post meeting 3/13/12

After talking with my small group, here is what I am thinking about my inquiry now ...
I need to review my original 6 question survey and resurvey the students to see how (if) their attitudes have changed.  I can see some evidence in the students' work that there seems to be a shift of attitude around learning new words in English, but I want to have more certainty around this question for myself.

One thing I am wondering now is ...
What significance does this have for my practice next year?  It was pointed out to me, that perhaps this doesn't mean I change what I am doing, but help students to change the way they think about words, word play, learning language, and becoming ones own vocabulary teacher.

Next steps:

• It's time to build a new word wall as this one is getting filled up, so photograph this wall first.

• For next level of words, create another "show what you know" page so there are 3 to compare and have students do a 2nd round of activity for the new wall.  As Alberto suggested, I want to throw in some of the words from previous word walls in the next "show what you know" page.
• Create a follow-up survey to the one I gave at the beginning of the year (yes, I know I should have done a mid-year survey).

3/13/12 - update

"Here’s what I would like my small group to help me think through tonight:  ...
I have a mound of data that I would like to figure out how to sort through and organize into a fashion that will give me some actual information.

3/3/12 - update

Notes from the midyear presentation:

What question are you asking?

How can knowledge of students’ word consciousness help teachers push students to expand their vocabulary on their own and not be reliant on their teacher as the only vessel for learning vocabulary?

How can I use students’ own word consciousness to help them build their

vocabulary?

How can I help students to use their word consciousness to build their vocabulary without being reliant on the teacher for a “list” of vocabulary words?

Why does answering this question matter?

This question matters for several reasons.  1. studies show that successful students (college graduates) have large vocabularies that grow throughout their educations; but really grow throughout elementary school;

(from www.balancedreading.com/vocabulary) According to Beck and McKeown (1991), 5 to 6 year olds have a working vocabulary of 2,500 to 5,000 words.  Whether a child is near the bottom or the top of that range depends upon their literacy skills coming into the first grade (Graves,1986; White, Graves & Slater, 1990).  In other words, by the first grade, the vocabulary of the disadvantaged student is half that of the advantaged student, and over time, that gap widens.

The average student learns about 3,000 words per year in the early school years -- that's 8 words per day (Baumann & Kameenui, 1991; Beck & McKeown, 1991; Graves, 1986), but vocabulary growth is considerably worse for disadvantaged students than it is for advantaged students (White, Graves & Slater, 1990)

 2. students should be taught to be self-teachers and not rely on their classroom teachers (or parents) to just “pour” information into their minds;

 3. word consciousness, the combination of word awareness and vocabulary (meaning) is a tool through which teachers can assist their students in growing vocabulary

 How did you choose your focal student(s)?

Surveyed the class.  From the 4/5 combo all had an interest in words, and a knowledge of some other language (varying levels), as stated in the survey.  all are 5^th graders, girls – variety of achievement levels

 What have you done to answer this question? What data have you gathered (our hope is that by this time you will have at least three or four pieces of data for each focal student)?

2 videos of lunchtime conversations; word wall;

students’ word journals;

conversations from the word wall (whole class)

“show what you know” worksheet

 What is a recent piece of data that you have collected and what does it tell you about student understanding?

word wall conversation =

& show what you know * not sure if students are overestimating their use of the words

 What discoveries or realizations have you made along the way about your students’ learning? What have you learned about what they know and/or what you want them to know? (Here you could just focus-in on one particular student -- since time is tight-- and talk specifically about what you have learned about that student).

Outside of the focal students, the interest in words, just based on the word wall, has risen in the class.  I see dictionaries out more, a larger variety of students are writing on the word wall, they go up and read what’s written and talk about what’s written on the word wall.  today, one student tried counting the “blue words” and said there were over 50 (2/7/12)

 How have you changed your teaching based on what you have learned?

I’m not sure anything has changed for me, but we had a walk through a couple of weeks ago where teachers from another school in the district came and visited the classroom and they were very interested by the work and I overheard some conversation between them about how they might consider changing how they have word walls in their classrooms.

