A Case Study: Living the Process of Inquiry Journal Entries for Chapters 5-8

CHAPTER FIVE

Analyzing Field Note Data

Prompt #5 Questions: There were four observations that Sienna conducted over a two-week period to document May’s redirection behaviors. First, you will examine the series of observation reports. Second, identify any trends and themes you find in the data. Be sure to consider the observational notes that Sienna included. Look to find and share any triangulation processes in May’s data collection and analysis work. Third, evaluate the data and provide reasonable explanations for what you think might be happening over time that would explain the story the data are revealing.

Response:

The most obvious change from the first observation report to the last is the decrease in the number of redirections that May has to use during the measured time.  In the first report it appears that she is having to redirect almost constantly.  By the last report she only needs to redirect from time to time and for a large chunk of time (1:15-1:35) she doesn’t need to redirect at all.  I also noticed that her way of addressing the class (or those that are misbehaving) is often “Guys” or “Listen up” and I’m not sure this is providing the result or change that she is looking for.  She uses these prompts multiple times and often they are used multiple times in a row.  Sienna also marks down “Uh” as a redirection but I am not sure what this is indicating on the observation report.  I prefer to address specific students and specific behaviors when I need to redirect my own classroom.

I think Sienna points out what is happening over time in her notes on last observation report.  She points out that more seats still need to be moved indicating that May has been making adjustments over time but still has more adjustments to make.  Moving students away from other students that are known to have discipline issues when they are by each other is a great way to decrease certain behaviors.  It is also possible that there are certain activities that occur on certain days that hold more of certain student’s interest than other days.  Sienna also points this out in her notes on the second observation when she mentions that students had something to look forward to that wasn’t boring.

CHAPTER SIX

Analyzing Data Related to the 5-Minute Challenge

Prompt #6 Questions: Describe May’s class graph. What happened over time, and what are some possible reasons for the trends and patterns you notice? What new goals do you think May should set for the class as a whole based on her students’ response to the timed agenda challenge?

Response:

May’s graph shows a gradual increase over time in the number of students that are actually writing in their agenda during the “Five Minute Challenge”.  I think that students started to believe that this was going to be a regular part of their classroom and not just a short-term requirement.  Once they started to see the consistency, more of them started to participate.  More students participating in the “Five Minute Challenge” meant that there were less students to talk to for those that didn’t want to write in their agenda.  I imagine that towards the end of the recorded data, students that would have been the longest holdouts gave in and recorded information because they had no one to cause issues with.  There is still one student that is not writing in their agenda.  Unless this is Sienna and she is excused from this, May’s goal should be to get this number to 100% of her students.  I also think that I would like to see this data charted over a month or a quarter.  I would like to see if she stays committed and if the students stay bought into what is happening.  May’s new goal should be to see this number at or close to 100% for an entire quarter.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Graphing Data and Focus Group Interview

Prompt #7 Questions: Describe Anthony’s and Leah’s data. What happened over time? What do you think May might do in the future to capitalize on Anthony and Leah’s success and keep them on track during the entire class period?

Response:

Both Anthony and Leah’s time decreased over time.  There was a very sharp decline in the beginning and then gradual improvement until they reached a level that seemed to be a pretty consistent average.  You can see that the graphs follow their goals all the way down.  This would be an important key for May to take notice of.  In the future, May should have Leah and Anthony set goals for other areas and not just their writing in their agendas.  They seem to be driven by their goals and that is a great tool to use when you can identify what students are motivated by that.  May also might be able to tap into their desire to compete against the class as a way to keep them motivated and focused.  I would love to see them set goals for their daily work, homework and their grades.

CHAPTER EIGHT

 Bringing Closure to May’s First Cycle of Inquiry—May’s Journaling

Prompt #8 Questions: Pretend you are May, and it is now the start of the next school year. Your assistant principal, Mr. Brown, asks you to talk about your inquiry journey at the first faculty meeting of the year. Discuss a plan for your presentation. What will you share and how will you share it? Refer to Chapters 6 and 8 of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research for support in responding to this prompt.

Response:

I think the first thing I would do is profess that I am not perfect and attempt to humble myself before my peers.  It is important to have others see the value of your work and research without feeling put-off or tuning out because they are being told how to fix the problems in their classrooms.  My next step would involve me describing the classroom environment that I had in the very beginning and spending some time talking about my original behaviors and classroom management strategies.  I would then discuss the process that went into my teacher inquiry research and how the action plan for this research was developed.  I would then show the graphs of the data that Sienna recorded and how her suggestions were put into action and positive results came out of it.  After this, I would discuss the “Five Minute Challenge” and use Anthony and Leah as examples.  Part of this would include showing their graphs and goals and how they worked to achieve their goals and the positive impact that made.  Finally, I would lay out my plan for the coming school year and how I would work proactively to prevent these issues from becoming major concerns in the future.  I think that it would be critical to discuss my plan as a way to show that I had learned something from my research and would be attempting to create a change in not only my classroom but in myself as a teacher inquirer.

