Student Sample Action Research

1. What is the problem?
     Students are struggling with recognizing rhyme and word families.
2. What is the rational for the project?
     An over reliance on phonics instruction and recognizing the rhyme or word family can simplify the process; helping learners achieve reading fluency and avoid frustration.
3. What strategy will be used to address the problem?
     Simulations and Games; Implementation of a range of rhyming games
4. What is the question?
     Guiding question:"How can I use a variety of rhyming games to help my students recognize rhyme and word families in text?"
Supporting question: "Will the rhyme strategies change students attitudes about reading instruction?"
5. What evidence is supported that the strategy will work?
     She has different resources that she found that supported her strategy such as: Allen 1998, Bradely and Bryant 1983, Wylie and Durrell 1970, etc.
6. How will data be collected?
     Through observation, use of a checklist, and personal journaling

Secondary Action Research Article

1. What is the title of the project?
     Evidence of understanding in an 8th grade classroom
2. What is the question?
     What happens when students participate in the process of providing evidence of their understanding?
3. What strategy is being used to address?
     Identifying similarities and differences, cooperative grouping, providing feedback, and thematic instruction
4. What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?
     Identifying similarities and differences: students were to provide evidence of their understanding and thinking about their reading. They did this by creating different artifacts that showed their understanding and thinking. The students were aloud to work in groups of 2, 3, or individually.
5. How will the data be collected to determine if the strategy would work?
     Class observations were conducted every 10 minutes while the students worked on their projects.
6. How was the data analyzed?
     Students presented their work to the class and they discussed whether their work "met standards" or not.
7. What were the results?
     With having the students involved in the process, they were more focused on what they were supposed to be learning and what it meant to provide evidence of their understanding. The class discussions of evidence that "met standards" or not showed a need to balance the freedom to assess in unique ways and the structure necessary for students to produce effective evidence.
8. How do the results inform teacher practice?
     Provide teachers with professional development to support their efforts at on-going assessment and involving the students in the process.    

Double Entry Journal #17

Here is the Venn Diagram for the similarities and differences between Assessment OF Learning and Assessment FOR Learning. 

Video for Webquest

Struggling Students

When we have struggling students in our class, Mrs. Whitescarver is very accommodating. She will even give two assignments sometimes; one that's more advanced than the other. She also lets kids come in AA and get extra help from me, herself, or other students. Along with helping in AA, if a student is really struggling with concepts, once they start their homework I'll go and sit with them and guide them along. We can't always get everyone on the same page, but we try our best to.

Double Entry Journal #15

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

• Standardized testing
• When measuring the basic acadmeic subject profiency, standardized tesing shows that students who participated in the PBL scored higher than their peers who were traditionally educated.

2. How does project based learning promote intrinsic motivation?

• Through the PBL students are given choices, and this differentiation allows students to develop their own interest and pursue deeper learning. By being able to develop their own project, they can really incorporate things they love into their final project.

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

• Students learn more about responsibility, independence, and discipline when creating the PBL. They also learn accountability. Since the PBL is completed by them, it truly shows their work and their thinking process, and students take pride in getting to show off something that becomes so personal to them.

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

• John Dewey proposed that learning by doing has great benefit in shaping students' learning. The PBLs are just that; learning by doing.

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

• When students enter the workforce, they will be judged on their performance.Not only will the outcomes matter, they will need to be able to work collaboratively, plan, and organize. The PBLs teach children to do exactly that, so we are helping to better prepare them for their life after school through the use of PBLs.

Classroom Learning Styles & Interests

Above is a chart containing the information for learning styles of students in a 7th grade, Academic Advisory class, at East Fairmont Junior High. Each student answered questions that yielded a response that indicated visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning preferences. Each student is listed by number.
From the chart, it is very easy to tell the preferred learning style is visual (16 of 17 students). From these results, teaching to meet students learning preferences is easy for this class; too bad every class doesn't always yield a majority style.  

