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Mr. Spafford’s Classroom Edit display name

  • Ace Empower Academy
  • San Jose, CA
  • More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households

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I work at an inner-city charter school, where most of the students come from Latino and Black homes. They often struggle with reading, writing, and even speaking because they traditionally come from homes with little to no academic support. Like many of their middle school peers, they are struggling with their self-identity, self-image, self-esteem and fitting in with their peers. They are more motivated by MTV, VH1 than CNN, MSNBC. Truth be told, if I look more like a Jersey Shore cast member, I could sell them sentence structures, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, even reading. Currently, we have very little technology in our classrooms, so I feel that they are performing at a level below their calibers. I see that they are so technologically driven, yet I have very few opportunities to challenge and drive their motivation and connect their education with tech-savviness. If my students are going to be successful in the 21st century, they will need the proper tools to be prepared.

About my class

I work at an inner-city charter school, where most of the students come from Latino and Black homes. They often struggle with reading, writing, and even speaking because they traditionally come from homes with little to no academic support. Like many of their middle school peers, they are struggling with their self-identity, self-image, self-esteem and fitting in with their peers. They are more motivated by MTV, VH1 than CNN, MSNBC. Truth be told, if I look more like a Jersey Shore cast member, I could sell them sentence structures, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, even reading. Currently, we have very little technology in our classrooms, so I feel that they are performing at a level below their calibers. I see that they are so technologically driven, yet I have very few opportunities to challenge and drive their motivation and connect their education with tech-savviness. If my students are going to be successful in the 21st century, they will need the proper tools to be prepared.

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About my class

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