Action Research Proposal by a former Fairmont State Student

1. The problem he is addressing is rhyme and word recognition.
2. The rational of the project was to have students learn to recognize rhyme and word families as a critical literacy skill and help them as beginning readers.
3. Simulation and Games
4. "How can I use a varity of rhyming games to help my students recognize rhyme and word families in text?"
5. The teacher backed this stragety with research from Integrated Strategies Approach: Making Word Identification Instruciton Work for Beginning Readers.
6. The teacher will copare pre and post-test results to document the overall impact of this project. The teacher will also use a checklist while observing the small group and reading center rhyme games.   

Action Research Project

1. Looking into the Mirror
2. Why self-reflection and portfolios?
3. Setting objectives
4. In the begining the teacher has a section on research summary. In the summary it talks about students begining to internalize instructional goals and standard and to apply them in future efforts.   
5. See what students scored at or above grade level in reflection.
6. The teacher saw what percentage of the student score at, above or below grade level.
7. There was a 73% rise in students who scored at or above grade level after the intervention and the was a 51% decrease in students who scored below grade level in reflection after intervention.
8. The stragety that this teacher implemented showed that it was very productive. It was a great way to prepare the students to present portfolios and presentations in their future. It also helps the teacher see what the students need to improve on by having them find their own misakes and realize what their specific goals are for that project. 

Struggling student

From what I have observed about this struggling student I can see that no matter what activity is done is class the student shows very little desire in wanting to finish the activity. My host teacher offers the option to the student everyday either the student comes to the class and puts forth an effort of do the assignment or the student goes to the principals office. By doing this the decision is left up to the student as to whether he or she is willing to accomplish the task at hand for that day.

Verbatim Questions

1. What do you know from reading the question?
2. What do you think your first step should be to answering this question?
3. How did you get that answer?

Reactions:
1. The students told me the numbers the were important to that problem. This helped them to elimate the number that did not pertain to that particlular problem.
2. Many of the students first step was to set up the equation after reading the problem.
3. As the students showed me how they got that specific answer they would catch their own mistake or show a strong understanding of that specific problem.

Double Entry Journal #17

Here is a link to my Venn Diagram in google docs.

Student Interest Survery

Here a link to Wordle.

Double Entry Journal #15

1. Give an example of an authentic form of assessment the students engaged in a PBL performed well on?

• Students engaged in a PBL performed well on the IOWA test of basic skills as well as national exams.

2. How does project based learning promote intrinsic motivation?

• Project based learning uses the element of choice to allow the students to strike their own interest in the topic. By allowing the students to make their own decisions throughout the project it allows them to discover things they want to know and are interested in.

3. What do students who experience a PBL do better than students who receive traditional direct instruction?

• Students develop twenty-first century skills such as teamwork skills, use of different technologies, and solving real world problems. The skills they experience extremely critical to success to any job the students will have in the future.

4. How does PBL align with John Dewey's philosophy of education?

• A PBL fits into John Dewey's philosophy of education because he believed you learned by doing. IN PBL students take a real world problem and then propose ways how to solve it. A PBL is a great way to improve a students problem solving skills and have them "learn by doing".

5. Why do our assessment practices need to change if we are going to prepare students for the 21st century?

• Our assessment practices test a students current knowledge on a specific topic. Rather than preparing the student for how they will be assessed in a work environment. A PBL helps the student see the connection from what they are learning to real world situation. This prepares them for possible problems they could encounter during their future jobs.

Double Entry Journal #14

What are some challenges to inquiry approaches to learning?
Some challenges a teacher may face when it comes to implementing inquiry-based learning are not having the skills and knowledge about this approach. Teacher will fail to provide proper scaffolding and redirection as the students are working on their projects. Another challenge for teachers would be all the planning involved with inquiry- based projects and trying to find ways to improve collaboration between the students.

What are some benefits to group work? 

• group work improve social and behavioral skills
• improves time on task
• improves relationships between classmates

Group work Strategy
Presenting as a Group
Here is a link to a website that I found that gave many advantages to group work.

Double Entry Journal #13

1. What "dominant paradigm" is showing signs of wear?
The belief that the teacher and the texbook are the main source of knowledge and the student learns through lectures and readings.

2. According to the research, how does Project-Based Learning support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies.

