:
54.5% Female
45.5% Male
Students as Learners Demographics:
332 Total Students
28% English Language Learners
59% Economically Disadvantaged
16% Students with Disabilities
My Planning and Content
I teach four 45-minute blocks of 7th grade reading each day, each class with 28 students. Two of the four blocks are co-taught with the 7th grade student supports coordinator who works specifically with students on her IEP caseload.
At Memphis Rise Academy, all teachers write their own curriculum. This takes place during our three-week in-service, which begins in July and runs up until the first day of school in August. As a reading teacher, I first choose texts that are on grade level, rigorous, and meet my overall classroom vision. Then, I draft my Scope & Sequence, which outlines each unit. My literacy coach then reviews my Scope & Sequence, which I revise with her comments and suggestions. Next, I draft my Pacing Calendar for each quarter, and finally create my lesson plan in the form of teacher- and student-facing resources. I turn in my lesson plans each Monday for the following week, check-in with my coach each Tuesday, and meet with the Literacy Vertical team each Friday for professional development.
In addition to planning for and instructing 7th grade reading, I also plan and instruct a Focus class four days a week, which changes from week to week based on the specific skills students need to readdress for remediation. I also lead a handlettering and calligraphy enrichment four days a week, which serves as an elective course at our school.