Review of May’s Teacher Inquiry Part II Chapter 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:

Sienna’s records suggest that she did a great job and became an active partner of action research. According to Sienna’s records, number of redirections decreased from 37 to 13. This is a great improvement, and proves that May’s strategy worked. After reading Sienna’s notes and data report sheets, I noticed that redirections are concentrated on certain time intervals, namely at the beginning and end of the lesson. Most probably, students talk with each other if there is no teaching activity. Sienna’s comment in data report number 2: “enjoyable activities decreased the number of   redirections in the first ten minutes of lesson” shows that my theory is correct. Additionally, Sienna’s comments suggest that changing the location of students affect the number of redirections, and moving noisy students to front seats might be a good strategy to decrease the number of redirections. While analyzing the data reports, I noticed that there is no positive redirection. Either Sienna did not record positive redirections or May did not use positive redirections. I would suggest May to use positive redirections also.

It is very difficult to find traces of triangulation with looking at the recorded data. There are three data sources; students’ wish lists responses, data reports and Sienna’s comments. However, it is very difficult to correlate those data.  Sienna should write down the names of receivers of redirections, and note down the differences between current day and the previous day in terms of location of students and activities done. As a result, it would be easier to understand the reason behind the decrease in number of redirections. I might speculate with saying students whose responses fell into wishes for more fun and less pressure from school category received most of the redirections, and changing their locations decreased the number of redirections. There  are no data to support my speculation.

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 class graph clearly shows that her strategy worked and number of students who copied the agenda within five minutes increased from 11 to 20. There  are no data, but I think 9 of 11 students who completed writing agenda within 5 minute were belonged to category 3. Later, other students started to finish on time and number of students increased each day and reached maximum 20 students. Data indicates that there is one student who did not be able to complete on time, and I wonder if this student was same or not? Class graph clearly shows that May’s strategy worked and students get used to complete writing agenda on time. Such a quick change also suggests that students are willing to learn and follow the orders. Rapid change in the second day and decrease in the following day shows that students are open for new things and love to do different things. After comparing Sienna’s records and five minute challenge data graph, I found out that number of redirections decreased when students focus on their tasks. This suggests that when students are busy with something, they do not need redirection.

Finally, both class graph and Sienna’s records suggests that May’s students are capable of changing their habits and willing to accomplish tasks. Moreover, students do not need redirections when they are working on a task. As a result, I would suggest May to focus on transition time. She might find a challenging activity to fill transition time. Additionally, most of the redirections occurred at the end of the lesson, and May might find another timed activity to challenge and engage students at the end of lesson. Alternatively, students may play a game or watch a lesson related funny video that attract attention and summarize the lesson as an ending lesson activity.

  

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:

First of all, it is very difficult to understand how Anthony managed to decrease preparation time from 8 minutes to 30 seconds. I wonder if May changed length of agenda or students were wasting time before.

Anthony’s and Leah’s graph record sheets clearly shows that they are engaged to the challenge and they are trying their best to complete on time. Additionally, their preparation time decreased dramatically which suggests that May’s goal is achievable. Notes written on record sheets shows the reflections and emotions of Anthony and Leah, and it seems that they are happy. I always say that students make noise to be recognized and attract attention. In this action research, Anthony and Leah are recognized, and Darby and May pays attention to them. As a result Anthony and Leah are engaged to the lesson and try to do their best to keep this relationship.

May might continue to pay attention and give personalized goals to those students. Additionally, May might give flexibility to chose their own goals and encourage them. I am sure that Anthony and Leah will not need redirection once they feel that they are recognized by the teacher when they try to reach their goal. In conclusion, I would suggest May to create a peaceful and comfortable class environment, in which all students feel that they are accepted, recognized, respected, cared and have fun.

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:

Sharing inquiry with the community is one of the most important parts of teacher inquiry. All faculty members including fellow professionals may benefit from the findings of inquiry (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p. 188). If I were May, I would consider four critical features of the teacher inquiry write – up while creating PowerPoint presentation which are: “providing background information, sharing the design of the inquiry, stating the learning and supporting the statements with data and providing concluding thoughts” (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p. 190).   There or lots of things that I do not know about May’s community, and it is very difficult to figure out a strategy with so many unknown variables. Still, if I were May, I would start with giving credits to others. First of all, I would thank to Mr. Brown for his support. Because it is very difficult to find supportive administrators in schools. Before starting my presentation, I would give credit to my team members and my students who guided me during the inquiry process, and actively participated. At the beginning of presentation, I would ask a few questions about disruptive behaviors that faculty members faced in class, and methods that they used to solve behavior issues to engage faculty members to the presentation. Later, I would present my inquiry with using a PowerPoint presentation. In this PowerPoint presentation, I would start with showing the decrease in number of redirections and preparation time to attract attention of teachers and to show that my inquiry worked. Later, I would explain my inquiry journey starting from finding a wondering question. I would describe how did I chose the data collection methods, literature that I reviewed and collaboration with team members. I would show my data analysis to faculty members with graph. Finally I would share my findings, and I would tell them changing location of students, challenging the students and giving a task to them improved their behaviors positively and decreased number of redirections.

