NIlson DaSilva#4

Nilson Da Silva

FNED 547

Memo#4: Research questions

09/27/2015

Overarching question

What effective factors allow empowered bilingual undergraduate students at Rhode Island College to self-actualize?

Sub-questions:

1. What affective mechanisms are used by empowered bilingual undergraduate students at RIC to achieve personal and academic goals?

Data source #1 Journal

Data source #2 Survey

Data source #3 Student interviews

2. How have empowered, bilingual undergraduate students proactively engaged with their supportive community in the college environment?

Data source #1 Student interviews

Data source #2 Student`s log

Data source #3 Survey

3. How empowered bilingual undergraduate students feel if they are addressed as an ELL in the college environment   ?

Data source #1 Survey

Data source # 2 Rating scale /Rubric on student`s empowerment

Data source #3 Student interviews

Nilson DaSilva # 3

Nilson DaSilva

FNED 547

Memo# 3: Wondering on Counter Narratives

09/26/2015

 

             It is really exciting to observe how undergraduate students whose first language is not English act in their social relationships with professors, students and staff in the college environment. I wonder what actions they take to create feelings of empowerment despite all the general classifications and descriptions of these students as failures. I have worked with undergraduate bilingual students at Rhode Island College whose attitudes can be classified in two categories: those who retain the stereotype of failure and those who have a growth mindset.

 Among my group of twenty, there are two bilingual undergraduate students who present similar proactive patterns of human agency. I have begun paying close attention to their process of developing and achieving self-efficacy and self-empowerment in the college environment. These two students have in common an optimistic outlook towards personal achievement, perseverance, self-esteem and high levels of integrative motivation. A freshman female Peruvian student and a junior male Dominican RIC undergraduate student have created various mechanisms of human agency as a result of their attitudes such as self-efficacy, goal representation and self-advocacy.

            These empowered students have shown positive attitudes that allow them to cope with social challenges, including their own unique language development processes, in order to achieve their academic and personal goals. I have been working with these two students as a Navigator helping them identify, plan for, and execute plans to achieve their personal and academic goals. These students often surprise me when they build solutions for their problems based upon their available resources. They demonstrate a high level of creativity to meet their academic, emotional and personal needs.  

 In Rhode Island College`s Learning for Life program, I have observed bilingual undergraduate students who find success in their academic, social, and emotional performance regardless of their level of language proficiency.  I notice these students achieve a higher level of language development in less than the five to seven years which Cummins (1981) allows for in his theory of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). Based on my observations, I believe that there are definitive patterns of human agency, goal representation, motivation, and teacher validation, patterns that rely upon self-empowerment, which leads to enhanced language improvement.

From this critical perspective, I wonder what would happen to bilingual students if they’re forced to carry, despite their personal attainment, a self-identification with that of a “struggling” or “failing“ student.  I wonder how such labels of deficiency affect their ability to become self-empowered or actualize their latent human agency.  How do these students feel when the central tendency emphasizes failures and inadequacies as a result of their being seen at a low cognitive level, and how do such feelings impact their ability to develop and effectively utilize their own human agency?

Dan Lima Memo 4 - Research Questions

My research questions have to do with the way in which my students learn. I am noticing through my journals that my lessons are following a rather boring routine. I am spending a lot of time at the front of the room doing direct instruction. I seem to be getting fairly positive results in class, but I am not convinced my students have really grasped the material. I want to try and incorporate more group work and student-led learning, ultimately resulting in less of "me time" in front of the room. I have always been wary of student led instruction because it's harder for me to gauge my students' achievement. I hope that student led instruction will lead to deeper understanding of the material and more positive student engagement.
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Class:  9^th Grade - Algebra I

School: Public high school (Grades 9-12), under-resourced district

Overarching question:

How are student mastery and student engagement affected when students are given more autonomy over their learning?

Sub-questions:

1.      If students are allowed to collaborate in the classroom, what will happen to their academic achievement?

-Journal

-Exit tickets

-Pre-post test comparison

2.      How do different instructional techniques affect student engagement and mastery?

-Journal

-Participation charts

-Interviews

3.      How does a more student-lead classroom affect who I am as a teacher and how my students perceive me?

-Journal

-Survey

-Interviews

Heidi Bennett Memo #4

Memo #4
Research question: In what ways does a student-centered approach affect academic achievement and participation?

