Last week in class, we talked about the differences between fieldnotes and memos. Fieldnotes consists of "raw" data, and are mostly descriptive. Research memos, in contrast, are analytical and interpretive; i.e, they are an attempt to make sense of what you are seeing across your raw data. Notice that I said "an attempt" here. Leave yourself open to intuition and gut feelings here in these early stages of memo writing.
For this week's memo, look over your last week(s) of data collection. What are some recurring themes and patterns as you review your fieldnotes and other data? What new questions/surprises have arisen? Write up a research memo that addresses these issues.
This past week I took the time to review much of the data I have collected up until this point in my pilot study. The data examined in this post include all of my teacher research journals, initial student surveys collected from students (n=130), and one class of student-generated videography and photography (n=12). I was able to identify approximately 16 themes as a result of preliminary, open coding. Some of the more prominent themes that have emerged are: (a) Gender-segregated social groupings (b) Support for mixed gendered classes (c) Girls deferring to boys (d) Teacher effect on participation and (e) Impact of colleagues. Beginning with most visible theme, gender-segregated social groupings happen pretty much every class period. When the students have down-time, without instruction, they tend to mill-about in what is nearly 100% gender-exclusive groupings. Occasionally a boy will hang out with the girl groups or vice versa however, these instances are rare. Simply put, the boys hang out/socialize with other boys and the girls hang out/socialize with other girls. In and of itself this was not surprising however the next theme, support for mixed gendered classes, was surprising. On my initial survey I asked students if they would prefer gender-segregated or gender exclusive classes. As a result of my gender segregated social groupings theme I expected students to want similar class structure. To my surprise boys and girls of all skill levels indicated that they would prefer mixed gendered PE classes almost unanimously. Reasons provided included less drama (as indicated by several girls) and more variety (as indicated by both boys and girls). One of the more interesting responses from a lower level girl stated, “…we (girls) need boys in gym because we need them to help us when we can’t do things.” This statement intrigued me as this girl appears to be placing herself in a position of male dependence as related to skill acquisition within gym class. The next most visible theme that I have observed during activity in PE class is girls deferring to boys. As I’ve witnessed prior to data collection the girls, for the most part, do not challenge the boys in competitive team-sports game play. In recognizing this, I have also come to witness some outliers. Various students occasionally “break out of their participation style” by participating in ways that directly contradict their traditional PE modus operandi. These anomalies don’t happen every class, but I am curious as to what ignites a fire within an omega (low level) girl to stand in front of an alpha (high level) boy while he barrel-asses to the basket in an attempt to score. Today for instance this occurred and the girl got banged on the head. I offered her the option of sitting down and catching her breath but instead, with tears in her eyes, she refused and began jogging back up the court to continue playing. Very cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteJeff it is so exciting to hear about your research! That is awesome that you have collected surveys and also some photos and videography! I'm so surprised that the survey indicated they liked mixed gender p.e. class. In high school the teachers would sometimes put up the middle of the gym barrier and keep boys on one side and girls on the other. I always felt more comfortable to participate when we were separated. I wonder if you ask the girl about her decision to keep playing what her response would be. Can you interview her and say "hey the other day when you got hurt and you kept playing - why was that?" I wonder if the response would be about her or about what she thought others would like. Similarly, I'm trying to figure out if these reading identities are more about the student or more about how others perceive them.
DeleteLove that individual story! The outliers don't disprove the themes, they enrich them. So, most of this you already know--but I love the surprises! Be sure to focus on what is new--what you are learning and documenting that may have been inchoate before.
DeleteFor this week’s memo I am choosing to focus on two of my four case studies. Unfortunately, my fifth grade student has been absent a lot and my sixth grade students has been absent, in the office, or suspended. In addition, I gave the questionnaire this week to all classes. However, my fifth and sixth grade student completed but my seventh and eighth grade students were on a field trip! Data collection is not as easy at seems! One thing I would like to note is that having all the students fill out the questionnaire broadens my understanding of reading identities, compared to when I only examine the two questionnaires pertinent to my case students.