A Case Study: Living the Process of Inquiry Journal Entries for Chapters 1-4

Prompt #1 Questions: Why is it important for May to look at literature as a part of her inquiry journey? What insights did May gain about her inquiry topic through her readings? In what ways might May’s readings inform how she will collect data for her study?

Response:

It is important for May to look at the information and knowledge that others have taken the time to put together.  There is so much to be learned from what has already been researched.  May is able to find ways to describe behaviors in a clear and concise manner.  This gave her an advantage in diagnosing behavior problems and then designing ways to improve them.  May also learned a new approach for dealing with students that exhibit negative behaviors.  She started to think about the type of life experiences her students might have had that led them to making poor choices in the classroom.  One other important insight that May learned from her research was that there had been a precedent for working directly with the most difficult students in a collaborative manner.  From this she decided to incorporate this student and teacher teammate philosophy into her inquiry process.

Prompt #2 Questions: May, Naomi, Margaret, Darby, and Mr. Brown formed a professional learning community that met regularly to plan May’s first inquiry and to support one another in their work as educators. What specific benefits did May receive as a result of collaborating with her colleagues? Why is collaboration an important component of the action research process?

Response:

May gets the benefit of working with others across a variety of specialties that also have interactions with some of the students.  Her group also helps her narrow down her inquiry to just one class instead of all five.  They also help her through a process for determining what that one class should be.  Her cohorts work with her and allow her to bring the knowledge that she already has out and into the forefront of her mind.  May was able to work with her team and develop her action plan and make predictions about the type of interventions the targeted students would need.

Collaboration provides an opportunity for those in the group to bounce ideas off of each other and share in a common knowledge.  It also provides an opportunity for members of the group to help remind each other of certain strategies and ideas that they already know.  There are numerous times when challenges present themselves and those immersed in the most difficult parts need someone outside of themselves to help them formulate an idea to break through certain roadblocks.

Prompt #3 Questions: A critical component of the inquiry process is designing a plan for data collection that is doable! Explain the importance of developing a data collection plan that is meaningful but practical to the life of a classroom teacher. Address the following:

·         What part of May’s data collection plan do you feel will be most meaningful? Why?

·         What parts of May’s data collection plan do you believe to be the most practical? Why?

·         What parts of May’s data collection plan do you believe to be impractical? Why?

·         Pretend you are one of May’s colleagues. Suggest one additional form of data you think May might collect that could inform her research. Be sure you provide an explanation that describes why you think May should consider collecting this form of data.

Response:

I think May will find the information gathered by Sienna as the most meaningful.  This is someone that is an outside observer recording information and data that May will be interested in.  It is also important to note that Sienna is one of the targeted students believed to be one of the main offenders in the classroom.  I think this provides a great opportunity to empower a student and potentially remove their problem behaviors at the same time.

I think that May’s journal and reflections are the most practical data collection she intends to use.  This is information that she can be responsible for and can record without relying on anyone else.  She can also set up the format for this in multiple ways in order to record the information that would be the most beneficial to her research.

I believe that May’s 5-minute challenge idea is the most impractical collection method.  There isn’t a strong case that her students want to please her and so it would stand to reason that a challenge without a reward would not be valued by the students.  This would be a challenge that most would not care about and the data collected would not really benefit her students in any way.  While she could record this information for her own personal use, sharing these results with the students would not result in an improvement in their behavior.

I would suggest that May have her students complete a survey about her classroom and the behaviors that are present.  Ask the students to describe their class and compare it to others.  Ask them what causes a bad classroom experience and what creates a positive learning environment.  It would be good to see what their expectations are when they walk in the classroom and see if there are students that recognize that there isn’t a positive environment.  I think it would be most interesting to see what her targeted students put as responses.

Prompt #4 Questions: Download May’s “Wish List” Student Response data.

Follow a modified version of how to conduct a data analysis as described in the course text, The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research.

ü  Begin reading through the entire class’s wish list responses.

ü  Next, read through the data set a second time. Ask yourself, What am I noticing about the student responses? Do the responses seem to fall into different categories? How would I name the categories? Select your categories.

ü   Code each category with a different color.

ü  Finally, read through the data a third time, highlighting each response in a different color to correspond with the categories you created above.

In your journal responses, share the categories you named, as well as examples of responses that were included in each category. If you were May, what do you think your analysis of this initial data is telling you to do next?

