Teacher Research Data

Tony Dix

May 6, 2011

Research Question:

How do I manage my classroom and still be effective and keep positive?

Data Sources

Data Source	Significance	Remaining Questions
Collaborative Groups	One of my core beliefs is teaching through collaboration, thus, everyday I have my students get into small groups to learn the days lessons.  My theory is students will get more out of math working in small groups then working alone.	Is it more effective to allow students form their groups or the teacher? What is an effective group size? How do I treat low motivated individuals verse high motivated?
Search & Rescue Activity	This was a partner activity in which students were forced to move around the classroom to write down math problems and check their answers.  The purpose of this activity was to test if students “active learning” was effective and conceivable with the demographic of students I have.	What other activities can I use to teach math? How do I form questions that are aimed at groups versus an individual (more challenging)? How much time do I permit per activity?
Circumference Activity	This activity was an individual activity in which students were to use compasses to draw circles so they could determine the circumference, diameter, and radius.  The purpose was to see if individual active participation would keep the students engaged	Was this activity not successful because the students did not like to use the compass or they were mad they didn’t get to work in groups? Was this activity not successful because it was not entertaining enough or students did not like the subject matter? What are other activities to teach circumference?
Observations/Journal	Everyday I write my reflections on my lesson plans, but I also write in a personal journal where I discuss success of each class, my frustrations, failures and successes.  At the end of the week I rate the overall success/failure of that week and my overall attitude.  I use a simple “minus symbol” for bad, “check mark” for average, and “plus symbol” for good weeks.	When my data is totaled at the end of the 6 weeks, will my data be conclusive or will there be a lot of biased indicators to through off the data? How will this affect my teaching? How will I use the data once it is compiled?
Assessments, i.e. Exit Slips, group tests, individual tests, group discussions, monitoring	On a weekly basis, I conduct informal assessments on my students to get data on a variety of things.  I use exit slips to find out their opinions on specific activities, I sit near groups and write down conversations to check for engagement and vocabulary use, oral discussions, and simple check for knowledge assessments where I implement my minus, check, and plus strategies.	What are different ways to analyze the specific sets of data and how to compare them to each other?  Will they produce valid results? What are other effective methods of assessment? Should I be conducting more formal then informal? Methods to take biased information out of my assessment that would tarnish my data.

Literature Read:

Akkari, A. & Loomis, C. (1998). Toward a new understanding of language minority students’ expereicnes with bilingual education in the United States.  Bulletin Suisse de linguistiquée appliquée. 1998, 67, 31-59.

Anderson, Teena. (2009). Using cooperative learning in a sixth grade math classroom. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/mathmidactionresearch/12

Angelides, P., Evangelou, M., & Leigh, J. (2005). Implementing a collaborative model of action research for teacher development. Educational Action Research, 2005, 13, 2.

36(2), 103-112.

Brown, B. (1992).  The History of Bilingual Education in America. Department of Education, Educational Resources Information Center.

Bush, D. (2005).  The impact of white boarding on learning by secondary school biology students.  Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED489953&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED489953

Cole, J.E. & Wasburn-Moses, L.H. (2010). A special educator’s guide to understanding and assisting with inquiry-based teaching in mathematics. Teaching Exceptional Children Mar. 2010.

Emmer, E.T. & Stough, L.M. (2001). Classroom management: a critical part of educational psychology, with implications for teacher education. Edcuational Psychologist, 2001,

Gillies, R.M. (2006). Teachers’ and students’ verbal behaviours during cooperative and small-group learning.  British Journal of Educational Psychology, 2006, 76, 271-287.

Machemer, P.L. & Crawford, P. (2007). Student perceptions of active learning in a large cross-disciplinary classroom.  Active Learning in a Higher Education, Mar 2007, 8, 9-30.

McWhorter, P. (1996). Student-Centered curriculum: lessons from our students. Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

Panitz, T. (2000). Using cooperative learning 100% of the time in mathematics classes establishes a student-centered interactive learning environment.  Department of Education, Educational Resources Information Center.

Quarstein, V.A. & Peterson, P.A. (2001). Assessment of cooperative learning: a goal-criterion approach. Innovative Higher Educator, 2001, 26.