ReplyDeleteAs I review my fieldnotes I notice several themes and patterns for both Cameron and Max. I always felt like the answer to developing a reader is a lot more complicated than just providing choices. My field notes seem to confirm that supporting a reader is a lot more than just choices. In class, students choose their books and they choose their partners. Guthrie and Wigfield’s research tells us read how if students can choose what to read and how to read it then they will be engaged, but I’m finding that this is not always necessarily true. I believe in choices and options for reading, but it doesn’t automatically mean that I have a classroom of engaged readers. One reason is probably that I am lacking reading materials for them to choose from. I have hundreds of chapter books and some magazines and brochures. Also, they can choose to read on the internet, but only a few students do that and none of my particular students for the case study typically choose to read online. Cameron and Max both usually choose to work with a partner and this is definitely more engaging for them. However, there is also a complexity of identity with this. One day Max is mad with me that he couldn’t partner read – I didn’t allow choices that day and the following class when I did allow partner choice he chose not to partner read! So I can’t say Max’s reading identity is to always partner read, but maybe I can say that Max’s part of Max’s reading identity is to usually read with a partner?
A recurring theme and pattern is my doubting instructional methods are working. We have a lot of class discussion about texts but Max is hardly engaged. Reading research tells us that as reading teachers we are supposed to discuss text. Exit tickets and quick writes are great but it is not the same as hearing someone discuss and them responding to them in a two way dialogue. How am I supposed to know what he is getting out of the discussion? I can’t force him to participate. So I’ve been thinking a lot about our program and how often we discuss text! Are we doing a disservice if we don’t discuss the text? Would someone be in a higher education program who can’t or won’t discuss text. I don’t know. I feel like I’m not preparing him for high school and possibly beyond by letting him not discuss the text, but I also have to respect his choice.
There is a lot missing because I have not discussed a reading identity explicitly yet or talked about a plan to change it if a student desires to. We have not gotten there is class and I need a better plan to talk about reading identities in the classroom over the next few weeks. I still am figuring out what a reading identity is. I appreciate this challenging opportunity to be work on action research and figure out what a reading identity is.
Love this, Kristin! You are knee-deep in the contradictions. This is huge. Be okay with these spaces. Remember this is one class in the kid's K-12 career. If discussing text is a turnoff, then let it be. Plus, participation doesn't always involve discussion. Some are not comfortable talking in class.
DeleteI would also say that the answer to why choice isn't the end-all, be-all shouldn't be more choices. What other factors could possibly be at play? To me, when researchers don't look at other cultural factors, such as gender, race, and class, they are assuming a white, middle class framework, which is problematic.
Love this, Kristin! You are knee-deep in the contradictions. This is huge. Be okay with these spaces. Remember this is one class in the kid's K-12 career. If discussing text is a turnoff, then let it be. Plus, participation doesn't always involve discussion. Some are not comfortable talking in class.
DeleteI would also say that the answer to why choice isn't the end-all, be-all shouldn't be more choices. What other factors could possibly be at play? To me, when researchers don't look at other cultural factors, such as gender, race, and class, they are assuming a white, middle class framework, which is problematic.
At the beginning of the year my classroom was an extremely chatty classroom that were always out of their seats and never followed classroom rules. It took a long time for them to adjust to 4th grade. Now, I feel like we are back to the beginning of the year. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteAs I look back at the past few weeks of my field notes, I have noticed some changes in the behaviors of some of my students. The females in my classroom are continuing to try and take control but the male students are now demonstrating behaviors from the past. One of them hasn’t been the same since he returned from a cruise and February vacation. Another one, a beginner, is acting like he just came to my classroom yesterday and knows no English. He has come such a long way and has learned so much.
I find this to be quite interesting. A third one is back to not making the right choices when it comes to being responsible and completing his assignments. Are they feeding off the behavior of my female students? Do they want more attention? I’m not quite sure. What is going on? Meanwhile, I have those few students that are very quiet and do what is expected of them and try to focus on their work regardless of what is going on in the classroom. Some of my students struggle and can’t seem to focus on their work because of everything going on.
I have noticed a pattern with my female students in the classroom. They continue to have the need to be in control. They are distracting and getting themselves into trouble. It also seems that they constantly have the need to seek my attention or that of my grandparent volunteer quite frequently during the day. I wonder if this has an impact on the other students in the classroom?