I continue to use challenging vocabulary for the students while building in contextual support so they understand the meaning.

 What have you noticed about your students’ learning progress around your question?

there seems to be more curiosity about vocabulary, words, their meanings, and their usages.  more students write on the word wall and more students ask, “what does that mean”.

 What do you want to do next?

have a word wall conversation, but instead of whole class, small groups & then report out – in this way I can seat my focal students together and let them talk and record that

continue using the “show what you know” pages

And, BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING I WANT TO:

Assign my students a choice of activities and levels with which to work with the words on the wall.

"Easy" - 3-5 words

"Medium" - 5-7 words

"Challenge" - 7-10 words 

Activity choices:

1. create a crossword puzzle

2. write a story

3. write a poem

4. turn the words into pieces of art that define the word

I'm hoping students will be inspired to start using the words, rather than just finding new ones and putting them on the board! :)  Also, I'm hoping to do this activity 2-3 additional times before the end of the year.

Post meeting 1/21/12

Here's what I'm thinking now about my inquiry ...
I have more data than I thought, I just need to sit down and organize it and let it congeal in my head (see what it tells me).

My next steps are ...
1. Schedule a regular time (once a week should be fine) to discuss what's on the word wall and record this!!!!!!

2. Think about interviewing Leslee as a data source.  She's teaching Latin and Greek roots to the highest spellers and I am thinking that this instruction will (hopefully) carry over on to the word wall in my homeroom.

3. Finish reading the articles I've downloaded and see if they help me to look at my data in ways I haven't considered.

4. Hit Best Buy and get some kind of recording device!!!!!!!

Saturday, 1/21/12

“Two things I notice when I look at the data I brought today are…”

So, I forgot to take a photograph of my word wall yesterday, but here are some thoughts related to what's happening with it:

1. Students are FINALLY getting really interested in adding to it after a couple of weeks.  Also, what started as an interest in finding words only when I'm reading out loud has turned into an interest in adding words they find in other places.

2. Students seem to be mostly adding words that they don't know the meanings of - thus curiosity = "what's this mean?".  This is kind of cool, actually, and I'm hoping this will push students into using the dictionary to look up the words and discover more about them.

3. Yesterday, the word "fascist" appeared on the word wall.  I asked the student where he had heard the word (or read it) and he replied that he was reading a book about world history.  I then asked him if he knew what the word meant and he said he didn't.  So I told him that it's a political philosophy (this was a full-class discussion) and suddenly, the word "philosophy" appeared on the board!

“One thing that surprises me about these data is …”

Nothing really.  I love the range of words the students are posting - engagement, impeccable, Fascist,  seismic, epicenter...

January update

So....before I head off for the long weekend, I figured I better get something down in writing.
Question is related to how students' word consciousness help them learn vocabulary (or better yet, help me help them learn).
I still have to watch 2 videos filmed of my 3 focal students and transcribe in some form the conversations.  It's been several weeks since filming and a 1st review and I'm sure I'll learn something new.
After reading another Graves article, this time about specific strategies that can be done in the classroom, I've started an "informal" word wall on the white board in the back of the class.  Students can write words on it that they come across in the course of their day - words that seem interesting to them or that make them curious or whatever.  Then, they, or other students can add synonyms, antonyms, or other related words in a web format.  As the board fills up, I'll photograph it and then erase it so we can start again.  This is a play on one of the strategies discussed in the Graves article and hopefully another way to collect data for a project that is beginning to seem too esoteric!

December 6 - Part 2

What I learned from this conversation …

1. How incredibly connected the three inquiries are!

2.  That I'm giving myself more work to do....but it's okay because it's a topic of tremendous interest to me and that I think I'll learn a lot from it.

3. That I need to watch (and possibly transcribe) the video of my lunch with the focal students and see what information it gives me that I hadn't noticed or am not thinking of. 

