Documentation of
Field Experience

These are sunny field experiences -- notes of a busy little building on a large, green campus in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Oak Grove is one of the six middle schools in the sprawling Bloomington Public School District, and one of the strongest. Over the years, the well-rooted institution has consistently produced praise from community members. Many in Bloomington boast that -- of Minnesota's middle schools -- Oak Grove is at the top.

Unfortunately, the sturdy Oak has recently revealed some signs of weakening. While the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments pointed to a few bright spots, the overall test results were bleak. In 2010, the middle school failed to grow enough to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards.

OGMS includes grades six through eight and serves about 850 children. Like most in Bloomington, the school spends about $9,500 per student. Although the state average is sixteen students for every full-time teacher, Bloomington's schools now have roughly 17 students per teacher.

Of the 10,500 students in Bloomington's ever-changing district, English Language Learners (ELL) are 10% of students. More than 40% of the population qualify for free or reduced lunch. Those who have an IEP and are eligible for special services make up 15% of students. In the 2008-2009 school year, 14% of Oak Grove's learners participated in Special Education Programs.

Special Education instructor, Deb Lapinski graciously welcomed me to visit and observe her classroom. These are extraordinary experiences, far afield from what I had expected.

Ms. Lapinski's classroom is a bizarre delight. The atmosphere is calm and crazy, kooky and caring -- all at the same time. Time, it would seem, is the element that both creates and crafts the chaos. The classroom's shifting, individual student schedules and the school's pitilessly precise period-changes sabotage, even as they supply Deb Lapinski's lesson plans. She turns every event into an occasion for learning!

This veteran educator's students are striking and memorable. They are hearty, happy children with different exceptionalities and different personalities. The education staff I had the honor to engage with were all very friendly, very funny -- and amazingly efficient.

I laughed a lot and learned a lot in the short time I spent with the group. Experiences fielded at Oak Grove were challenging, energizing and rewarding for me, both personally and professionally.







Documentation of Urban Field Experiences

Vance Holmes XXXXXXXX
Teacher candidate name Student ID Number

According to the Metropolitan State University Education Department, qualifying “urban experience” is defined by both geographic location and student demographics. In terms of geographic location, urban is defined as Minneapolis, St. Paul and the inner-ring suburb school districts listed below. Please check the district where you completed your field experiences.

□ Minneapolis - 1 □ St. Paul - 625 □ North St. Paul-Maplewood Oakdale – 622 □ St. Louis Park - 283
□ BLOOMINGTON - 271 □ Fridley – 14 □ Osseo School District – 279 □ South St. Paul - 6
□ Brooklyn Center - 286 □ Hopkins – 270 □ Richfield - 280 □ West St. Paul - 197
□ Columbia Heights □ Intermediate District #287 □ Robbinsdale – 281 □ West Metro Education Program – 6069
□ East Metro Integration District – 6067 □ Mounds View – 621 □ Roseville - 623 □  

In addition to a school’s geographic location, qualifying field experiences for the UTP, must also closely approximate the demographics of partnering urban school districts. Please fill in the percentages for each of the categories below, and attach verifying demographic information from education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/or other source.

36 % students of color (at least 30% is required)

41 % students qualifying for free/reduced lunch (at least 40% is required)

10 % students home language is not English or otherwise identified as “English Language Learners” (at least 10% is required)

Dates/   Grade or Type of Experience Person(s) who can verify the times  
  Age Level(s) (examples: Observation, Interview, Contact Information
School or Place and types of experiences, and their
Hours
Participant Observation, Individual
and
 
  Tutoring, Small Group Facilitation, position at the school or place where  
    (Phone and Address or Email)
    Subject(s)
    Teacher Assistance, Volunteer, field experience was conducted
       
      Educational Assistant, etc)  
         
9-1-10         Deb Lapinski
8:30 –     Observation   Dlapinsk@bloomington.k12.mn.us
2:30 Oak Grove Middle School Special Ed.
Grades 6 - 8		 EDU 610: Dr. Aaron Deris Ms. Debra Lapinski
Special Education Instructor		 Oak Grove Middle School, 1300
          West 106th St., Bloomington, MN
           
10-5-10         Deb Lapinski
8:30 –                   
2:30     Observation - Interview                             
  Oak Grove Middle School Special Ed.
Grades 6 - 8		 Ms. Debra Lapinski              
      EDU 610: Dr. Aaron Deris