Sub-questions:
1. What will I discover about myself in this evaluation?
Data: journals, interviews, observation

2. What is the nature of student participation in a Spanish II classroom?
Data: journals, participation charts, focus groups

3. How does the role of teacher affect student participation levels?
Data: journals, studied reflection, shadowing

Dan Harris Memo #4 Research Questions

My overarching question is brings together praise - which fascinates me and I have been very purposeful with in my class - and participation - which is something that has come out of teacher research journal.  I define process praise as praising someone for how hard they are working, not for how smart they are or any other "ability."

Overarching Question: How does the praise I give my students impact their motivation to participate and therefore achieve in my class?

Sub questions:

1. Does giving verbal, process praise make students more likely to participate during class/contribute during group work and therefore increase their learning? 
1. journal
2. checklist
3. peer observation
2. How does peer-to-peer praise impact the social dynamic of the class in terms of who is "permitted" to contribute?
1. Peer-teacher/coach observation
2. student survey after community circles
3. student teacher interviews
4. journal
3. How does a student's social position/how much they contribute in class change how they respond to process praise? 
1. journal
2. student-teacher interviews
3. student survey

Aly Catalan Memo #4 Research Question

After looking back through my journal, I am really torn about what I really want to know, and I feel like the question I have below is one that I may not be able to answer. I am also unsure if my subquestions are supporting my overarching question. I feel like I have many questions but I am not structuring them correctly. Let me know what you think!

Overarching Question: 

How do the social power dynamics of students within the classroom affect student achievement?

Subquestion 1:

Who has the power in the classroom?

• journal
• checklist
• peer observation

Subquestion 2:

How do non-native Spanish speakers interact with their Spanish-speaking peers?

• journal
• survey
• student and teacher interviews

Subquestion 3:

What role do the students in power have on students who are less proficient in English?

• journal
• checklist
• survey

Other potential questions that were in my journal:

-How to benefit students who have taught themselves how to not-learn (Kohl)

-How do ELL students perceive the process of learning English?

-What is the best way for students to acquire a new language?

Cooper Marsh Memo #4 Questions

Question: Do Students consider school to be safer than home, and what effects does it have on their learning? 

Sub Question #1: Do outside school distractions effect their performance in school?

-Journal

-Survey

-Interviews

Sub Question #2: So students that feel safer, earn higher grades?

-Journal

-Grading

-Interviews with other teachers

Sub Question #3: Do students that list feeling unsafe, act out more often?

-Observation

-Reflection

-Journal

Also trying to figure out how to tie in street smarts and cultural background into this. Also really need help refining my questions! Trying to process all of these curiosities I have is tough! 

Gemma Travis Memo #4

Overarching Question:
How does using the 5E Instructional Model affect student engagement and learning in science class?

Sub-questions:
1. How does using the 5E Model affect the level of student engagement?

Data: journal, survey, interview

2. How does using the 5E Model affect student learning and success in science class?

Data: journal, interview, pre/post-tests

3. What are the major differences and similarities between the 5E model and traditional ways of teaching science?

Data: journal, teacher interviews, reflection

Jackie N. Research questions

Overarching question:

How does inquiry based learning affect student performance?

Subquestions:

1. What are some ways collaborative learning can be effective?

Data:
a. student interview
b. survey
c. journal

2. How do independent learners become invested in collaborative learning to complete an inquiry task?

Data:
a. student reflection
b. journal
c. student interview

3. If students take ownership of collaborative learning, will work that is more meaningful to the students take place?

Data:
a. journal
b. formative assessments
c. pre/post tests/activities

Beth Melillo: Memo #4

Overarching Research Question:

How can resistant learners be more engaged?

Subsequent Question #1:

What teaching strategies improve student participation?


Data 1:  journal
Data 2:  behavior chart
Data 3:  observations

Subsequent Question #2:

How can resistant learners be encouraged to try?