My next steps are …  

1. Create a concrete path to collect another data source.  Options:

      a. record the 3 focal students having a conversation and listen to it with them to listen for "interesting" words

     b. have focal students pay attention to their own speech and notice if any of the words they're identifying in their word lists are translating into conversation

     c. collect word data and chart or record on a weekly basis - either have 1 focal student be "in charge" or consider charting -- in this include relationships of words that they know or hear me model

2. Watch the video and listen carefully -- see what I can glean from that.  

3. Consider having lunch with the focal students one more time before winter break, but definitely before January's meeting.  Perhaps have lunch with them 1:1 to have a deeper conversation with them alone.

December 6 - Part 1

1. What question are you thinking about?

How can students' word consciousness help them improve their vocabulary. 

2. What specifically do you want students to learn and be able to do?

I want my students to be able to use their awareness of words to help them improve their vocabulary.

3. What is something that you have learned about your focal students’ learning that has surprised you or been unexpected?

I have learned that they all like to be challenged, and will figure out a way to challenge themselves when given the opportunity.

4. Look at the work you brought today, what do you notice? What do you wonder?

I wonder how to incorporate the word lists they're keeping into a tangible teaching activity for the non-focal students (as well as the focal students)

Dec. 2 - an update after lunch with the ladies!

I just had lunch with my 3 focal students and they were quite cute.

I talked with them about how to take their word collections to the next level and "L" said that she wanted to do something more challenging than just making lists.  (I agree.)

"I" likes to write stories, so she suggested that.  "S" agreed, but I wanted this to be something more fun and less work-feeling.  I suggested a cartoon or comic book and they seemed lukewarm to that idea. Then, we suggested a crossword puzzle.  "L" said she learned how to make them in 4th grade, so there they sit (as I type) with "L" teaching the other 2 girls how to make crossword puzzles, with the agreement that they'll have theirs finished in a week at which point we will all get a chance to fill in each other's puzzles!

LOVE 5th graders! :)

12/1 Update (a bit early)

    "Here's what I'm planning to do on my inquiry between now and the December meeting ...."

 

I have identified my 3 focal students and each has received a notebook to use as a "word notebook".  They are writing down any word that interests them during the time I read aloud (about 15-20 minutes daily).  Before the December meeting I plan to have a lunch meeting with these three students to talk about what they wrote, why they chose the words they did, what questions they have, and generally talk about words.  I plan on video taping this meeting so I can review it several times and watch for growth and changes in the words they choose or the reasons they choose them.

     "One thing I'm wondering about is ..."

 

What I'm pondering now is how to take the data collection deeper.  I think I have to wait until I meet with them to hear what they have to say.  I've glanced at their notebooks and the words they are choosing are varied, so I'll be curious to hear their reasoning.  On student, the student who is ELL and struggles with English, has written "What does it mean?" and "vocabulary" all over the cover of her journal.  She so wants to know what all words mean!  

11/8/11: Part 2

Something I think I could collect is …

I am planning to give my 3 focal students notebooks to write in while I'm reading aloud (I do this daily for enjoyment purposes).  I want them to listen for and write down words that are interesting that they hear while I'm reading and perhaps write what they think the meaning is or write down why they thought the word was interesting.  Then I can plan to chat with them on a biweekly or triweekly basis to talk about the words they wrote down and have discussions about why they chose them and perhaps also include conversations between the 3 of them about words.

What I hope that would help me know about my students learning is …

I am hoping to develop their word awareness, which is one of the 2 key components to word consciousness.  I am also thinking that this collection of vocabulary can evolve into more specific types of words to listen for (or phrases) such as onomatopoeias, similes, or idioms.  But I'm sure this will evolve as the year moves forward and I see what develops from this first step.

Because I am very explicit about the books I read aloud and want to make sure they're challenging to all learners (I have a particularly interesting group of 5th graders who have reading comprehension skills at the 10th grade level), I think this might be really interesting.  I'm planning on reading books such as A Wrinkle in Time and The Phantom Tollbooth and hope that they elicit some good responses and ideas from the students.