I also gave five students in AA an interest survey. Interest surveys are a great way to get to know your students, however, they are time consuming depending on how in depth you go. Also, unlike learning styles where there are only three, interests among students have a extremely wide range.

Double Entry Journal #14

What are some challenges to inquiry approaches to learning?

• The skills and knowledge of the teachers engaging in this alternate form of teaching and learning. 
• Where this is a transition period for many, teachers who have previously been teaching in one way are now switching to another. Changing approaches, just like other changes, requires time and adjustment. Also, when teachers aren't comfortable with what they're doing, this causes disruption of the students as well.Younger teachers are being educated on these new approaches, however, teachers who are already out there aren't getting much background knowledge on it. 
• Students lack of prior experience to this approach
• Just as teachers, this is new to students as well. These approaches are giving them more freedom and sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad. Each student is going to react differently to these changes, and as the teacher, we're going to be responsible for dealing with their actions. 
• Teachers have to learn how to balance the responsibility and implementation issues. 
• These new approaches require a lot more time for planning and a lot more responsibility. These activities aren't just drill and kill, learn one day then move to the next. They're much more involved and take much more time for both teachers and students. Therefore, the responsibility of time, planning, and a successful outcome rely more heavily on the teacher. 

What are the benefits of group work?

• Group work supports individual learning (ex. share your thoughts, resolve differences, and explain your thinking)
• Observing group work of students also benefits the teacher by providing valuable insight into whether the students are engaged in their tasks and it also provides the opportunity to provide formative feedback and development of group understandings and goals.

Name one strategy to support group work and find an example of that strategy on the internet.

• A strategy that boosts the effectiveness of group work is assigning roles to each student. When each student is assigned a role, no one just sits back and watches the rest of the group, and everyone feels important and purposeful. 
• Ex. Click here to view an article that supports assigning roles when working in groups. 

Clinical Activities: Questions

Questions my host teacher asks the students:
Most of the questions Mrs.Whitescarver asks the students are straight forward questions, such as "What is the answer to number..." She also asks questions to make sure the students are understanding the new concepts. When she does this she will usually go around the room and ask each student to answer a part to a problem. For example, if we are doing problems that include multiple steps, she'll ask one student for the first step, the next for the second step, and so on until the problem is completed. My favorite type of questions that she asks are when she has the students answer the question then stand up when they think they have the answer. The sheer motivation to being able to stand up drives the students to quickly and efficiently answer the questions because once the majority are standing, she picks one of them to explain the answer.

Double Entry Journal #13

What dominant paradigm is showing signs of wear?
The instructional model of the teacher and the textbook as the primary source of knowledge. (Lecturing, reading, discussion, etc.)
According to research, how does Project-Based Learning support student learning better than traditional approaches?

1. "Studies have shown a positive impact on learning when students participate in lessons that require them to construct and organize knowledge, consider alternatives, engage in detailed research, inquiry, writing, and analysis, and to communicate effectively to audiences" (Newman, 1996). Most people learn to complete a task by physically doing it, therefore learning shouldn't be any different
2. "Generally, research on project-based learning has found that students who engage in this approach benefit from gains in factual learning that are equivalent or superior to those of students who engage in traditional forms of instruction" (Thomas, 2000). It is proven that learning through PBLs is at least equivalent to the standard teacher-textbook approach, in most cases better.
3. "Students who may struggle in traditional instructional settings have often been found to excel when they work in a PBL context" (see, e.g., Boaler, 1997; Meyer, Turner, & Spence, 1997; Rosenfeld & Rosenfeld 1998). I think this could be largely attributed to the growing amount of students with ADD/ADHD. PBLs are a great way to get kids thinking and concentrating harder. 

According to research, how does Problem-Based Learning support student learning better than the traditional approach?

1. Through problem based learning, the students work in small groups to help solve a problem and generate strategies for a solution (Baron; Darling-Hammond). This helps to build their knowledge of subject, as well as social skills. 
2. This method is really beneficial at higher levels of education for putting theory into practice (Baron; Darling-Hammond).
3. "Additional studies have shown students who participated in problem-based experiences are better able to generate accurate hypothesis and coherent explanations (Hmelo, 1998b; Schmist et al., 1996).