Response:

My categories were Behavior, Grades, Homework and Unrelated.  There was a little crossover in some of the items listed on the Wish List but most fell easily into one of the noted categories.  I must note that some of the behaviors were student driven and some are teacher driven but I did not differentiate between the two as there is equal responsibility.

Unrelated: A student that submitted a response that was completely unrelated to the prompt was placed in this category.  One student noted “I wish I was the richest person in the world.”

Grades: Students that mentioned wanting to get good grades or that all should get A’s were put into this category.  These responses were along the lines of a concern for grades but most wanted the grades handed to them and did not want to work for them.  An example of this is seen in the following response: “To give me an A for no reason and to just be kind to people.  Having a little bit of fun and not having all this homework.  To be Friday every day!”

Homework: Student responses were placed in this category if their primary focus was on the type or amount of work that should be given in class or assigned as homework.  This was one of the categories that could have had the most crossover responses with Behavior and Grades.  One student simply stated “I wish I could get us less homework.”

Behavior: This category had the most responses of all of the categories.  It would appear that most of the students can identify where the problems are in the classroom and have a similar wish to what their teacher would like the classroom environment to be.  One of the examples of this is “I wish we could come to class, sit down and get started on our work!”

My initial response to these student statements would be to look at what the students are saying about issues that I am directly responsible for.  I would encourage May to do the same.  When the students say that they want to get started right away, find ways to make that happen.  If the students are pointing out that there is a problem with noise, find ways to decrease that factor.  I would also take a look at the amount of homework that is being assigned to see if it is being given as a method of punishment for classroom behaviors.  Make a few small changes that the students have focused on and then ask them the same type of question again in a few weeks to see if anything has improved or if any of them have gotten their wishes.  I think these wishes are great for insight into what May is battling with and what role she might be playing in that.  She should also consider sharing the Behavior responses with the class as a means of pointing out to the entire class the sheer number of students that aren’t happy with the behaviors of their classmates.

Reflection

Reflection on Personal Learning Theory

While the words I used then are not necessarily the same as what I would use now, they do show a few key points that I find even more valid after what I’ve learned from this course.  I made the point that our students are the ones that need the practice at specific skills.  I would add that those skills should involve the student actively engaged in the application of technology and the creation of a physical product or artifact (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).  Students must be the ones that are involved and actively participating in their own learning.  I would tend to think that I also lean towards creating lessons that are  rooted in Project-Based Learning where the learners are taking ownership of the so much of the process when it comes to choosing the topic, content, and the method of presentation (Orey, 2001).  I like putting it into the hands of the students and letting them use a little self-determination and self-direction.  I don’t think I have strayed too far from this even sitting here at the end of the course.  In a very similar manner to what I ask my students to do, this course has forced me to learn, experiment with, and implement educational technologies that I did not know about (VoiceThread) or did not use in my classroom (online blogs).  I have also had the opportunity to refresh my mind on some of the methods involved in various learning theories.  Some of these theories have been applied in my classroom without even know exactly what I was doing or why.  That is almost scary.

Adjustments

I am excited to continue the use of VoiceThreads as they give my students a great way to share information and pictures/videos as well as collaborate and communicate in an online and interactive environment (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b).  This is one of those tools that I did not know about until it was introduced in this course.  I also see this as a great way to communicate with parents using content from the class and my voice.  I also plan on continuing to find ways for my students to function, learn, communicate, and collaborate in an online environment.  I have used blogs in the past and I will continue to look for ways to adapt the use of blogs to make them usable for other lessons that I have not used them for previously.  I have also improved my understanding of the best methods of cooperative learning.  I would have never thought to purposefully include the five basic components of formal groups (positive interdependence, promotive interaction, individual/group accountability, small-group skills, and group processing) into my lesson planning (Pitler, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  I have always thought that every group lesson could be done with an informal group and that if there was a formal group there would not be any difference.  It is interesting to now know that those groups should come with structure.

Goals

My goals are very simple.  I want to remove the barriers to technology for my students and create more opportunities for my students to have valuable interaction with technology.  My strategy for achieving this is one in which I cannot accomplish the second without the first.  I need to plan my lesson timelines more effectively.  If I do this, I will be able to schedule computer lab time in advance so that my students can use the tools that are available to them.  I have been working on creating a schedule of lessons for the coming semester and I hope to have that in place soon.  Once I have created more opportunities to access technology I will be able to continue having my students utilize some of the tools that I have learned about in this course.  I will also continue to look for ways that I can take lessons that I currently teach and create an opportunity for my students to use some type of technological tool to create a product or artifact.  I can see how these two pieces relate and the time for implementation is now.