What I’m thinking now about my inquiry is …

I'm more excited!!!!!  I'm considering removing the section about "content areas" in my question, but I'm not going to change that NOW....

I feel like I have concrete data to collect now after talking it through with Anne and that's a good thing because when I walked in this evening and listened to all the discussion about data that can be collected I was feeling really discouraged.

11/8/11: My data collection

1. Describe briefly the data you collected since the last time we met:

I have surveyed my students about their experience and understanding of English, what they know about how words are built, and their interest in learning more English and questions they have about words in English.

2. What are your first impressions of what you can take away from looking at these data?

I thought it was interesting that my 5th graders had a lot more interest in language, words, and word play than my 4th graders did; my students have a deeper experience with other languages than I knew about and yet, some students who use another language in their home lives did NOT include it in their survey; about 1/2 of my students have further questions about words in English while the other 1/2 don't have any.

Saturday, 10/15/11 What I'm thinking now...

...I have too many questions and too many interests in how students use words, are aware of words, play with words, learn words, understand words and their uses.

I have to find time to do more reading and thinking about the data that will help me as well as finalizing my survey questions because I think the survey will help to guide me in the process of narrowing the question and my interest in what the students know and can do related to words.

And, yet, it's good that I have so many questions because I'm interested in my topic and that will keep me going throughout the year -- and through the long and rainy winter! :)

Saturday, 10/15/11

What I really want to know is …

• How can students' word consciousness (word awareness combined with interest in words) help to facilitate vocabulary growth in content areas such as science or social studies? 
• And how do students use this new vocabulary in their speech (both everyday and subject/content related) and writing?  How does this get produced by students?
• And how does student knowledge of words help them to build their own vocabulary?  
• Does one's interest in the subject influence vocabulary development and on the flip side, does student's ability to use the higher academic vocabulary influence their interest in a subject?
• What do students do with words "just for fun"? Ie: jokes, puns, riddles, double meanings, etc.
• What do students enjoy about learning words?

This is important because … 

• students need to have a 50,000+ word vocabulary by the time they graduate from high school and students who do not are more likely to drop out.

Therefore my question at this point is …

• How can students' word consciousness (word awareness combined with interest in words) help to facilitate vocabulary growth in content areas such as science or social studies?

Pre powerpoint information

The area I decided to focus my inquiry on is: math

This is important to me because: I have seen math overlooked at schools that are in Program Improvement.  Most schools and districts seem to be focusing a lot of energy on language arts, specifically reading.  However, students who only understand algorithms for math, but not the why and when to use them fall quickly behind.

The question I am asking is: How can students' understanding of how math is used in daily life situations help facilitate their math learning in the classroom?

The context I teach in is: I am currently not in an elementary classroom. I am, however, working in a university level classroom.  

The data I collected to answer my question: So far, I have interviewed 50 fourth grade students about their thoughts related to math and everyday uses.  I have also asked their teachers the same questions I asked them.  Within the next week, I will be returning to those same 2 classrooms (one in San Lorenzo USD and the other in Dixie SD in Marin) to have students write letters that demonstrate their mathematical thinking.  They will be given the following prompt:

Frankie is a 2nd grader in Ms. Tully's class.  He insists that 1 1/4 is larger than 1 1/3.  Ms. Tully is frustrated because he is certain he is correct.  She has asked you to help him understand his misconception or mistake.  Write a letter to Frankie explaining why 1 1/4 < 1 1/3, or write a letter to Ms. Tully explaining why 1 1/4 > 1 1/3.  You may use words, pictures, and symbols to help Frankie or Ms. Tully understand.  (Don't be worried about spelling or writing conventions.)

Also, Frankie thinks he'll never use fractions and learning about them is a waste of time.  In your letter, explain some real life examples that will help Frankie understand how and why fractions are used, or can help Ms. Tully explain this to him.