According to research, how does Learning by Design support student learning better than the traditional approach?

1. "Design activity supports revisions and iterative activity as students create, assess, and redesign their work product" (Baron; Darling-Hammond). When students have to reevaluate something they have completed, they find their mistakes, make changes, and think deeper. 
2. "Researchers also observed that design activities are particularly good for helping students develop understanding of complex systems, noting that the systems can be presented as a united whole whose structure is adapted to specific purposes" (Perkins, 1986). 
3. One study found that the design project led to better learning outcomes than the traditional approach to instruction (Perkins, 1986).

What are the differences between the three?

Project-Based learning is the most in depth, most time consuming, and most involved in cooperative learning. Problem-Based learning focuses more on smaller groups and a single problem at hand that students are to find a solution to. Then Learning by design is more of a designing your own real life model of something (ie. very hands on).

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

Preparing students for the real world. All the of these approaches seem to really prepare students for what they're going to face in life, and the material is important, but knowing what to do with the information you have is even more important. 

Double Entry Journal #12

"Social Significance of Patterns of Questioning in Classroom Discourse"
Three Thing I Learned:
1. The IRE structure of discourse sets up an imbalance of power in a number of ways. 
I hadn't ever looked much into the IRE structure. I knew it stood for teacher initiation, student response, and teacher evaluation, but not much more than that. So getting a good look further into it was beneficial.
2. "A good set of questions is good not merely because it contains a significant percentage of higher-level questions but also because it helps students to think about the topic systematically and emerge from the discussion with connected understandings."
I completely agree with this statement. A good question is when their is thought involved in answering the question, not just memorization.
3. "Perhaps rather than focusing on the communication system of the social institution of education, teachers should be focusing on the social implications of the communication structure of education."
Communication is the key to success as a teacher. We just have to gear toward the right form of communication.
Two Thing I Found Interesting
1. "While language is a valuable tool for exploration of most fields of study, the prevalence of oral communication in our lives often leads teachers and students to take language for granted."
I don't see how anyone could take language for granted. Language is the basis for all communication and language can come in many forms: body, facial, oral, etc. As teachers, we have to be able to successfully communicate with our students above all else in my opinion.
2. "...teachers typically wait one second or less for students to start a reply to their question before calling on anther student or supplying information related to the question themselves."
There's no way a student has time to think in depth about a question when only given that little of time to come up with a response.
One Question:
1. What are some strategies to help our students better their communication? A lot of kids are terrified to speak in public, and that's definitely something teachers need to help to improve.

"Learning to Ask Essential Question"
Asking essential questions in schools can help students to grasp the concept better and think more in depth. Since an essential question is usually the main idea of a topic, you know the student at least gets the main idea, and they will usually expand further than just the main idea; especially if you frame the question to involve in depth thought.

Top 10 Project Review

The Top 10 Project showed exemplary levels in many areas, however the 3 that stood out to me are:

1. The authenticity of the project. The project had extremely high meaning amoungst the students, and by having the project online and having been viewed by so many people, the project definitely has an outside audience. 
2. The applied learning. The students used multiple-performance work organizing skills and applied new knowledge to a realistic situation.
3. Active Exploration. This is the area that stood out the most to me as exemplary. The students researched a lot about the animals involved in the project, as well as, ways of how to measure the truth in research.

Science CSOs

SC.O.4.1.1

explain how new discoveries lead to changes in scientific knowledge.

SC.O.4.1.4

demonstrate curiosity, initiative and creativity by developing questions that lead to investigations; designing simple experiments; and trusting observations of discoveries when trying new tasks and skills.

SC.O.4.1.6

support statements with facts found through research from various sources, including technology.

SC.O.4.1.7

use scientific instruments, technology and everyday materials to investigate the natural world.