At the end of PowerPoint presentation, I would list down the benefits that I gained from teacher inquiry. I would invite my team members to share their ideas and benefits from inquiry briefly, and I would share my future goals related to action research.

Additionally, I would explain them why it is very important to do a teacher inquiry, and I would encourage them to try to find answers for their wondering questions via action research. I would especially mention them that students are unique and they cannot use findings of a research directly. Therefore, it is necessary to do an action research to see the affects of teaching strategies in given class.

I would finish my presentation with distributing a summary of the reflective educator’s guide to classroom research book (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009) and asking for collaboration in future inquiries.

References

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Review of May's teacher inquiry

As a part of my Walden master study course, I reviewed May's action research from course website. I am surprised to see that my wondering question and her inquiry close to each other and share a common goal. Both May and I want to engage students to a science lesson. You may read my review below.

CHAPTER ONE

Setting the Context, Studying the Literature, and Developing the Wondering

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: 

May is a dedicated teacher, and she tried every possible strategy that she knew to engage students. However, she faced behavior problems and felt frustrated. Teacher inquiry idea inspired her, and she decided to do an inquiry about behavior problem, and created a wondering question. May's wondering question is: “How can I create the classroom conditions needed so that my students can be successful in supporting my instruction?" It was clear that her knowledge is not enough to answer this question. This fact lead May to review the literature at the beginning of her teacher inquiry. While reviewing the literature, May learned how to describe behaviors in a clear way from the prereferral intervention Resource Manual (as cited in (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010, pg. 5) and she understood how to diagnose behavior problems in class. Additionally, May joined positive behavior support conference (as cited in Laureate Education, Inc. 2010, pg. 5) and acknowledged new strategies about how to strategically respond behavior problems. May also read “Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students: Promoting Change Through Relationships" article (as cited in Laureate Education, Inc. 2010, pg. 6) and learned positive psychology theory. From this article, May understood the reason behind the behaviors of students. The last article that May reviewed was about the middle and high school teachers of Philadelphia. May learned the importance of teacher-student collaboration and decided to use this strategy in her inquiry. As a result, May decided to use students actively in data collection process, and literature review lead her to rewrite her wondering question.  

CHAPTER TWO

Designing the Inquiry Through Collaboration With Colleagues

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:

First of all, May is so lucky to have such open minded, cooperative team members who are eager to help, ready to listen, willing to share ideas and capable to provide suggestions. According to the case study that I reviewed, May's team members helped her in every step of inquiry. For instance, her colleagues suggested May to use one class and helped her to figure out most effective student group for inquiry. A Turkish proverb says: "Two heads are better than one" Similarly, May and her colleagues reviewed literature, discussed and developed an action plan together. As a result, May and her friends formed a team and implemented strategies, monitored student progresses and assessed data altogether. This helped May to identify and group students, identify the key outcomes and conduct an accurate and effective teacher inquiry. As a general rule, teamwork is necessary to finish a job quickly and effectively, and May's collaboration within the learning community is a good example of benefits of collaboration and cooperation. Without cooperation, she would not be able to choose appropriate student group, and her results would not be accurate. More importantly, her inquiry would have a limited effect and would not create a school wide positive impact on teachers and students.

CHAPTER THREE

The Intervention and Data Collection Plan

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:

First of all, I liked the collaboration between May and her peers. Each team member contributed to the inquiry process and figured out a data collection model altogether. She clearly identified problems that she faced in class and actions of each tier. For instance, May mentioned that students stop following the procedures, namely, writing down their agenda for the day after spring break, and she had to give constant verbal redirections. Following the suggestions of her peers, May decided to give a five-minute challenge to her tier 1 students to complete their agendas. Additionally, May wanted Tier 2 students to create a personal graph of their own successful attempts at writing the agenda.  It is obvious that these interventions make data collection and data analyze manageable and easily doable. More importantly, I am surprised to see that May used data collection as part of a solution. May’s target is to run the fourth period smoothly at the end inquiry. As an example, May asked tier 3 student, namely, Sienna to record data to engage her to lesson. It is also interesting to see that May used her inquiry to improve graphing skills of students.