• students benefit from gains in factual learning that are equivalent or superior to those of studnets hwo engage in traditiona forms of instruction (Thomas, 2000).
• students engaged in project-based learning demonstrated a significant increase in scored on a critical-thinking test, as well as increased confidence in their learning (Sheperd 1998).
• students had developed a useful kind of mathematical knowledge that engaged them in "exploration and thought" (Boaler, 1997, p. 63)

3.  According to the research, how does Problem-Based Learning support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies.

• students identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem, and generate strategies for solution (Barrows, 1996;Hmelo-Silver, 2004).
•  medical students who are enrolled in problem-based learning score highter on clinical probem-solving measures and on actual ratings of clinical performance (Vernon & Blake, 1993; Albanese & Mitchel, 1993)
• students develop knowledge to guide decisionmaking(Lundeber, Levin & Harrington, 1999; Savery & Duffy, 1996; Williams, 1993)

4.  According to the research, how does Learning by Design support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies.

• ideal for developing technical and subject matter knowledge (Newstetter, 2000).
• help students develop understanding of complex systems (Perkins, 1986).
• better learning outcomes than the traditional approach to instruction. (Kolodner, 2000).

5. What are the differences between the three approaches?

Project-Based learning the students learn through completing complex tasks that usually result in a realistic product.

Problem-Based Learning the students are given a problem and have to use reasoning and thier resources to solve the problem.

Learning by Design the students learn through designing and creating an application of their knowledge.

 

6. In your opinion, what is the most important benefit to learning that is common across the three types of inquiry-based learning approaches?

In my opinion the most important benefit to learning that is common across these three approaches is the fact that the student are limited to one right way to do things and they learn by doing not by reciting what the teacher did previously in the lesson.

Double Entry Journal #12

3 things I learned:

• The basic purpose of school is achieved through communication.
• Teachers much be aware of language patterns in their classroom. This allows the teacher to improve their relationship with their students.
• that it is important for a student to know their knowledge is as valuable as the knowledge the teacher possesses.

2 things I found interesting:

• Language is used to initiate, monitor, adjust and evaluate cognitive processes
• When the article talked about language reflects personal identity.

Question:

• What are some good strageties to learn the language patterns of your classroom other than kidwatching?

How asking essential questions can improve learning in schools.
By teachers asking essential questions it promts the student to make connections with that topic to a real-world problem. Also it allows the teachers to ensure the students are staying engaged and on the course intended by the teacher.

Double Entry Journal #11

RLA.O.K.3.2.   recognize a variety of visual media and its intended purpose.
RLA.O.4.1.13   judge the reliability or logic of informational texts.
SC.O.4.1.7       use scientific instruments, technology and everyday materials to investigate the natural world.

Concrete examples of a exemplary PBL:
The problem or question has meaning to the students.
She did a great job of finding a problem/questions that would interest the students. She noticed that her students were very interested in top 10 books that were in her classroom. She designed this PBL the strike the students and have them learn the difference between opinion and fact.

Students develop new habits of mind.
As the students were creating the top 10 wiki they were learning the perspectives of other people. Such that maybe one classmate thinks great white sharks are the most dangerous with another thinks an octopus is the most dangerous.

Students formally use self management skills to improve their teams performance.
Throughout this project students were adding their own part to the wiki. As the students where doing this project they has to finish certain task so their classmates could add to that part of the wiki. The students worked together to create a criteria to classify a dangerous animal.

Technology Survey

How many computers are in the classroom? 4 which doesn't include the laptops that are always in the classroom.

Do they have Internet access? Yes

Can you access Google tools?Yes actually all of the students are using Google tools to do their PBL.

Do you have access to a laptop cart? Can they get on the Internet? Yes there is a laptop cart in the classroom which have 11 laptops, with all of them being capable to get on the Internet.

Is there a computer lab? Do the computers have Internet access? Can you access Google tools? How do you

reserve it? Yes, just sign a sheet a couple of weeks in advance.

How many of your students have computers with Internet access at home? Of the 2 classes I observe, out of 47 students 38 of them have Internet access at home.  

Are there locations in the community where students can access the computers and the Internet? Yes the libraries in Fairmont have computers and Internet.