Brenda, I was just reading your response and I can't remember what you have for data sources. I was thinking you could interview the after school teachers of the female students and see if they are noticing the same patterns, or give them a survey. It might be interesting to see if this dynamic is consistent outside of your classroom. Also, depending on the after school numbers if the dynamic is consistent when the classroom is not predominately female.
DeleteSince both boys and girls are vying for attention, I wonder if it's possible to have your volunteer chart how students ask for attention in various ways. Raising hands, doing something distracting, calling out, etc. That way you could get a clear idea of the numbers.
DeleteI wonder if their behavior has anything to do with the PARCC...
This is usually my favorite time of the school year. ACCESS is done, students know the routine and I feel like we have settled in. Spring fever has not yet hit and I have sixth graders acting like sixth graders in front of me. PARCC has put a definite funk into our routine. The students feel it, I feel it and I am trying my best to keep morale afloat while I can feel the ship is in eminent danger of sinking.
ReplyDeleteThe only beauty of the PARCC testing schedule is that my students are craving for normalcy of our routine. They cheer when I inform them that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be normal days. We have created camaraderie in my classroom. I hate the test, they know it. They hate the test, I know it. We get through it and all try our best.
Amidst all of these distractors I am trying my best to focus on my students as readers. I have begun to notice that differentiated reading groups are contributing to student confidence and a positive reading self-esteem. This quarter I had to separate three reading groups into four reading groups. I am trying to give those that I think will exit ESL next year, or become ESL resource students more grade level material so they will be prepared for next year. I also made a decision, which I will elaborate on further, against my better judgment that now has come back to bite me. My reading groups are assigned color names. I did this in an attempt to hide levels. However, I have noticed that every so often students question the group they are in, or that they are working to get to the next color group. So my attempt to mask differentiation is apparently a fail.
Differentiation is an ESL classroom is essential. As students get older the divide grows larger. There are those that are beginners, having just entered the country with very little to no English proficiency. Being in the lowest reading group seems to be acceptable to these students and to their classmates. The students I have in this group do not question their reading group. They are hard workers. It is in my other three reading groups where I have students questioning their placement. Their placement in the appropriate reading group is based on STAR Reading assessments, Rigby assessments and classroom performance. I have one student in particular who was upset that he was in the purple group. This student is an IEP student who has been in the ESL program in this school since kindergarten. Against, my better judgment I fulfilled the student and special education teacher’s request and moved this student up to the blue group. This boost of confidence promoted better work habits for about a week. Now he is slipping back into his old habits and due to my decision to not listen to my gut and the data I am now responsible for four reading groups because I do not want to further deteriorate his already unstable self-confidence by placing him back in the purple group.
I have two students who are also in the purple group. These students entered grade five as beginners with limited English proficiency. They have made rapid gains and were moved up to the purple group in the first and second quarter. One female student constantly makes comments that she is working hard so she can move to the blue group. The blue group is working on about a grade level equivalent to 4.5; the purple group is working on a grade level of about 3.5. I wonder why this student is not proud of her accomplishment of reading at a first grade reading level in grade five and already reading on a third grade reading level.
How can I disguise the levels of reading groups, while following the mandated curriculum of the school? Why does a student’s reading persona appear to be based on the level reader they are in, and not by the growth they have made?
Kids always know, right? It seems like the thing that we all do--compare ourselves to others and see how we measure up.
DeleteI wonder if charting the progress of the group would work. That way they can see how far they have come as a group. On the one hand, you have to like that they want to move up--shows they want to learn in some respects. there's always that balance between "you're doing great" and "here's how you can do better."
Ashley, I do the same with my reading groups but we use animal names instead of colors. But no matter how hard we try to hard the levels, they know. I had a similar situation with my IEP student. I used all the same data even though we know that the STAR test is not an appropriate assessment for our students. I was very persistent and even called in the reading specialist for added support. I kept my student where he should be and I'm glad I did. Always trust and stick with your gut feeling because you know your students best!! Thanks for the suggestion of getting the after school program's input. You're the best!!
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