Wilson, M.R. & Lloyd, G. (1995). High school teachers’ experiences in a student-centered mathematics curriculum. Department of Education, Educational Resources Information Center.

Analysis of Literature:

Significant Literature	Relates to Learning	Remaining Questions
Teachers’ and studetns’ verbal behaviours during cooperative and small-group learning Robyn M. Gillies 2006	This article was a study on two questions: (a) Do teachers who implement cooperative learning in their classrooms engage in more facilitative, learning interactions than teachers who only implement group work? (b) Do children in the cooperative learning groups engage in more positive helping behaviours than their peers in the group work-only groups?  This study suggests that the way a teacher interacts with their students will effects their attitude and students opportunity to learn.  This relates to my topic because it discusses how a teacher’s attitude can affect their students and different methods to control it.	What causes me to have a negative attitude in class? Am I consistent with my classroom management? What are strategies to staying consistent?
Using cooperative learning in a sixth grade math classroom Teena Anderson 2009	This article discusses effective methods of implementing cooperative learning.  Also, studied the effects on students’ behaviors.  The study suggests that the more students are engaged, have a purpose, and on-task the more productive and better attitude they have.  Cooperative learning is a method I want to master in my teaching and I believe if I am able to conduct a productive and efficient cooperative classroom that it will reduce my classroom management issues.	What are the different types of students I have in class (low motivation, low engagement, interactive, etc)? What types of collaborative groups would be most effective?
Classroom management:  A critical part of educational psychology, with implications for teacher education. Edmund T. Emmer & Laura M. Stough 2001	Behavioral outcomes can be connected to achievement outcomes along with management styles can be connected to teachers’ instructional goals.  This article discusses that a teachers management style should be congruent to their instructional goals, the activities used, and the characteristics of the students.  In turn, students will become more engaged in the lesson and their behaviours will become more positive reducing the amount of classroom management.  Hence, a teachers classroom management strategy will focus more on preventative strategies rather then reactive strategies	Does my management style match my instructional goals, activities, and students characteristics? How do I get my management from reactive to preventative? What activities appeal to the “whole” student?

DA Analysis:

DA Post	Relates to Learning
February 4, 2011	This is the week where realized collaborative learning was the answer to my underlying issue of classroom management, but I realized that this was not the solution.  Although, collaborative learning is a method that I am using to help assert my classroom management, it is not the entire solution; only a part of it.
February 20, 2011	This is an important week for me because this was when I started realizing that my own emotions were playing a role in my teaching and it was these emotions that the students were feeding off.  I was starting to gain the respect of my students and it was allowing me to become more effective as a teacher and reducing the amount of classroom management I had to focus on.
March 6, 2011	This is probably the most significant posting to my teacher research because it was the first time in my teaching when I realized that the students engagement had a huge role on my classroom management and attitude.  This class was so enjoyable, every student had fun, and we all learned something.  This was the lesson that sparked everything for my research and guided me into the direction I am heading right now.

Codes:

EN = Engagement

AP = Approach

EV = Evaluate

Themes:

Engagement is the cornerstone to my attitude

Different types of approach influences different levels of engagement

Continuous evaluation is being conducting on a daily basis; me evaluating my students and my students evaluating me.

What do these themes tell you about your teaching and your students?  What insights are you gaining from the themes?

When I began my teacher research, I thought my topic was going to revolve around collaborative learning and different techniques to use in my math classes.  However, throughout this semester I have come to realize that although collaborative learning is one of my core teaching beliefs, it is one method to gain student engagement in class.  My ESOL students are very motivated, proud, and encouraged to do well in class, where as, the other two math classes, on average are not very motivated, low-achievers, and high-energy students.  Even though my classroom management was different in my ESOL class than it was in my other math classes, the one aspect both had in common was our attitudes changed depending on the level of engagement we all had during each lesson.  My attitude in my ESOL class, on average, is a lot more relaxed and cheerful because my students are usually engaged in the lesson and motivated to learn math.  Whereas, my typical attitude in math is more on a defensive tone and stressed because the majority of my students are lacking engagement in the lesson.