Double Entry Journal #10

Kidwatching is very important to a teacher because it can show the teacher how their students learn. A teacher can use this see how a student interacts with another students and see the different ways the students learn. As a teacher is kidwatching he or she is seeing the similarities and differences within the culture of that class. This also allows the teacher to see the different things their students inherit from their cultures.

Double Entry Journal #9

It is important for students to use primary language during literacy events in order for them to express their thoughts and ideas without having to worry about being "corrected". This definitely applies to children with Appalachian dialects, if a student is understanding the subject being taught they need to feel they can answer the questions with the confidence they are correct and not worry if they are using "proper English". 

Some of the differences between student centered perspective and teacher centered perspective include:
Students centered perspective:

• more student-student interaction
• create their own questions
• make their own connections

Teacher centered perspective:

• more teacher-student interaction
• teacher posed questions
• more structured environment

Here is a link to an article about Appalachian literature incorporated in an American Literature class.

Double Entry Journal #8

One reason it is a mistake to group all English as a Second Language Learners together is these students could be form completely different places on the world. These students would be given the same instructions without out taking their previous experiences into consideration. Another reason would be some of the students may have never heard of English before while others in their group have at least been exposed to English. One more reason it is a mistake would be that some of the student's primary language could be Latin based. If the students primary language is Latin based then they are more likely to adapt to English while other students in their group struggle.   

A virtual backpack is something a student brings to class everyday. In the "backpack" is what the students has learned from personal interactions outside of the classroom. Such as knowledges, skills, morals and values. This relates to Funds of Knowledge because it shows that students learn numerous things outside of class. Not only do they gain knowledge and skills from personal interaction but also are shaped into the person they become.  

Reflection on Digital Story

The digital story is a great way for me to learn about the multiple learning styles my students may have. The term cultural deficit refers to the negative thoughts and beliefs of a person abilities and skills due to where they are from (Irizarry, 2011). Addressing multiple learning styles overcomes the idea of having a cultural deficit. Rather than looking at my students as having a deficit I need to realize they have a different way grasping a specific topic.

By having the students create their own digital story with little limitations, it allows them to express themselves and their culture. As mentioned in the article Tall Tales of Appalachia smart,   thought they didn't belong in college because they were hillbillies solely due to where they were from (O’Brien, 2003). If students have a strong sense of cultural pride they will never have this feeling. If students have cultural pride this can be viewed as a cultural capital due to the students using the resources that are accessible to them and knowing their strengths.

While a student creates their digital story, they open themselves up to building a community within the classroom. As the students watch others digital story’s they begin to see the similarities they have with each other. By the students feeling a sense of community they will be able to receive a richer education (Moll). Not only will the students feel like they have a better understanding of their peers but they will also feel a connection with them. With this connection they will feel more comfortable to ask for help from each other and help each other. I view this sense of community as a cultural capital due to the fact that a students feel they have a support system because of their relationship with each other.  

Final Draft of Digital Story

Double Entry Journal #6

One experience I have had with a culturally responsive activity at Fairmont State was in my RA training. We have a speaker come in to talk to the RA staff about diversity. She gave us a small piece of paper and a few different colored markers. She then told us to write down things that describe who we are. Every one's paper looked different, there were some things that people had in common but no one's papers look identical. I realized this was an exercise to have us express ourselves by writing words that described us and decorated the papers in our own unique way. I thought this was a great activity and it helped me to realize the diversity within our staff.

Resources:
I found a great document about a culturally responsive teaching project done in Kanawha County WV.
Culturally Responsive

Photo Story

Double Entry Journal #5

1. After reading the article one thing I learned that as a writer grows they need to talk about what they are writing to their colleagues. I also learned it is not necessary to wipe out the a student's family's use of words. Another thing learned was to teach writing excellence means adding language not subtracting it.

2. One fact I found interesting was to move students to more flexibility when they not not totally change the way they write. Another fact I found very interesting was when the article said the goal is to make more relationships available. I find this to be a great point and not telling students to do away with their dialect but learn more about language to make more relationships.

3. How can I help students to understand they need to expand on their language to improve their writing and never lose their local dialect?

Resource:
Here is a link to the NCTE Beliefs about Teaching of Writing article.

Related Resource:
This website has many different approaches to teaching writing.