Data 1:  journal

Data 2:  behavior chart

Data 3:  survey

Subsequent Question #3:

How can student accountability be increased in the classroom?

Data 1:  journal 

Data 2:  observations

Data 3:  behavior chart

Research Question

Overarching Question:
   How is utilizing speaking more Spanish by my ELL native Spanish Speaker Teacher beneficial to concept learning in mathematics?


Subquestion #1:
   Which is a better way to use my ELL teacher when teaching the whole class for new concepts.

• Data #1 Journal 
• Data #2 Survey
• Data #3 Pre-Post Tests

Subquestion #2:
   Would utilizing my more capable bilingual learners to reteach a lesson in Spanish have any social implications with the remainder of the class?

• Data #1 Journal
• Data #2 Student Interviews
• Data #3 Peer Teacher Observation 

Subquestion #3:
   What would be the most beneficial way for the students to take notes about new concepts in class? Only write then down in English?; Only write them down in Spanish?; Write them down in both languages?

• Data #1 Journal
• Data #2 Survey
• Pre-Post Tests         

Any help in any of the areas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Research Questions

Please post your research questions here.  Take the format of an overarching question with three subquestions underneath.

Remember that you can't already know the answers to these questions, and you need to be able to collect three forms of data for each question.

If you want specific feedback, please be sure to ask for it.  Be sure to give your peers feedback too :)

Dan Lima Memo #3

This start of the school year schedule has been an interesting one to deal with. We have yet to have a full week of school, and today was our first Monday as a school. While I do not mind the days off, the inconsistencies in the school schedule has created some challenges in getting through the curriculum.

I gave my first quiz on Friday. We spent a few days covering the Order of Operations, and my students (and I) seemed really confident going into the quiz. After grading the quizzes over the weekend, I found many inconsistencies between how I thought my students would perform and the actual results that they provided.

Coming into today, I thought about how I would address this. Is it just a matter of all the days we have had off? Did my students just not study? Had I not prepared them enough? As all of these thoughts were running through my head, I decided that I would return the quizzes, address some common mistakes, offer test retakes after school, and then move on with the curriculum.

As I returned the quizzes, I found that many of my students were pleased with their grades. Students who received 65% were just as pleased as those students who received 90% on the quiz. I was particularly interested with these students who were happy with the lower scores. Through discussions, personal reflections, and even short videos, I am constantly trying to re-enforce the notions of hard-work, success, and achievement in my classes. In the past, I would look at these lower-scoring students and say, “Great work!” because they mastered (even if just barely) an objective that was difficult for them; perhaps math has been difficult for them throughout their education, so this is a great accomplishment. Then, I started thinking about our discussion in class about how telling our students, “Not everyone is going to college,” is heard in urban school districts, but not in wealthier suburban communities. So, if I applaud just passing scores or accept lower scores for some of my students, am I only encouraging a cycle of mediocrity? Am I telling my students that I am disappointed when some students receive an 85% but happy when others receive a 60%? What effect will this have in the in long run?

I have also been thinking a lot about how to best instruct my ESL students. By law, my principal has repeatedly told me that I cannot speak in Spanish with my students. Last year, I was able to group my students with little to no English ability with bilingual students. However, I do not have this luxury this year. I have a sharp contrast of 7-8 students in a class that only Spanish, and then 5-6 who only speak English. As a result, I struggle with what is “best” for these students. On one hand, I know I am not legally allowed to help them, even in small groups, in Spanish. On the other, I feel it is unfair for them to just sit and stare at me as I try to explain important concepts such as the Distributive Property. Word walls and color coding can only go so far.

I have had a great time supervising detention after school. Most teachers do not like/want to supervise detention, so I have been the sole teacher in charge Monday-Thursday after school. In many ways, this has become my “second classroom”. I have learned so much about my students and students that are not my own. I hear their stories about family life, their thoughts on the school, and their thoughts on the society at large. Some of my greatest connections with students have come from my time in detention with them.

Observations:

-Many of my students struggle with study skills. After surveying a couple of students, I quickly realized that they have never thought of studying for a math test. They assume “you just know it or you don’t”. I want to focus on study skills in the coming weeks.