The changes I have made in my teaching practice as a result of my inquiry are: (The changes I hope to make in my teaching practice are:)  When I return to the classroom, I am planning on adding a discussion about how and why particular math skills are used in every day life as a part of my math routine.  Right now, I begin each unit with a pre-assessment and a math talk.  It is at this juncture that I plan on adding a class discussion about how they might use a particular skill or/and how they've seen adults use a skill.  
When I was at CABE last week, presenting a workshop on fractions, I discussed this with the participants and provided a chart for them (they are all teachers) to indicate how they use fractions in their daily lives. 

The changes I have seen in my focal students as a result of my inquiry are: This is a question I need to pose to the 2 teachers, as well as if they have changed their teaching and incorporated more talk about real uses of math into their instruction!

Class 2 - Looking at the data

Info: Class = 28 students, 26 were questioned

Dixie School, Marin County

4.2% free or reduced lunch

7% ELL

5.9% RFEP

Question 1: What is math?

*      21/26 answered come form of computation: +, -, x, /

*      2/26 included counting

*      2/26 included solving problems

*      2/26 said something about $

*      Unusual answers:

o   “I don’t know how to describe it, I just go with it.”

o   “applies to life”

o   “a hard subject in school”

o   “The new math program (Every Day Math) is fun, but sometimes I feel like ‘ugh’, it’s math.”

Question 2a: How do you use math at school?

*      ½ of the students indicated some sort of computation in their answer

*      7/26 made a reference to math program either by name, “math book”, “work sheets” or “tests”

*      10/26 used the word “problem” in their response, mostly indicated doing math problems or word problems

*      Unusual answers:

o   “We use it to know how much water you need to water the plants.” (I later observed a student watering the plants with a measuring cup.)

o   “In music – to count rests and beats.”

o   “At recess, like when we play basketball, we use math to count and make sure our teams are even.”

Question 2b: How do you use math away from school?

*      12/26 students indicated some use of money, paying for things, shopping

*      2/26 stated that they use it for computer games or programming (one of these students actually creates his own games)

*      9/26 stated homework as a way they use math away from school and 3 of those students also indicated that they get parental support either in the form of homework assistance or “quizzes” from parents

*      8/26 students indicated some kind of measurement  - measurement was indicated in a variety of ways: time, length, space, amounts of things, cooking/baking

*      3/26 students indicated fractions – the topic they are currently working on

*      3/26 students indicated counting in some form

*      Unusual answers:

o   “At church, I use multiplication to figure out the number of words in a the hymns.”

o   “To figure out the video game, like if you have four players and only 2 controllers you have to use math to figure out how long each person’s turn is going to be.”

Question 3:  Why is math important? (This question had the most variety of responses.)

*      6/26 indicated some use of computation in their response

*      2/26 indicated that math is used for building: “Without math, your shelter would come out ‘lopsided’.”

*      5/26 indicated some use of measurement or knowing amounts

*      6/26 spoke about $ uses

*      1 student said it’s important for tests and 1 student indicated homework

*      7/26 students gave only 1 response

*      4/26 said math will be important for your job or when you grow up

*      7/26 students indicated it’s important but were not clear or specific about why: “need it for a lot”; “won’t learn anything without math”

*      Unusual answers:

o   “Without math, you couldn’t read music.” and the same student said, “We couldn’t do anything with steps or counting.”

Question 4: How do you think grown ups use math?

*      16/26 students somehow indicated money usages

*      9/26 indicated adults use math in their jobs and of those, 5 indicated that the skills of the job included some type of measurement

*      8/26 said that grown ups use math to help children ie: with homework

*      2 students indicated that math is used in planning birthday or children’s parties (equal goody bags, sorting gifts)

*      2/26 talked about computer programming again

*      Unusual answers:

o   “For building space shuttles, or every day objects.”

o   “I don’t know”

Conclusions:

Overall, I would say that the answers these students provided are similar to the students from the low-performing school in San Lorenzo.  These students have a stronger command of vocabulary and a broader exposure to how their parents use math (taxes, jobs) and are able to include that information in their answers.  However, there remains an overwhelming connection between math and computation as well as math and money. 

Because these students were interviewed later in the year, they had covered more topics than the previous class.  I attribute the discussions related to fractions and equally sharing to that.  I also attribute part of their knowledge and connection to measurement to that.