Throughout this semester, I have been searching for my approach to various strategies and aspects of my teaching.  I am trying to develop my approach to my classroom management and how I stay positive with my students.  I am continually working on my delivery of new lessons and how I can correlate what I am trying to teach and how to deliver it in a collaborative setting.  On a daily basis, I am working on my approach to specific students and how can I be a better teacher, differentiate my instruction; effectively scaffold my material, and how to deal with the different personalities.  As a first year teacher, I am coming to realize that my approach to everything I am doing is beginning to define me as a teacher; therefore I need to be cognizant of my actions.

I believe as a teacher that to develop my skills and effectively teach my students, I have to continually assess my students and myself.  Looking through all my data, it was a little over whelming how much I have put myself under a microscope and all the informal assessment I give my students.  What was unexpected to realize was as much assessment as I am giving to my students, they in turn are giving to me.  Whether that is assessing their ability in math, my ability to teach, their level of respect for me, or seeing what they can get away with, the students are continually assessing me as a teacher and I need to be aware of that.  For instance, on days in class where the tension has been high and I am not in a good mood, the students can sense that and in turn their attitudes change and their level of engagement suffers.

Data Table

This is an assessment that I use often with my ESOL students to quickly assess how well they are understanding different math concepts and vocabulary.  When I walk around the room, I will sit near groups and listen to them talk about the assignment and see how they are using the vocabulary or the lack there of.  If I do not hear what I want, then I will probe a few questions to see how they answer them.  Especially for my ESOL students, their ability and understanding of the vocabulary is a great indicator of their understanding of the information and it allows me to determine the next course of action.  This is a quick and easy method that allows me to evaluate the whole class in a quick amount of time.

These last few weeks have been pretty hectic in my classes because the weather has been awful, so this last week when the weather was nice all the students wanted to do was go outside.  Although I have taken them outside for there class, the current assignments we are working on are not conducive to going outside.   Also, we are finishing up the chapter so their focus is dwindling quickly.  One of the articles I read, Teachers' and students' verbal behaviours during cooperative and small-group learning by Robyn M. Gillies (2006), suggests, "When teachers implement cooperative learning in order to change the way they teach in their classrooms, it affects the way they interact with their students they engage in more prosocial and less negative teaching behaviours (pg. 283).  After reading this, I have been really paying attention to my attitude when I am teaching and I have been taking a log after each day.  When I have a negative day I make sure to record why I was in the mood, what caused it, and what do I think I could do to prevent that from happening in the future.  In the same regard, I do exactly the same thing when I have positive days.  So far, I have noticed that the days I have a negative attitude it usually revolves around a couple of specific individuals or behaviors that I find inappropriate.  This article has been very helpful towards my TR because it directly discusses the research I am conducting and is partially responsible for the direction I am going. 

The other influential article that I have found is, “Using Cooperative Learning in a Sixth Grade Math Classroom” by Teena Anderson (2009) discusses the impact of cooperative learning on the engagement, participation, and attitudes of her students.  In her studied she looked at several different groups of students, for instance, high/low achiever, gender, aggressive/passive learners, etc., and describes specific characteristics of these types of students.   For example, “Passivity is another concern that teachers will need to consider while using cooperative learning.  High-achievers in particular may want to work alone or control the groups they are place in  (pg.11).  This article has made me start to think about how I have been grouping my students in their seating charts.  Prior to this article, I have been sitting students where I thought they would be most successful and splitting up the students that cannot handle sitting next to their friends.  However, I never thought to place students in groups based on different characteristics, such as, passive with aggressive, gender, ect.  Next week, I will be starting a new chapter and I am going to remake my sitting chart and I am going to think of a few different characteristics that my students have and I am going to pair them accordingly and see what effects that has on their behavior, engagement, and enjoyment of class.

From all my research and articles that I have read, a crucial aspect to classroom management that I am discovering what student engagement derives.  Although, I knew that prior to starting this research, what I have been learning is all the different aspects that go into a students engagement.  Before, I was just thinking engagement was solely dependent on the activity and although that has a strong role, I know realize that behavior, personality, attitude, instructional goals, activity, and management style play an influential part.