-I need to get my classroom up and moving more. I am finding that my students are learning in a very traditional way (teacher up front, etc) and this is getting boring. I will try to incorporate stations or demos in the coming days.

Questions:

 -As “popular kids” begin to emerge amongst my ninth graders, how can I best channel these students to benefit my class as a whole?

-Am I doing my ELL students a service or a disservice by assisting them in Spanish?

-How much of an effect does praise have on my students with low proficiency when they receive “just passing” grades?

Memo #3

 September 17, 2015

Thursday is department night for world language students at my school.  This is the time kids report to make-up quizzes, tests, or assignments.  I do not allow students to make up missed work during class time. I also encourage students to attend if they have questions, wish to review or just plain hang out!

Today I was not expecting anyone as the school year has just begun, the absence rate has been low and we have not yet had any assessments.  Due to lack of air conditioning and the torrid heat we have been experiencing, I keep the lights off in my class room.  Imagine my surprise when in walked my first customer of the school year! "Mario," a student in my Spanish II class, commented with surprise "Wow, I didn't think that anyone was in here. The lights are off!"  Yes, I was sitting in the dark by myself.

As students enter for department night, I direct them to the notebook I have strategically placed on a front desk. I ask them to sign their names and write a reason for attending in "mi cuaderno de vaca" (a.k.a. "cow notebook").  Records keeping is crucial- I find that if a parent/guidance counselor/administrator want to know if a student is attending, I have tangible proof.

This school year I have a large group of fresh faces.  I'd say that approximately 80% of my students are unknown to me.  Mario, is one of the newbies.  I have not had the time to yet form opinions of my new students, except now for Mario.  If he had not shown up for department night, I would not have had the opportunity to chat with him one on one.

In class, Mario sits in the last seat of the front row. The 11th grader is tall, has a little facial hair and a gentle manner.  I have never seen him interact with other students and have wondered why.  During class he is polite and reserved.  Is he perhaps too mature for the majority of his classmates?  After talking to him today, I found that he just moved to the city and has no friends yet.  He admitted that it is "tough" being new at his age.  Later on, I did a little investigating and found out that he lives with his aunt and uncle.  I do not know why he doesn't live with his parents.

Having a conversation with Mario was the bright spot of my day.  We did our review as he requested, although it was clear to me that he knew his subject matter.  Perhaps he came to department night because he was lonely? What I do know is that my second classroom is now open for business on Thursdays.

Alyson Catalan memo #3

After closely observing my class for the past three days, I really want to consider the role that confidence plays in the classroom and the direct impact that has on student work. I have noticed that students who are willing to jump into a task or an assignment without google translate or a dictionary, ultimately end up being more successful. Other students who tend to turn to their neighbor and ask questions in their native language oftentimes do not even begin an assignment until time is already over. My students are afraid of taking risks and they are perfectionists. I also want to look at this is terms of gender roles. In class, it seems that it is a group of my female students who are hesitant to make mistakes and take risks, however, after looking at student work, I have a small group of male students that are equally as hesitant to try something for fear of being wrong. I am very candid and open with my students, so I know that they have seen me make many mistakes throughout the course of the first three weeks of school; no one is perfect! To what extent would it be okay for me to teach this to them so that they would be more willing to try things in the classroom? I am also wondering if this is solely because of their language proficiency. I know that I would feel nervous as well if I had to write and speak in a language that wasn’t English. However, how can I push my students to take risks in order to learn?

I question the use of SIOP in my classroom as well in its effectiveness to combat this issue. I feel that pre-teaching necessary vocabulary and incorporating different entry points with comprehensible input is not enough to make students comfortable with the content to the point where they are willing to take risks.

Observations:

I have noticed that my students who are willing to take risks are those that have more proficiency in English. I am curious about asking these students in what ways they learned English the best so that I can try and create a safe space for my level 1’s to take risks in order to learn English.