It seems that students best identify “what math is” with what they are currently learning or have just previously learned. 

Just don't want to lose this info!!!  So I'm posting it.

Feb. update

“I am planning to collect the following data before the next meeting …”: I need to get into ONE more classroom and collect data and analyze it before the next meeting so I can start to compare the classes and come to some more solid conclusions.

I also want to interview the three teachers.  Aija suggested I ask them the same questions I'm asking the students as it may be very telling as to why I'm getting the responses I have been getting so far!  Great idea!!!

“The most important change, or changes, I will make in my teaching practice as a result of my inquiry is/are …” If nothing else, doing this work solidifies for me the absolute necessity to help students make connections between the work they are doing inside the classroom and the work they do or will do outside of the classroom.  After listening to the other presentations last week, I heard at least 2 other scholars make that same connection.  Specifically, Aija made that connection when she was presenting her work around reading comprehension.  Students didn't "know" they were supposed to be doing something other than reading the words!  Once they knew they needed to think, their reason for reading changed.  Do we tell students about reading for enjoyment, reading to learn a new skill, doing math as a part of that new skill, doing math as a part of our daily lives, or the inquiring and thinking we do that can be found in a science lesson? 

"What I need to do before I present my inquiry in May ..." A LOT!!!  Get into both of the the other 2 classes.  Interview a few students more in depth!  Think about what next steps will be as I reenter the classroom next year - what will I do differently as a result of this learning?  What will it look like in my classroom?  What will it look like as I work with my colleagues?  What might it look like as I continue to present at conferences?  In fact, what impact does this information have NOW as I prepare my presentation around fractions @ CABE in a month????

Food for thought!

Looking at my data - class 1

I have interviewed 25 students in the first of three fourth grade classrooms.  I am at the point of looking at and thinking about what the data tells me.  Thanks to Dina for helping me to figure out a way to organize it on Saturday!

Here are some overviews of what I am discovering and some thoughts around this:
Question 1: What is math?
Overwhelmingly, the students identified computation (+, -, x, /) as what math is (over 1/2 of the students).  7 students identified numbers as being part of math.  And 4 students identified math as being related to solving problems.  A few students included a connection to buying and/or making change in outside of school life, and 2 students said that doing math is like being a scientist.

I wasn't surprised that students identified computation with math.  I was surprised that so few students identified solving problems as math.  I was also surprised that only 1 student included any other subtopics in math besides computation (fractions, measurement).  The 2 students who identified math as being like science both explained it's because they answer questions.  I thought that was interesting and will be curious to see if a science connection comes up in either of the other 2 classes I'll be visiting.

Question 2a: How do you use math at school?
Again, nearly 1/2 of the students identified some kind of computation as how they use math at school.  7 students equated using math at school with what the teacher teaches or learning something.  And, 4 students identified it as solving or working on problems. 

No students talked about specific day to day school tasks that may involve math, such as taking the lunch count or attendance.  When I interviewed the initial 6 students, those types of tasks were discussed.  It seemed to me that most students in this class understood math as being "done" only during their math period and not necessarily stretching out into other subjects throughout the day.  Deeper interviews with 2 focal students in this class will help me get a better understanding of this.

Question 2b: How do you use math away from school, such as at home?

Sixteen students identified that they use math at home by studying, practicing, or learning in some way.  Of these 16 students, 3 students specifically identified that a parent helps them with this, either directly by quizzing them or indirectly by purchasing math practice books for them.  One student said he used math by playing board games and money games.  Does this mean that many students are not playing board games at home or that they're not making the connection between board games and math?  Something to consider and ask about!  A different student identified that she uses math by helping her brother with his train tracks so that he knows he has enough pieces to create the shape he wants.  Only 1 student identified using math for making purchases.  And 1/3 of the students identified some kind of computation involved.

Question 3: Why is math important?

