Nate Martinez

Student/Classroom narrative and Topic/Rationale

During my time at Rocky Mountain High School I was assigned to work
in Charlie Ross classroom, at which point I assisted in teaching two separate
American Government classes. At Rocky Mountain High School, the American
government course is a quarter long class offered to senior level students.
Since the American Government classes are required for graduation, the
courses typically have a high enrollment. Due to it being a required course,
any senior student is eligible to enroll, so the academic level has a broad
range including integrated services students and students on a 504 or IEP
plan. That being said, the two classes of American government I assisted
with both consisted of more than 30 students with only two students from
the first quarter requiring assistance from a 504 or IEP.
Despite the short runtime of these American government courses, the
first day or two of class is dedicated to building a culture of respect and
participation. Since a large portion of this course is the debating of
controversial ideas, the first two days are imperative to set the stage for a
class of debates rather than pointless arguments. Due to these days of
setup, I have been able to observe debates based on the discussion of facts
and ideals rather than an attack on someones character.
Physically, the classroom is laid out so that the circulation of the
instructor is unhindered. The students are split into two pods of 14 to 15

desks, and the groups are angled so that the students have a clear sightline
to the board at the front of the class as well as the group of students sitting
opposite of them.
As a government class, Of course a goal is to inform the students of
the intricacies of the American political system, but the over-arching
objective of this course is to instruct the students in how to become
participatory citizens.
The class that Im currently assisting in consists of 33 students. Of
these 33 students, 18 are female and 15 are male. Of these students, the
majority of them are Caucasian with a small number of Hispanic and African
American students.
The particular lesson that Im slated to teach for the second quarter
students, is the purpose of governments. As the lesson is just the second
week of this quarter, the students have been introduced to the basic blocks
of American government. So far, the students have been introduced to
topics, such as what it means to be a participatory citizen, and the dangers
of apathy towards the U.S. political system. That being said, the students are
knowledgeable in the content surrounding the duties of a citizen, but are less
so aware of the specific purposes of government. Before the day of my
lesson, not only will I be giving a short pretest on the content, but
government workers from Fort Collins are going to come in and poll the
students interests on issues. As such, Ill be able to assess the students

knowledge while they receive a real example of government action. The

particular instructional strategy that Ill be implementing is the I used to
think Now I Think strategy. I chose this strategy, because it will allow the
students to look back at their pretest answers and compare them to what
they learned throughout the lesson. Not only will this allow me to assess
their growth, but it will allow the students to challenge their previous
conceptions of this content.
Physical Layout Model