On Friday, I gave my 10^th grade students a game of charades that they could play in small groups. Although my school has a rotating schedule throughout the week, which is great, I have the same class the last period of the day on Friday. This week, we are still working on memoir and narrative writing. Charades worked out well because I could incorporate it into a show-don’t-tell lesson. With this activity, I required everyone to participate and act. I thought that since charades is a silent activity, more students would be willing to take risks because they didn’t necessarily need to know English. However, I observed that the female students were more timid to act out the actions that were depicted for them on the cards. Does this have to do with gender dynamics in the classroom or the fact that teenagers and self-conscious in general?

Michael Cook Memo #3
September 17, 2015
   Yesterday my principal told me, power play, that I need to place my students in pairs to learn so that

 I needed to move my attached seats from single rows to partners. She informed me that Mayor

Elorza and the new Superintendant would be arriving in the school and that I needed to make sure my

Objectives and Agenda were posted and that I was using a Workshop form for teaching. The next

day, when the Mayor was coming in, my chair had been rearranged from rows when they had swept

the floor and arranged into groups of fours with some facing away from the SmartBoard and the front

of the room where I usually teach from. Talk about micromanagement, I stood there for a minute

when I came in and could not believe that someone would change a teacher's classroom without their

permission.
     I was scheduled to give the STAR test to three of my classes that day, so it was not that

big of a deal to put up with. However, I have to take attendance on Skyward on the internet and

already had rearranged my classes with assigned seating and have them look at the assigned seating

posted onto the SmartBoard when they come in to make sure that they are in the correct assigned

seats. Skyward does not have a design to post in groups of fours, so they did not sit in their assigned

seats, and it took longer to call out their names so that I could mark attendance when they first enter

the classroom. The computer laptops were on the third floor in a special cart and I found out at the

end of the first period that the elevator was not working and I could not have the laptops for the

testing this day. I had to scramble to get a lesson together for these three classes because what I had

planned was not going to happen today.

   The principal checked into my classroom and looked around in my opinion to see if I had changed

the desks back and to let me know that they might be coming around sometime later. She also said

that she was looking for my application for the position that I was teaching in and would inform me

later if there was anything else that she need. I told her that I was qualified for the position and had

worked in several long term positions in other middle schools. I felt that this was not an appropriate

time to talk about the seating arrangement, and how it was not a good fit for when my math students

can not see the board and do not pay attention when facing forward at times anyways.

   On the bright side, I hope to have a full time position soon and I made it through the day.

P.S. I will be rearranging the desks into half circles to have them work together, but to be able to see

the board.

Cooper Marsh Memo #3

Interview with a fifth grader at my school.

Background: 11 years old, boy, Colombian, fluent in Spanish, lives in Pawtucket.


Q: 1-10, how much do you like school?
A: I like school at about a 5, because sometimes it gets really hard, and I get distracted.

Q: How do you like BVP?
A: I like it. It is the only school I have been to, and it is kind of cool. I like the way that we get bracelets for our PRIDE score, but I also hate getting detentions. HATE IT.

Q: How safe do you feel in school?
A: I feel really safe in school. I know everyone, so I am not scared.

Q: How safe do you feel at home?
A: It is alright. Sometimes in my neighborhood, where I live and my dad works, which is across the street from my bus stop, he gets guns pointed at him. He has had a gun pulled on him more than five times. I have not been with him whenever it has happened though, I'm not crazy. It is my step-dad though, I don't really like him, but I care about him getting killed.

Q: Why do you feel safer at school and not home?
A: They have cameras on stairs here, everyone is like watching us. Which makes me feel like something cannot happen, because all the teachers care about us. I haven't ever seen cameras on stairs before except at like banks and what not.

