Blog's

Month 9 Changes from cycle 1 to cycle 2 and how are the students responding 2 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:17:13 -0400

One of the things that have really changed for me from cycle 1 to cycle 2 is the intensity and students response to the activities.
The students ready to go try to decide what to add to their KWL charts or Venn diagrams. Cycle 2 is review and cram time for the CRCT. We review and practice daily on skills and test language.
I am using reading strategies to locate the main idea of the question and tie that to each answer choices.

I expected my students to score well on the first Benchmark given in Nov. of 2009. Over 20 percent of the skills on the first Benchmark, I had not covered. I move at a slow pace in math because at least 60% of the students struggle with basic skill addition and regrouping, subtracting and regrouping and multiplication facts. One of the things that I really needed to focus on was the fluency of multiplication facts. Fifth grade is a critical grade with math and knowing multiplication facts is necessary.
I also discovered the data I collected from success maker lab was somewhat not accurate. I say this because of an observation I made one day when I walked into the lab and caught a student just punching buttons until the lesson gave him the correct answer after getting the answer wrong. Another factor that might affect the true results of data collected is the performance of the computer that day. The computers are old and outdated and some need more speed.

This means I need to use only Thinkgate and my Skills tutor results. Using My Skillstutor allow me to assign skill that align with what I teach from week to week. To keep track of my data I pull reports weekly from my Skillstutor to check the mastery of skills taught on weekly basics. I use the results of the Benchmark to check and note each skill that my students are struggling with as well as what skills they are mastering. The Second Benchmark administered March 1-5 of 2010 Showed gains by 12%.

My Filmmaking and Principles and Education class is very helpful. I am in my third week of the course and I have gained a lot of knowledge about filming and good ideas on how to use filmmaking in my classroom. Digital Story Telling is very powerful. I had several of my students participate in our county technology fair. I was very instrumental in helping them to create PowerPoint’s to create samples of lessons taught in math and science. PowerPoint was the only program available for them to use. I want them to recreate the project, do a voice over, and create a digital story. Ms. Kathy is being very helpful and shows a lot of dedication to her students, the program and her love and professionalism to filmmaking.

Month 8 what are you doing different in cycle 2 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:17:04 -0400

In cycle one of my research collecting data, I used last year result from the CRCT to develop an understanding of my student’s areas of weakness in math. From the information that I collected, I found that my students struggled with problem solving which lead me to believe that they needed a better understanding of math vocabulary and comprehension. I formed small groups and did one on one assessment . After each week of working with small groups and doing one on one assessment I compared this information with what I received from my by-weekly success lab results. Many of the students showed gains by 1-2 in the area of problem solving.

In cycle 2, I compared my results with that of Benchmark testing given in November. I was very disappointed at the results but not surprised. Teachers have no control over which standards selected for Benchmarks. We use a system wide time line a time line or pacing guide, can be hard to follow when you have students that are so far behind. Many of the skill tested on the Benchmark I had not taught yet and it due to the fact that students come to fifth grade not knowing basic multiplication facts and place value.
I used the result compiled by Universal Screening that give a general outcome measure to identifying underperforming students and to determine the rate of increase for our school districts as well as individual schools and teachers.

In this cycle, I am using more of the reading comprehension strategies, Peer tutoring, small ability grouping when necessary, computer games, and students showing what they learned by way of mass media. My students engage themselves more. In some of the past classes that I have taken in the course of my action research, I learned that students remember more of what they do than what is verbally spoken. I also learned that we all have different learning styles and that we learn in different ways. The idea of using reading comprehension strategies helps students to understand the connection between reading and math. I am doing lots of pictures and videos to support my approach in this cycle.

The approach that I have taken in my action research is both quantitative and Qualitative. In comparison with my data, I found that using small homogeneous groups allow you to focus more on the student’s ability to comprehend with smaller portions of the skills addressed. When comparing the data of my benchmark results to the results from Successmaker report some gains are there. I always ask my self the question, “Is it because I my have just covered the skill in class before the student complete a task in Successmaker”? This is something that I will address later in my research. Chapter 7 of my action book gave a good guide in collecting, interpreting, and evaluation your data. Only collect data about the action to develop a clearer picture of what has happen. In using this approach, I am finding that I need more time with my students. I know that if I had more time I could produce better results. What are better results? How do you measure better results? The answer to the two questions is there is no such thing as better results. In the eyes of Howard Gardner he believe that every little bit counts.

Month 7

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:16:54 -0400

How is your AR project unfolding for you?

I am having a few obstacles with my project. My problems include not enough time in class for all the interruptions with other programs that is going on at my school. I am having problems with equipment working in the classroom and school closure because of in climate weather. I hope to get a lot done this week. I will use data collected from our benchmark and success lab.
• How are you tracking your data?

Our county is using a program called Think Gate to gather information on student’s performance and outcome. I am using that data along with the data collected from success lab weekly. My students did not attend success lab for one week because the lab supervisor was out with family illness.

• What's happening in your research that you didn't expect?

In my research, I found that reading strategies would increase math scores. This is what I expected to find because is a language with in itself. In reading, students make connections and in math, students learn mathematical skill in real life situations. We learn by doing and we remember thing better when we are a part of the learning process. I have included in my plans to use hand on experiences, peer tutoring, students creation lessons on what they learned using different media software or programs and graphic organizers that are used in reading along with teacher read aloud and writing response.

• How has this month’s course (so far) helping in shaping your ARP?

I just got started in this month’s course but I can see my students creating interface using flash and graphics. I will also be getting students reading for the county’s Technology Fair.

Month 6 What about your Critical Friends, cycle surprises, and tweaks 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:16:36 -0400

My AR is unfolding very slowly. There is just so much to do and so little time to do it. I am still having problems with what I need to do to show how reading strategies can improve math scores. Do I need to stick with word problems that reflect how students show an understanding of math vocabulary to solve a basic problem?

My critical friends have given me some suggestions on what to do. I have collected many materials related to my topic and am still in the process of reading through my literature Review.

One of the surprises that I have come across in my AR is the amount of information related to my topic. I know that being able to read and to understand what read is a determining factor of how well students do on any type of test. I have students that struggle with reading and because they struggle with reading, they struggle with math. The CRCT not only test their ability to do basic addition and subtraction but also test their ability to read and solve problems mathematically.

The tweaks that I am in the process of making with my project is adding more hands on activities and using multiple intelligence strategies. I think learning builds when the mind and body is at work working on the same thing. I am having a hard time collecting my data because the computers at school work on furlough time.

The overall participant’s response in my situation is a change in student’s attitude and the motivation level increase. The students get excited when they see me take my camera out and use it to record some of them working. I see an increase with homework and students completing assignments.

Month 5 The Problem Statement 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:16:25 -0400

My official problem statement is, Can Reading Comprehension Strategies Improve Math Scores.
I noticed that many of my students in 5th grade this year did not meet the standards on the CRCT test in math last year. My decision to focus on math was largely do to the low performance in math on the CRCT test.
The math portion of the test requires an understanding of problems solving skills.
In order to be a good problem solver you need to have a strong understanding of reading comprehension skills and understanding the vocabulary of math.
My critical friends have been very encouraging to me and have given me thing to think about when carrying out my research.
This month course ETC has really been a challenge so far. ETC is challenging to the point of not having enough time to work on my review of Literature. I have not had time to think about what will be useful in helping me with my AR project from this month’s class.
I am really expecting good results from my research. My students are excited and ready.