Pre-K Hallway-Ms. Kelly Bryant
As
I wonder about what I could focus my action research project, I am leaning
towards something to do with the development of the pre-k program at my school.
The program is a newly constructed program as of this year and is really still
going through transition, so possibly I could work with something to do with
curriculum, assessment, or subject programs. We have been trying a LOT of new
things and I'm wondering if some of them are effective or redundant- are we
doing too much? For example, for assessment right now we have a developmental
checklist, a portfolio, a report card, and we do comments. I feel like some of
it really is just extra work with no real purpose. I could also focus on this
behavioral program we've been implementing called Concious Discipline.
It seems very effective, but it is also in the beginning stages and I'm really
wondering if it's as great as they say. I also wonder how is works for children
with special needs. All great possibilities.
"The
Bigger Picture" As I reflect on the many issues facing today's
society I can't help but to ponder on how those issues affect education and
children. Issues such as poverty, health, lack of a stable family support system, nutrition, and
violence all play a role in how we educate children and how they
learn. I challenged myself to focus more closely at my own school and how
the many outside variables affect the students in my grade one class. One major
goal for all first grade students is that they leave first grade knowing how to
read fluently and comprehend what they have read. The many dynamics that affect
a child's educational experience hinder most students from being strong
readers. One major difference between my students that leave reading and
those who don't is their knowledge of the 220 sight words. I am
considering doing an action research project on the affects of sight
word knowledge on reading fluency for first grade students. Students
having the ability and access to learn all of the sight words is dependent
on the support, well being and safety of each individual student. When students
are given the resources and support that they need can this change the number
of high school graduates that leave grade school not knowing how to read
fluently?
Choosing an
action research topic is no easy task. The biggest challenge I faced (and I
imagine the other teachers felt this way too) is that there are so many areas
that I want to improve. This is where the idea of kaizen, the Japanese term for
continuous improvement, really resonates with me. I realized that while it’s a
curse to be indecisive about my topic, in terms of kaizen, it’s really not a
bad thing to have many areas that you wish to improve. I think that’s what
makes a teacher effective! Those who are stagnant in their pedagogy are the
ones in danger of losing their effectiveness.
At the start of the process there were so many
things that interested me. Originally I wanted to focus on team building and
collaboration because of my experience working in teambuilding for outdoor
excursions and ropes courses was extremely fun and positive. However, after
following the process of narrowing down our topic, it became clear to me that I
most importantly and immediately need to improve my student’s understanding in
math. This school year I have a class of mixed ability, but a large number of
them would be considered low-average. My math class is sweet, but very active
and times extremely inattentive. Many students’ lack foundational skills like
number sense, place value, addition, and subtraction. As the curriculum moves
forward skills are only becoming for difficult. Students have trouble
multiplying if they still add incorrectly, or don’t know how to skip count.
Teaching this class has been very difficult, and there have been days that I’ve
felt absolutely useless, and ineffective.
Over the past two years we have been transitioning
to a more learner centered approach to reading instruction that has been quite
successful. The English language arts block allows only a short amount of time
for whole group instruction and then goes immediately into small group meetings
with the teacher. While small groups are being pulled the students are choosing
meaningful independent work centers on various related topics like word work
and writing. With the success of this I thought this model might be useful in
math class too. This led me to my revised action research topic and question:
How can implementing small groups and centers in math improve understanding and
fluency in math? And now comes the fun part! Here we go…
As I began to think about the direction of my action research I
reflected on the pedagogical practices that are currently in place in my
classroom. The latest teaching strategy that I have begun to implement
is the use of interactive notebooks in my ELA and Science classes. I
truly enjoy using this methodology in my classroom. If you were to look
at a student's interactive notebook you would be taken by the
individuality of this resource. Each notebook is a colorful expression
of student learning. The purpose of the interactive notebook is to
enable students to be creative, independent thinkers and writers.
Interactive notebooks serve as an organizational tool for the multiple
intelligence activities in which students are able to express their own
ideas and process the information presented in class.
With my interest and the interest of other teachers within our school I have decided that the purpose of my action research will be to determine the effectiveness of interactive notebooks in the elementary classroom setting. Within the confines of my action research I will explore the following research questions:
1. Will the implementation of an interactive notebook in math class increase the motivation of fourth grade students?
2. Will the implementation of an interactive notebook in math class increase the academic achievement of fourth grade students?
Check out this link about interactive notebooks...With my interest and the interest of other teachers within our school I have decided that the purpose of my action research will be to determine the effectiveness of interactive notebooks in the elementary classroom setting. Within the confines of my action research I will explore the following research questions:
1. Will the implementation of an interactive notebook in math class increase the motivation of fourth grade students?
2. Will the implementation of an interactive notebook in math class increase the academic achievement of fourth grade students?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmzQNUos0Vk
5th Grade Hallway-Mrs. Rebecca Young
I am looking forward to beginning an action research project that will benefit myself as an educator and the quality of education my fifth grade students receive. An area that has interests me throughout my career is nutrition in education. I have long been fascinated by the legislation that brought about the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and the Free and Reduced Meal program (FARM). I enjoy looking at all the accomplishments that have come out of this program, originally begun by President Harry Truman, as well as its recent scrutiny by critics like First Lady, Michelle Obama. So how do all the acronyms apply to my possible action research project? Well, it is well documented that child obesity has been on the rise for a number of years. In an attempt to curb these issues the lunch and breakfast programs have attempted to address these issues by incorporating more whole grains into meals, including dairy at every meal, as well as a serving of fruit. However, in the now infamous debate over considering ketchup a vegetable, the program is still lacking in strict guidelines. As a firm believer in the Jesuit ideal of Cura personalis, I believe my students cannot be successful in school if their basic needs are not met. One of those most basic needs is fueling up with the right foods. I believe my students are not fully educated on how to make the appropriate decisions in the lunchroom when it comes to picking a lunch that will allow them to meet the demands of the fifth grade curriculum. Also, I know the potential is there to influence a possible change in eating at home. Children are always practicing their skills of persuasion on their families. If students learned how to make health conscious choices at school they would be able to take this information home. At this early stage I am juggling two potential research questions.
1. How does integrating nutrition education in the classroom once a day for 15 minutes affect students’ attitudes towards food?
2. Does integrating nutrition education in the classroom change what student’s pack for lunch or the selections they make in the cafeteria?
3. How does integrating nutrition education in the classroom, which may lead to different choices in the lunch line affect student attention and participation during small group math.
The beginning of something new is always one of the hardest times. I need to continue to look at adapting the questions to make sure they lend themselves to something that could have quantitative or qualitative results.
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