Dan Harris Memo #3

9/17 Entry

Today, I gave a diagnostic exam meant to determine where my students are in terms of developing science skills.  My natural inclination is to help people who have questions, even though the entire point of a diagnostic is to identify a baseline level for my students.  I did a great job of resisting my urge except for with one student in my period 5 class.  I asked him questions that I do not think gave him any knowledge he didn't have, but what they did do was breakdown the problem so that he could approach it in a way that would allow him to access the problem.  He got the correct answer after answering 2 of my questions.  It made me really think about what was stopping him from attempting the question in the first place?  Is it lack of confidence?  Is it that he doesn't how to start a problem?  When I ask him to give 100% effort, what does that mean to him?  To me, it means that I want him to "try" every problem/question even if he doesn't think he knows the answer.  I think the miscommunication may be around what it means to "try" a problem.  I don't think he has practice in trying to work through questions that he doesn't know he knows the answer to.  This may be for a few reasons.  1) He may be afraid of getting it wrong.  2) He may have developed the habit of just not doing the work when he doesn't know the answer, and his teachers have allowed it.  Or 3) he may be used to teachers eventually just giving the answer to him if he stalls for long enough.  For whatever reason it is, my interaction with him today made me think about an assumption I had about what it means to give 100% effort, and what it means to "try" a problem that you may be unsure about. 

Teaching students how to "try" is something that needs to be taught.  

Also, I have been going outside after school everyday to help get kids on the buses and to be there in case there's a fight. It has become a big part of my "second classroom."  I see 7th graders that I had last year in addition to my current 8th graders.  It's informative for me to see who is friends with who and what the social dynamic is grade-wide.  

I wonder why the 7th grade is such a behaviorally "worse" grade than the 8th grade.  One of the big differences that I have seen by observing after school social interactions is that the "cool" kids in the 7th and 8th grades have a different makeup.   The cool kids in 8th grade have a mix of students that do and don't take kids seriously, but there is a sizeable contingent of kids that are respectful, and try hard in class.  In 7th grade, the cool kids are almost entirely students that struggle to behave and do their work in class.  I wonder how this happens and whether the administration and school environment in their respective 6th grade years has a formative effect on their social makeup.  

Observations

-Many of my students struggle at trying problems that they don't initially know if they know the answer to.  

-It seems that emphasizing and praising effort may help students try problems more than usual.  I would call this more of an assumption than an observation right now, but I've seen it happen a couple of times in my classroom so far. 

Questions

-How does the makeup of the group of popular kids impact the behavior of the whole grade? 

-How have past teacher's expectations about how to approach difficult problems affected students? 

-How much of an effect can praise have on increasing the likelihood that students try questions they don't know the answer to? 

Jackie Nelson- Memo #3

Friday September 18, 2015

                Like many schools, my school is very data driven. We are encouraged to have “data chats” with our students and go over things like test scores and how many credits are completed, etc. Since we did STAR yesterday, I had many students asking to see their scores. For the STAR test there are four colors that identify the level of intervention that is required for each student. Red is ‘urgent intervention’, yellow is ‘intervention’ blue is ‘on watch’ and green is ‘at or above grade level’. Now, since all of my students are ELLs, most of them score in the ‘urgent intervention’ category. Red means that the student is reading at least 2 grades below grade level. For my students, this means they have to be at least an 8^th grade reading level in order to be in the yellow category. This is nearly impossible for students who are learning a new language to achieve this in a few years.  I expect my students to be in red, but the students always feel horrible when they see the red bar under their name on the report.

                This year, I vow to keep the four terrible colors out of the conversation in my ‘data chats’ with my students. I only want to show the students that they are improving in some way. I think that for teachers, STAR is a useful tool in visually showing ELLs their progress. It is easy for the kids to see their improvement on the charts that STAR compiles in their reports. I think these charts are valuable areas to have data chats about. However, telling a student that he/she started in the red zone and is still in the red zone at the end of the year, is not productive and discouraging.  So this year, we are focusing on the positive. The progress, the improvement, the growth and the hard work. We don’t see color in my classroom. 

Beth Melillo: Memo #3

Observations:

• My Intensive Resource students struggle more in English Language Arts class when it is scheduled at the end of the day.  (Intensive Resource is a special education program.)
• Many of these students use avoidance behaviors rather than working.
• The avoidance behaviors are worse when students are being assessed.
• The instructional schedule for our team does not consider this population of students or their learning.

Questions:

• How can I engage my students more to avoid their off task behaviors?
• What types of learning activities will engage my students at the end of the day?
• Although some students need to leave early to organize at the end of the day, how do I keep the other students engaged?  
• Why would the school assign a schedule like this to my team knowing our student population?