Students seemed to have interesting ideas as to why math was important, and most students indicated more than 1-2 reasons.  6 students talked about money and making change with several indicating that you could lose your job if you can't make the right change.  8 students said you'll need math in your job.  Outside of money, one student indicated that, for example, in a construction job, you need math to calculate the amount of wood and other supplies you'll need.  14 students indicated math is important to learn and get a good education with several indicating you can't go to college without math!  The most unusual response I received to this question was, "You need math to be able to ask and answer questions, like if the police catch you."  I did not delve further into this answer...sometimes it's better to not know!

Question 4: How do you think adults (your parents, grandparents, teachers) use math?

Thirteen students talked about money, making change, shopping, and/or paying bills.  5 students said adults use it for studying.  4 students said for measurement, with 1 student specifically stating measuring fabric and another student stating his father uses measurement in his job and his mother uses measurement when she cooks.  A couple of student alluded to the adults not knowing the math and having to check the book and/or get the answer sheet.  One student said that the adult uses math when sorting the laundry!  This one made *me* think!  And, sure enough, grouping by attributes is certainly math I remember teaching my kindergartners.

Overall, I think I got mostly responses I expected.  I was hoping that these students would have a clearer picture of how math is important in their daily life.  When I spoke briefly with their teacher, she told me that she does not discuss those connections for them, so I'm thinking that unless they're referred to in their textbook, they are not being instructed in the daily connections.  She then said, "You know, maybe I ought to make those connections for them."  Yes!!!!  I will have to interview or survey her more thoroughly to determine exactly how she does teach math.

I'll be interested to compare this group's answers to the next 2 classes as the teachers' styles and understandings of math are different.

This is all certainly food for thought! 

Meeting 12/6

My inquiry question is:
How can students' understanding of how math is used in daily life situations help facilitate their math learning in the classroom?

The learning goal(s) for my students is:
Students will develop a deeper understanding and knowledge of math and will be able to identify that the math they learn in the classroom has a role in their daily lives. (?maybe?)

My indicators for success:  (How would I know that students will develop a deeper understanding?)
Through an exit interview.
*A note here, I'm actually looking at this as a longer than 1 year project.  I'm hoping to lay groundwork and data of student understanding this year and THEN change my teaching next year to incorporate discussions and/or activities during math instruction that tie daily math to classroom math.  Because I will be using students in classrooms of my colleagues, I have no control over how those colleagues will teach math and whether they will incorporate discussion or activities that will deepen these students learning and understanding.*

Who are my focal students?
At this juncture, I will be interviewing fourth grade students in the classrooms of 3-5 colleagues (90-150) interviews.  These interviews will only contain 4 questions.  From the results of these interviews I will choose 3-6 students who seem particularly interesting in their responses: perhaps because they are outliers in their responses (they have a great understanding of math or a very limited understanding).


What are my data sources?
1. Student interviews - initial
2. Teacher surveys (to be done online via SurveyMonkey or related service) that will tell me about how they are teaching math & what materials they are using.
3. Follow up interviews of focal students that will go into questioning that will identify how they know what they know about math and how they may or may not be making connections in the classroom.
4. Possible teacher survey @ the end of the year.
5. Exit interview with focal students OR perhaps a written exit survey of all students - still working this out.

HW 12/1/10

Happy December!  And.....a month to say goodbye to 2010....  (just waxing a little nostalgic this morning).

“The area I want to work on before the meeting, and at the meeting is …

 I needed to get my question DOWN!  And I have done that  - many thanks to Claire for talking me through my sticking points.

“What I am thinking right now about this aspect of my inquiry is …

Now I need to organize myself to interview students; I need to contact my friends/colleagues to set up visitations to start interviewing their students; I need to write survey questions for the teachers to fill out; and I need to set up a SurveyMonkey questionnaire with those questions....

And then, we'll see where student responses take me.  It's a wild math ride!

One last comment:  I found this book in the library last week:  http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470437758.html

I haven't started reading it yet, but picked it up because the title seemed SO pertinent!  Will follow up with my thoughts on it after I've begun (or finished) reading it.

See you all on the 6th....