If there is one thing I know, my exposure to and use of these educational technology tools during this course will trickle down into my lessons very quickly as I look for exciting ways to implement them.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Program eight. Social learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Spotlight on Technology: Virtual Field Trips. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pitler, H., R., E. H., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). "Chapter 9: Identifying Similarities and Differences." Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007

Social Learning in Practice

“Students actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others,” is the principle that rests at the core of social learning theories (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).  The social aspect is apparent in our lessons every time that there is talking or interaction amongst our students.  Let me clarify that a little bit, constructive talking or interaction amongst our students is what I am getting at.  I think it is obvious that mindless chatter doesn’t bring about the learning that we desire.  However, put our students in the position or in the small groups and give them guidelines and valuable tasks and roles and I think the outcome becomes a little more of a valuable experience for our students and for us.

We do need to continue to provide structure for these groups beyond just the pairing of students.  “Formal groups should include five components: positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small-group skills, and group processing (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).”  Applying these components is another way that we work to provide some guidelines in creating a valuable learning experience.

One of the ideas that I found really intriguing and I think is still a work in progress is that web-enabled collaborative learning provides the same type of learning experience as physical interaction (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  I think we are still so early in the time of Skype and Twitter and other real-time communication methods that we do not know exactly how to best utilize these as learning tools.  More importantly, I’m not sure we know the best way to provide structure so that our students are utilizing these tools in the best way.

While I believe that the opportunities for the use of technology and cooperative learning will continue to increase quickly, I think that we are always playing catch-up when it comes to the use of these tools and learning theories.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program eight. Social learning theories [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Reaching students in crowded classrooms

http://voicethread.com/share/1554379/

Constructivist Learning Theory?

Dr. Orey provides us with this look at constructionist learning theory: “Learners don't get ideas; they create ideas. Moreover, constructionism suggests that new ideas are most likely to be created when learners are actively engaged in building some type of external artifact that they can reflect upon and share with others (2001).”  This excerpt encompasses the anticipated result of the implementation of Learning By Design, Project-Based Learning, and Problem-Based Instruction.

Learning By Design is most effective when the learner is the designer and creator of the shareable artifact (Orey, 2001).  The learning is coming from those that are creating with their hands-on interaction with the process.  Project-Based Learning has the learners choosing their topics, the content and the method of presentation (Orey, 2001).  The learners are taking ownership in every step of the process.  Problem-Based Instruction has students actively working to resolve complex problems in real world situations (Orey, 2001).  They are coming up with the ideas that are going to be the solutions to those realistic problems.

I think it is very clear that all three of these strategies are, without question, constructivist learning theories.  The students are actively involved in every step of the process.  They determine the path of the research and the manner in which the result is presented.  This result is an artifact or piece that can be shared with others and is something in which they have worked and decided on with little restriction from the teacher.

It is interesting to think about my own classroom instruction (and possibly yours as well) and how often the curriculum can get in the way of creating these types of results in which students are excited and motivated to produce a product that they want to produce.  I can only imagine what that is like for my students when they have that freedom sometimes but not all of the time.  I think my eyes are starting to open up to some of the ways in which I can create these opportunities for my students on a regular basis.

References:

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Notes of Cognition?

Note taking is one of those basic skills that everyone can do at varying levels of effectiveness.  Some have learned strategies and others write down every minute detail in the hopes that they will catch the little facts that are the most important or that will hold the key to a perfect score on a test.  I am not the type of learner that takes a lot of notes because I know that I will not look at them again.  So how do I teach a student that this is important?  By giving them a few strategies to help them so how valuable effective note-taking can be.

One of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time is that of combination notes that you can create inside of Microsoft Word  (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).  This style combines the use of key words and facts with images that the students create using the drawing tool in Word and an original written summary (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).  So why is this such a great idea?  Dr. Orey has made it very clear that the use of images will help learners visualize, remember, and recall ideas as well as make connections between those ideas (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).  I believe these cognitive connections are strengthened when the students are the ones that create or determine those images.  That mixed in with their own summary of the information has tapped into multiple cognitive learning components.

Another idea that I really like is the idea of using the Track Changes option in Microsoft Word as a method of demonstrating or teaching summarizing of material (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).  I struggle with teaching proper summary techniques to my students and I have not found an effective means to do this.  I am looking forward to trying this out and I think that my students will appreciate seeing the visual assist provided by this tool in Word.  I use summaries for many different types of lessons in my classroom and it would be great for my student s to learn it in this basic matter.  Dr. Orey’s idea about visualization is brought into play here as well with the modifications showing up in the text (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

I am always looking for ways to make the material more interesting and memorable for my students.  I think these will provide a couple of strategies for them and in the end I hope they are able to learn the material a little better.  After all, that is the number one goal.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.