SC.O.4.1.11 English CSOs

interpret data presented in a table, graph, or diagram and use it to answer questions and make decisions.

RLA.O.4.1.3

use pre-reading strategies to comprehend text (e.g., activating prior knowledge, predictions, questioning).

RLA.O.4.1.8

interpret and extend the ideas in literary and informational texts to summarize, determine story elements, skim and scan, determine cause and effect, compare and contrast, visualize, paraphrase, infer, sequence, determine fact and opinion, draw conclusions, analyze characterize and provide main idea and support details.

RLA.O.4.1.9

determine the author’s purpose in literary and informational texts and use supporting material to justify author’s intent: to persuade to entertain to inform to determine a specific viewpoint

RLA.O.4.1.13	judge the reliability or logic of informational texts.
RLA.O.4.1.14	select and use a variety of sources to gather information (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, informational texts, electronic resources).

RLA.O.4.1.16

use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of information resources to support literacy learning (e.g., written directions, captions, electronic resources, labels, information texts).

Classroom Technology

• How many computers are in the classroom?
• 6
• Do they have internet access?
• Yes, the school also have wireless internet available. 
• Can you access Google tools?
• Yes
• Do you have access to a laptop cart? Can they get on the internet?
• Yes & Yes...I used her laptop cart in my previous clinical. 
• Is there a computer lab? Do the computers have internet access? Can you access Google tools? How do you reserve it?
• Yes, Yes, & Yes
• How many of your students have computers with internet access at home? (Answers based out of 49 students)
• 48 students have access to a computer at home
• 47 students have access to the internet at home
• 15 students own their own computer/laptop
• 34 students use a family computer/laptop
• 25 students have cell phones with internet access
• Are there locations in the community where students can access the computers and the internet?
• Yes

Double Entry Journal #10

Why is kid watching a critical practice for teacher use?

• By kid watching, teachers can learn more about the personality and interest of their students. With knowing what our students like/dislike, we can gear our lessons toward their interest. The personality of kids is important as well, and by observing them in various situation, we can learn about how they portray themselves as a person in and out of the classroom.

How is kid watching informed by cultural difference theory?

• The cultural difference theory is about teachers and students focusing on cultural "blind spots." By kid watching, teachers are able to get rid of these "blind spots" and get to know their students. Through kid watching, teachers gain knowledge of the students background, interests, previous knowledge, personality, and their interest. Most children won't even know that their teachers are "kid watching" them, so they will act the way their going to act.  

Double Entry Journal #9

• By having students code switch during literacy events, they are more likely to remember more of what they have learned. Instead of being so focused on making sure they're using the correct terminology and words, the students can focus more on the concept, as well as, make connections between their primary language and English. It also takes the stress of learning the new language and new materials off of the students, when actually, they are learning the material as well as English.
• I would definitely say this applies to students with an Appalachian dialect. Students with an Appalachian dialect usually drop the "g" off "ing" words, or even have different words entirely for a meaning. Over time, this can be corrected, but if students are taking notes and learning new material other than English, I think they should be free to write in whatever dialect/language they choose. 
• The difference between a student centered perspective and teacher centered perspective is just that; one focuses mainly on the students, and the other one has more to do with the teacher. In the student centered perspective, the students guide the reading and their interpretations of it, where as in the teacher centered perspective, the teacher guides the reading by asking them questions based on her interpretation of the reading.

Resource:
I actually googled Appalachian Literature in the classroom and this came up from Fairmont State's Folklife Center. Click here to access the information.
It is a list of books and stories that relate to the Appalachian culture. When teaching in West Virginia I think it is really important to incorporate these types of books about our area. Students take a lot out of information they're given when it relates to so close to home.