Teacher Research Journal:

Journal Entry #1:  (September 16) ELA sixth period, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

It was a usual day today.  Catching up seems to be necessary at this time.  In the past few weeks, class time has been interrupted by an assembly for students regarding acceptable behavior, NWEA testing, a team meeting, and picture day.  Those valuable minutes seem to tick away with no time to recapture them.

Another obstacle is that my Intensive Resource students struggle to understand what I say or what they need to do.  Many of them have extremely slow processing speeds and can’t handle doing things a regular pace.  I’m not sure how I can combat this.  However, I think a schedule in which I instruct them last period doesn’t work.  I lose more time every day I have them in class last period.  If this continues, I may mention the schedule to the principal for next year.

Today my students spent the entire class period taking the GRADE which is a reading assessment.  They were working on the last part of the test, listening comprehension.  Since I could only read the sentence twice, many students struggle to understand the sentence I’d read and to keep up.  This assessment is to help me better understand my students as readers.  It is not on grade level either.

Many of those children are not focused, and it’s the last class period.  Students would rather go to the bathroom, take a break, or get a drink than work.  I know it is avoidance behavior, yet they shut down if I say no too.  I’m not sure what works best with them at this point.  We can’t continue to have these disruptions on regular basis.

Additionally, there are students with IEPs that leave five minutes early.  They start packing up ten minutes early.  Now the other kids don’t want to work.  They don’t understand why they still have to work.

Struggles:  testing, avoidance behaviors, time of class

Bright Spots:  changes for next year, on task behavior at the beginning of class

 

Journal Entry #2:  (September 17) ELA sixth period, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

It was another good day.  However, having my Intensive Resource students last period is terribly difficulty.  They are really struggling to pay attention.  Of course, I had a reading test to finish and a writing assessment to give.  We can’t just stop instructing.  I’m really beginning to believe that students with special needs of this magnitude should have core subjects in the morning hours.

After the passage comprehension section of the GRADE which only had three short passages and some questions, my students didn’t want to do anything else.  Some of them were unable to finish the passage comprehension.  Also, these students didn’t have any interest in working on a writing assessment.  A considerable number of students wanted to go to the bathroom, to get a drink, or to lie across their desks like they were sleeping.  Due to IEP’s, some students were taken out of the class to work in a small group.  There are some students who worked, but the others didn’t want to focus and were at times disruptive.  

Most of the on task behavior in this class occurred at the beginning of the class when we finished a close reading of an article and worked on restating the question and responding to the questions for the article.  After 2p.m., many of my students were watching the clock and had checked out for the day.  Unfortunately, this is going to be a problem all year.

Struggles:  avoidance behavior, assessment, time of class

Bright Spots:  engagement in questions for article, participation

Journal Entry #3: (September 18) ELA second period, 9:05-10:05 a.m.

Today the Intensive Resource students were incredibly productive.  They were willing to work and on task.  I was able to give the MAZE, close reading test, and have them finish their writing assessments. Some of the students were even able to logon to RazKids and start the Reading A-Z test.  It was incredible.

Although some of the students were still off task, the majority were working.  I really think the time of day is impacting these students.  They appear to be better able to stay on task earlier in the day as opposed to later in the day.  I wonder if this is happening in all their content area subjects.

I redirected students far less today, and they were engaged.  It would be great if I could change the schedule, but the entire school is following it due to electives, physical education, and health.

I also realize there is a lot of testing at this time of the year.  The MAZE is mandated by the district and has a short window of time.  In the future, I may try to stagger the other testing more.

Struggles:  minor behavioral issues

Bright Spots:  engaged, willing to work

    

Memo #3_from Janet

Welcome to our course blog!  Each of you is an author and can start a new blog.  Just title it with your name and Memo #3, so we know who is writing.  The topic for this week is to share some of your observations and questions from your teacher research journal. This can be about your writing process, some patterns you may have noticed already, etc. You can post one of your daily entries or parts from multiple entries.  Please read your classmates' blogs and comment as well.  I promise you will get some great ideas from one another.