Diogo Cruz is a 16 year old student at Blake High School. He is a pretty good student, and gets mostly Bs on his report card, with a couple grades of A or C. He just missed making the honor roll last quarter, but plans to this quarter. Diogo’s favorite class is science, where he gets to do more hands on activities. He thinks French is too boring, and doesn’t like it. He doesn’t play on any of the school teams, because he works ten hours a week at the local pet shop. He is hoping to save up enough money to buy a used car.

His parents are divorced, and Diogo lives with his mom and little sister, age 12. His mom is busy working as a legal secretary, but normally asks Diogo how his day was, and if he did his homework. She does not go to parent-teacher conferences, because she does not have the time.

Diogo has a two year old computer at home that his mom bought to help with his homework. He uses a dial-up internet connection, and likes to play video games over the net with his friends. He emails frequently, and is confident in his technical skills. When not on the web, the computer is used for mostly word processing.

The past week Diogo has been feeling very sluggish, and two days ago his mom took him to the doctor. His test results show he has Mononucleosis, and will not be able to go to school for about three weeks to a month. His mom contacted the school to find out what he might miss. The school sent home his books and some reading assignments. He is not a very good independent worker, and cuts corners when he can get away with it. Mom is very concerned that he will be far behind, and wants him to have a more structured curriculum. The school suggests he stay current by taking the appropriate modules in the Online Academy.

Diogo is not so concerned about missing school, but more about missing hanging out with his friends. He is tired a lot and sleeps for long hours, and tries to catch up with his friends on the phone in the evening. Lisa Simpson has lived in rural Stafford county VA for much of her life. She comes from a working class family. Her mother is a homemaker and her father is a mechanic at a local gas station. Neither parent has any education beyond high school. Her parents expect Lisa to finish high school, but have no expectations beyond that point.

Lisa is a sophomore at Washington high school taking advanced classes. She is a straight A student, year book editor, and plays saxophone in the band. She travels with the band for all varsity games and competitions. She is counting on a band scholarship to pay for her education at a prestigious private university such as Harvard or Yale as a premed student and has developed a four-year plan for achieving that goal. She is concerned that she will not meet her goal within the constraints of the traditional high school day. She has a close relationship with many of her teachers. Her teachers often recommend her as a tutor in many subjects including Algebra, Biology and English.

She wants to take a second science course online in Anatomy and Physiology to better prepare herself for pre-med. Due to lack of interest in Stafford, this course is not available in the district. She is looking to TOA to fill that gap in her plan. She does not have access to a computer at home, and will need to work on TOA assignments at school or local library in the evening or weekend due to her full schedule. Jeremiah Clark is a 16 year old, African American 10th grader. He works part-time at McDonalds. He is always on his cell phone talking to friends. He hangs out with his friends after work, so he’s really tired at school. He feels like he learns more outside of school than in school.

He is the youngest in a large family of 5, with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Raised by single mother who works two jobs, so she is not at home very much. While she is interested in her kids doing well at school, she doesn’t have the time or energy to attend parent conferences or help her kids with homework.

He has scored low on standardized tests throughout his life. He sometimes gets good grades with certain types of teachers, ones that really engage students with active learning and personalized attention in smaller classes. When he’s not in this environment he gets frustrated and gives up quickly. His teachers suspect he may have a learning disability. In group work he talks off task rather than completing the assignment. He has skipped school to hang out with friends but has a good attendance record. He has always struggled with math, he normally gets by with C’s and D’s.

Last year he failed the Algebra I SOL. He was assigned to summer school, but he did not attend because he needed to work over the summer. Mrs. Sandra Davidson teaches 9th and 10th grade English at Blake High, a public school in Northern Virginia. She has one honors, one skills and 3 grade level sections. Mrs. Davidson has been teaching for 7 years. She has a bachelor in English, and a master in Education. Her skills class has 23 students, the honors class has 40 students and the average class size is 28.

Prior to her teaching career, Ms. Davidson was an advertising executive for 4 years. She has 2 children, ages 5 and 7. She is 33 years old.

She’s interested in learning technology, she integrates it in class a little, and would like to do more. She does not have a high degree of confidence in her technology skills. She’s very comfortable with the overhead projector and VCR. She has 6 computers in her class. The computers are used mostly for desktop publishing and surfing the internet by her students. She has a computer on her desk that she use for emailing, desktop publishing, internet research, basic administration functions such as recording roster and grading.

Ms. Davidson style of teaching incorporates constructivist elements in her lessons. She includes collaborative learning, project-based assignments, authentic assessments, and presentations. Her students like her class because it’s active and not boring.

Mrs. Davidson is the newspaper advisor. She is a language arts resource professional and runs workshops for other teachers in the county. She also attends conferences to enhance her teaching repertoire. With all these responsibilities, she’s seeking alternative ways to balance her personal and professional life.