Double Entry Journal #8

Question Responses:

• As in the story about Bianca, some students don't take pride in their culture. It's possible that they had a bad experience, or were told that America was so much better than where they came from, that they just completely let go of their culture. If someone doesn't embrace the language they've previously spoken, they're not going to want to help others by using that language. Farther on into the reading, they talk about students who speak the same language, but are from different areas. Spanish is spoken in multiple countries, and just like English, there are multiple dialects for the language. And lastly, it is never a good thing to single students out based upon race, gender, class, etc. 
• A virtual backpack is what a student brings with them on the inside. The items may include parts of their heritage, skills acquired from home/social situations, and the items that make them unique. The funds of knowledge is all about the social situations and outside skills that students bring into the classroom, and that is exactly what the virtual backpack contains. 

Resource:
I found an entire website that has games, worksheets, lesson plans, crafts, etc. that are all ways of teaching English as a second language to children. Click here to view the website for strategies for teaching English as as second language.

Digital Story Reflection (Rough Draft)

Click here to view my reflection as a google doc.

Where I'm From Digital Story (Final)

My video is also uploaded to youtube. You can click here to view my video on youtube. 

Double Entry Journal #6

Throughout the past three years at Fairmont State, I haven't had the chance to experience many culturally responsive activities. The one that stands out most to me is the one we just completed in this class; the digital story. I loved making my video and loved watching everyone else's. It's really nice to get a look at other people's backgrounds that way.
Aside from culturally responsive activities, when I was at WVU, my freshman year, I had many professors that weren't originally from the U.S. At times, this was a huge disadvantage because some were hard to understand, but at the same time, we talked a lot about their culture, as well as some of our own. WVU definitely had way more culture diversity than I've experienced here at Fairmont State.
Reference:
Gay, G. (2002, April). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching.Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/eis/Gay.pdf
University, B. (2006). Principles for culturally responsive teaching. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml
Resource:
I found this article about preparing for culturally responsive teaching. As all of us in this class are going to be teachers, I found it interesting.
Click here to view the article. 

Double Entry Journal #5

3 Things I Learned:
1. "The teaching of excellence in writing means adding language to what already exists, not subtracting.  The goal is to make more relationships available, not fewer."

2. "Writing instruction must accommodate the explosion in technology from the world around us."

3. "Early teaching in composition should also attend to helping children get used to producing language orally, through telling stories, explaining how things work, predicting what will happen, and guessing about why things and people are the way they are."

2 Things I Found Interesting:

1. "Writers start in different places.  It makes a difference what kind of language a writer spoke while growing up, and what kinds of language they are being asked to take on later in their experience."

2. "Many teachers and students do not, however, have adequate access to computing, recording, and video equipment to take advantage of the most up-to-date technologies."

1 Question I Have:

Since I'm going into math, I know writing should be incorporated into all subject areas. However, math is hard to incorporate writing into; especially writing that has a lot of the student's personality and thought put into it. Therefore, what are some ways to incorporate writing into mathematics?

Reference: 

NCTE, (2004, November). Ncte beliefs about the teaching of writing. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs

Resource:

I found this article about 30 ideas for teaching writing. I just thought it gave future and current teachers some different ideas. Click here to view the article. 

Where I'm From Digital Story

Double Entry Journal #4

Quote: 
"An important aspect of the teachers' participation in the household research became the more sophisticated understanding they developed about the children and their experiences. There is much teachers do not know about their students or families that could be immediately helpful in the classroom..."
Reaction:
Stereotypes and biases are everywhere in our society. As teachers, we're going to have our own biases and also see them in our fellow teachers, as well as our students. I'm the type of person that feels everyone deserves a chance regardless of where they come from. I've known people brought up in wonderful homes that are lazy, or what teacher's consider the bad students, and I've also seen people who have been through struggle after struggle, and I would've never guessed it until they told me. Everyone comes from a different family and has a different background. Most people love to talk about where they come from. Having a good personal relationship with people is number one in my opinion. Any time I feel someone wants to get to know me and actually cares enough to listen to me, it makes me feel so good. As teachers, that's how we need to make our students feel. Connecting on a personal level is key to success in my eyes.
Reference:
Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992, Spring). Fund of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), Retrieved from https://online.fairmontstate.edu/webct/urw/lc15057011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Resource:
I found this article that talks about getting to know your students on a personal level. It really goes along with what I was saying in my reaction to the quote.
Click Here to view the article, "Getting to know your students."