I think that focus group interview with the whole class strategy is a meaningful way of data collection. Students feel happy and motivated when teachers ask and value their ideas. Therefore, group interview will engage students and will increase the success of inquiry. Moreover, this will give May a chance to correlate the relation between ideas of students shared in class, and number of completing copying agenda at the beginning of the lesson. As a result, May might regroup students and figure out the problem behind not copying agenda.

I think that using journal entry to collect data is very practical. While students are copying agenda from the board to their notebooks, she may walk around and note down the students who finished on time. Additionally, she can use collected data to draw graphs and clearly identify the improvement of students.  This will both motivate students to complete their agenda, and provide a solid data to analyze and draw graphs. Additionally, I think that data collected by Sienna and Darby might be subjective, and the data collected by the inquirer is the most accurate data.

I feel that the most impractical data collection method is to ask Tier 3 student to record redirections. At first sight, it looks so practical. Like Margaret suggested, giving responsibility might improve Sienna. However, Sienna might collect data subjectively, and this might affect the result of the inquiry. For instance, Sienna might not record redirections pointed to her, or she might forget to record sometimes. Additionally, Sienna may not be able to pay attention to the lesson and collecting data at the same time, and this might affect her achievement in lesson.

I would suggest May to use student works as artifacts. Documents can provide extremely powerful data (Dana& Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p.81). In May’s case, she might ask students to note down the minute they completed copying the agenda, and she might ask students to put a smiley that describe their feelings at different times. Moreover, May might ask students to put a plus once they receive a redirection. As a result, she might check if the students completely copied the agenda or not and she might draw different graphs such as completion time versus days graph for each student. Additionally, she might look for a correlation between emotion of student and redirections she received. As a result, she would be able to identify performance of each student and understand the emotional conditions that caused redirection from teacher. This collected data would be an alternative way to collect same data, and would help her to triangulate (Dana& Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p.112) data.

CHAPTER FOUR

Coding May’s First Data—The Wish List for Great Classroom Learning Conditions 

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.

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

·         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.

·         Code each category with a different color.

·         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:

Students’ wish list responses clearly show that there are different kinds of students in class. Some of them are motivated and want to learn, some of them are respectful, some of them are not interested in the lesson, and some of them try to be funny. I think respectful students can be motivated to note down agenda easily, and help May while collecting data, and motivate others. Motivated students would speedily note down the agenda. Unmotivated students and funny students need more attention. May might change the location of students, and let respectful and motivated students sit next to an unmotivated together on the same seat. This might force unmotivated students to pay attention to the lesson and respect for others. I categorized the wish list responses as below; Respectful, responsible students:

1.      Give respect to our teacher and other classmates. Let’s be kind and not argue with one another.

2.      Listen and be quiet.

3.      My wish for the whole class is to respect our teacher.

4.      Get ready for class all together would be good. Some do and some don’t.

5.      I want to show my teacher my respect. I want to have an S (Satisfactory) for conduct.

6.      Have our agenda done when the teacher comes into the classroom. We can have out our paper and pencil, be ready to learn, and have our homework out.

7.      I wish people would stop being loud in this class. It is loud sometimes.

8.      Come in and get ready and start on time. Maybe the Deputy could come to class from lunch. That might help us.

Motivated, hardworking students:

1.      People need to come to class to learn! They need to focus. I wish they would focus.

2.      My wish is to have us all on the same page when the bell rings.

3.      I wish we could come to class, sit down and get started on our work!

4.      Class would be good if it started on time every day.

5.      I wish L and T wouldn’t bring in so much of their drama into class so we could get going on time.

Unmotivated students:

1.      I wish everyone would get an A, and that we had more field trips.

2.      I wish I could get us less homework.

3.      My wish is to get more field trips out of town and to give us less homework. Homework Mon.–Thurs. and Fri. no homework.

4.      I wish things would go in order the same way so I know what to do.

Funny (nonsense) students

1.      We need to have more fun and more parties—and all A’s!

2.      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!

3.      I wish I was the richest person in the world.

4.      Saying there is no homework! Saying we don’t have to do nothing to pass!

According to the responses, most of the students are respectful and motivated. With a slight push, I am sure that May will be able to create a peaceful environment, and most of the students will copy the agenda. There are a few unmotivated and funny students who are not interested in the lesson. May should focus on these students and interview with them. Additionally, May might set certain goals and promise a party or extra points for achievements. This might motivate students who wanted field trips and parties.

References:

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry; (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). A case study: Living the process of inquiry with a real teacher-

researcher. Retrieved 6 12, 2011 from Walden University Web site: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/59896/CRS-WUPSYC6205-5104436/Living_the_Process_of_Inquiry_CaseStudy_112210.pdf