3/18/14 Indicators of Success/ What I'm Thinking NOw

Indicators of Success - Looking at today's data to assess where students are
Based on the criteria for Strong Indicators of Success I decided to use I can statements so that students themselves can monitor whether or not they feel they are doing what I ask.

1st indicator: I'm showing the answer I think is correct
YSP: partially because looked at LCO for one of the questions but was more focused and not talking to others.
AGS: met because today she was engaged and not talking to others while I read the question.
JDC: met because he was engaged and wasn't talking to others. He was sitting up and on task.
ESP: partially because although she was thinking for herself, she was distracted by other girls who accused her of looking at someone else's response system.
ERR and LCO both meth this indicator of success because they are both confident in their own abilites and wouldn't look to someone else for the answer.

2nd indicator: I can explain why I chose that answer
YSP: not met because when I call on her she freezes and won't explain why she chose the ansewr.
JDC: partially because sometimes he gets confused.
ESP: met because she can explain her rationale as to why she chose a particular answer.
AGS: not met because she gets shy when I call on her and won't elaborate.
LCO and ERR: met because both boys are very independent and have strong mathematical skills.

I'm still trying to figure out my 3rd indicator of success, which would either be  I let others think or I can rephrase the question. I let others think is a bit more basic because it's either a yes or a no with some elaboration. I feel that them rephrasing my question would allow me to see if they struggle or not. I didn't pay attention to that until today by asking them to rephrase what my question was, but even then I didn't write down what they said or what I noticed.

What I'm thinking now: What are the types of questions I'm asking? How can I make the questions meatier? What's the key vocabulary I want them to understand? By having them rephrase my question before answering, will that help students succeed more?

Mills make-up 2/18/14

Where I am now...I feel that my question has evolved. It started off more as a procedural/behavioral type of question but it has now gone in the route of content and what types of questions I ask and which are successful.

My question was...

How can the use of a student response system during Math instruction allow me to elicit participation from all my students in an organized way, that allows all students to successfully share their answers and feel validated.

It's now...

 

What types of questions are easier for my students to understand during math instruction? (Patterns of their responses and see if there is a certain type of question that they are able to answer better)

My focal students and their indicators or success are...

Focal Students                      Indicators of success

Girl       YSP       1/1             paying attention, participating, thinking about question

Girl       AGS       2/19            talking less with other girls, thinking about question    

Boy      ERR      3/12           keeping answer to himself and not blurt

Boy      LCO      6/30           giving others the time to think and process

Boy      JDC        9/16 TK       pay attention, thinking about the question

Girl      ESP      10/27 TK     keep answer to herself and think

One important thing for me to do is to take notes of what I noticed or what was said as it happens. I often times forget what stumped students or what realizations we came to when discussing the problems. I could put these responses at the bottom of my data collection sheet

Where I currently am with my inquiry 12/10

I created a template that easily allows me to collect data. I feel that if I collect data every Monday after Math, I have a routine in place that wouldn't be an additional thing for me to do. Though I'm specifically looking at 4-5 focal students (still not sure who exactly) I know that this inquiry is allowing me to look at the class as a whole and track everyone's progress. I know I want Y.G.R, E.R.R. and L.C.O as 3 of my focal students. I'd like to add another 2 (probably students who struggle) so that I can see if this routine is helping them. I was also thinking that my questions might be harder based on the topic, which might allow me to see if I'm challenging them too much, or if some students are ready for these type of questions. I plan to use the color coding system I used in my inquiry 4 years ago (red/yellow/green) based on how many questions they correctly answer. As of now I think my question is:

How can the use of a student response system during Math instruction allow me to elicit participation from all my students in an organized way, that allows all students to successfully share their answers and feel validated.

Mills Saturday Meeting - October 19, 2013

I have a new focus of inquiry this year. I want to weave in elements of puppetry from last year's inquiry but this year I want to focus more on the use of student response systems. The concept has lots of steps and may seem difficult at first, but this year I introduced them to the class (not my TK's) and I feel as if I've already had some success. They have all of my students engaged and excited about learning. I still need to figure out in what curricular area I plan on using them.

The format I might use with the puppet is a game show. As of now I have 5 focal students in mind (3 boys and 2 girls). I have a mix of boys/girls, advanced/benchmark, talkative and blurters/quieter students. Because there is minimal writing in Kindergarten, the purpose of this assessment is more for oral participation.
 

My current question is:

·        How can I use a response system with my kindergarteners to assess what they quickly understand and then push them to explain in a manner that’s organized so that they are not blurting out and stealing that opportunity to learn from other students?

April 9th - thoughts after tonight's meeting

What I’m thinking now:

After looking at my data (before coming to tonight’s meeting) I came up with some early findings. Despite how much I may want a student to talk, I’m not going to change their personality. I hope they learn what I teach them and it can help them in some way, but my quiet student is not going to be super talkative due to my inquiry. I want to promote a safe environment that allows students to feel comfortable enough to speak in front of their peers. Another finding is that students frequently use a puppet’s body language as a way to demonstrate their own emotions.

Possibly making 4 indicators of success based on what I’ve seen so far with the puppets

• Puppet Use Learning Goal: Are they using the puppet correctly?

• Develop Craft Learning Goal: Learning how to take care of tools and use them appropriately

• Content Learning Goal: Are they able to demonstrate that they understood the information they learned about the particular community helper?

• Language Learning Goal: Are they speaking in a loud/clear voice?

Why wouldn’t dressing up as the character be enough? Because I was looking specifically at the puppet use as a tool to get them to talk, especially those students that are extremely shy and don’t speak.