Where I'm From

I'm from Beckley, West Virginia and where my heart will always be.

Double Entry Journal #3

I couldn't figure out how to embed my own the word. So click here to view my own the word organizer.

Double Entry Journal #2

Quote: 
"For example, the Boston dialect of the Kennedys or the southern dialect of Jimmy Carter are never pointed to as evidence of cognitive and linguistic deficit. But let a poor, urban Appalachian speak for only a few minutes and powerful attitudes of prejudice and assumptions of inferiority are elicited." (Purcell-Gates 133).
Reaction:
This whole article explains my thoughts entirely when it comes to Appalachian dialects. As I stated in my previous blog, I am from southern West Virginia and accents and certain dialects are prevalent down there. When I attended WVU, my freshman year, fifty percent of people I met immediately asked me where I was from due to my southern accent. I've always known I had an accent, however, it never was drawn to my attention until I came farther north in the state. In Beckley, people don't view me as having an accent or different dialect; we view the people from Wyoming, Boone, Mingo, and Logan County as having a different dialect and accent. Therefore, it surprised me to have so many people pick up on my accent.
Also, I hate the immediate assumption of being unintelligent that follows having a different accent/dialect. There are plenty of people I know, highly capable of reading, writing, and having intelligent conversations that have an Appalachian dialect. The only bad trait I have found in the Appalachian dialect is the bad grammar; and you find that with other dialects as well. Therefore, I don't judge people's intelligence from their dialect; I judge their intelligence from the grammar usage. The difference in other people's perspectives between the two is grammar is taught in school so if you come in with less than adequate grammar, that can be fixed. However, if you have a different dialect/accent, you're automatically viewed as unintelligent and never going to learn.
Reference:
Purcell-Gates, V. (2002). "..as soon as she opens her mouth!". In the Skin that We Speak, Retrieved from https://online.fairmontstate.edu/webct/urw/lc15057011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Related Resource:
I found this video on youtube that a college student created for a class about the Appalachian dialect. He explains how stereotypes of the southern Appalachian dialect effected him when he went to college, and even has other students opinions as well.



Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJq-T1FbQo

Double Entry Journal #1

Quote:
“This mythology has been accepted by the people living here. Not long ago, one of the student counselors at West Virginia University told me that the most persistent problem she encounters is a lack of self-esteem. Bright, capable, young men and women do not think they belong in college because they are hillbillies.” (O'Brien, 2003).

Reaction:

I was born and raised in southern West Virginia; Beckley to be exact, and I chose this quote because I see peers, and even adults raising children think like this. In the city of Beckley, it is harder to see people like this, but if you drive just twenty minutes down Route 3, it is everywhere. The percentage of students that go on to college after graduating from Woodrow (the biggest high school centered in Beckley) compared to the percentage from Liberty (a smaller school on Route 3) is huge; even the high school dropout rate is much larger. The farther out of the bigger cities you go, the worse it gets. The children in these rural Appalachian towns are raised to go into the coal mines, run farms, start a family at age seventeen, or even draw a check for unemployment, when the majority of these children are highly capable of acquiring a higher education. I completely agree with the fact that we have to love where we are from and hold onto some of the traits, but I hate seeing students who are highly capable of more, settling for less because of the term “hillbilly.”

Reference:
O'Brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall tells of appalachia.The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html

Related Resources: 

Below, I have listed a link to an article that I found showing that West Virginia has the lowest percentage of college graduates in the nation. The article gives percentages and ratios of people who attend college, graduate college, graduate high school, etc. This just emphasizes the low number of children who don't feel qualified, or even have the drive to go to college. 

http://uwire.com/2010/10/04/report-shows-west-virginia-residents-have-lowest-percentage-of-college-graduates-in-the-nation/