Teaching Situation
I work for Homer Community School District 33C which is in Homer Glen, Illinois. Homer Glen is a fast growing community and can be found in the southwest suburbs of Chicago between Orland Park and Lockport. Homer Glen’s population is approximately 24,000 and has doubled in size in the last 10 years.
Our school district has approximately 3,500 students and is divided into three elementary buildings K-4, one middle school 5th and 6th, and one junior high school 7th and 8th. Our elementary school district feeds into Lockport High School. Homer Junior High has approximately 800 students and is divided into five teams. The makeup of our school is predominantly white Caucasian (88%). Our attendance record is 95%. 2.7% of our students are considered low income. The school district also has 2.1% limited English.
Teachers in Homer School District average teaching experience is 11.9 years. 54% of the teachers have a bachelor’s degree, and 47% have their master’s degree. The average teacher’s salary is $51,600, one of the lowest in Will County.
I’ve worked for our school district since 1990. I’ve taught all subjects in 6th, 5th and 4th grades; Kindergarten through 3rd Computers/Technology; 5th and 6th grade Art classes; and I’ve finally found a home in 8th grade Social Studies which I’ve taught for the past 3 years.
At the junior high, my 8th grade Social Studies class ranges in size from 22 to 32 students. I currently teach 6 classes a day plus one advisory class. The other teachers on my team say I have a laid back teaching style. I don’t believe in lectures of more that 5 minutes. I try to include different learning styles and reading strategies to meet the diverse needs of my students in all of my lessons. My goal for my students is for them to be able to learn ways to achieve and become successful. The content of what I am teaching is secondary. I have very high expectations for my students. I truly believe your attitude reflects your altitude in life.
Technology Available
Every certified teacher in our school has a laptop computer. We communicate through email to parents, administration and other teachers. Our district uses SharePoint for sharing how-to folders, network folders where we save our work or student work, and our homework website. Homer’s homework website allows teachers to post homework assignments, announcements, and worksheets for students to access or to keep parents informed. Our district also uses SchoolMax for our attendance and grading system. Next year our district will implement I-Parent. This is where parents can assess their child’s grades from home.
Homer Jr. High has about 120 plus laptop computers on portable carts housed in our library. Each pair of carts house 30 computers and one printer. Teachers sign out these carts as needed. In our classrooms each team of teachers (five subject teams) share one TV, DVD, and VHS. Our math teachers all have a tablet and a projector in their classrooms. We have one smart board in our school. Students have 4 laptops in the library where they can do research or access our online card catalogue.
Technologies in My Classroom
I use my laptop for attendance and grades, emailing and research. I also have the TV/DVD/VHS, housed in my classroom for our team. My most prized possessions in my room are a projector and my laptop. I can go anywhere in the world and show it to my students without leaving our school. Without my projector and my laptop I would be lost. I use these technologies for the majority of my presentations. We visit United Streaming at least three times a week to give a visual of what we are studying about in history. Seeing the filmstrip or PowerPoint presentation on the big screen really sets the tone in class. I use this to demonstrate how-to projects such as web quests and scavenger hunts about material we’ve studied. Students also use this technology for their presentations in class. I think students learn more from searching for material rather than me telling. Learning by doing and problem solving is important in my classroom. Technology is their future.
Technologies I Would Like to Learn
I would like to learn about making digital movies, podcasts, and digital story telling. I’ve never used a tablet or a smart board. Also I would like to learn something as simple as how to burn DVD’s to imbedding home made movies into presentations. Any technologies that would enhance the classroom to help students become engaged would be on the list.
