Sunday, March 13, 2011

So since my last post I've made some changes to my data collection. I'm still doing the word problem of the day twice a week with my students but I changed the way I come up with questions. Instead of giving them the problem and asking them to choose the answer, I'm giving them the answer and asking them to choose the correct question that goes with the answer.

When I was talking with my small group at the last meeting I expressed concern about writing my own problems because I thought that it might confuse students since it would not be worded in the format that they would see on the STAR test. Tomas said something that really made me think. He said, "if they are able to answer your kind of question, which is more cognitive, aren't you then preparing them to answer any kind of question that they may encounter?".

Since then I changed the format and have tried to make the problems more difficult. Since changing the format, I've noticed that students haven't been as successful but they are using their thinking skills and strategies to solve these problems. I haven't said it, but I want them to prove it and demonstrate how it is that they found the answer. What I'm finding is that students are coming up with answers but they are having a difficult time defending their choice. They are also having a hard time drawing diagrams. Many of them can give me an answer but can't tell me why that answer is correct.

Some findings that I've come up with are:

-Students are motivated and excited to do Math because I'm excited to teach it. I'm fascinated and challenged to try to teach various concepts in a way that students can understand and easily teach to others/use throughout their schooling.

-Certain students rely on deductive reasoning. I know the answer is not A, B, or D so it must be C. This is a great strategy because they eliminate answers they know are not correct. Other students rely on the opposite strategy. They find the answer that they know is correct and don't bother to look at the other options, which can sometimes trip them up if they're not careful.

-It's very difficult for students to explain their thinking through the use of a drawing. By asking them to draw their thinking, I'm almost asking them to come up with something extra that they hadn't thought of. It's like asking for an extra step. That extra step doesn't necessarily demonstrate how they came up with their answer but rather it's a way to explain their answer (which the two don't necessarily go hand in hand).

-Word problems prove to be difficult for my lower level EL students due to the academic vocabulary.

-When asked to explain how students solved their problems, students cannot always verbalize how they solved the problem but rather they just reread what they wrote on paper.

My question is currently (not sure about wording but), How can drawing diagrams when solving word problems, help my 3rd graders understand how to solve and understand a given problem?

Because my students are no longer read the Math test in 3rd grade, it's important for students to read word problems and know what it is that the question is asking. These word problems not only require math skills, but also comprehension skills. Students need to decipher what it is that the problem wants them to do and then go about solving it.

I have 6 focal student. 3 girls, 3 boys. 3 are students who were with me last year, 3 are students who weren't with me last year.

Data: Students are given word problems twice a week. I then interview my focal students after the interview to see if they can give me a more in depth answer than the writing/drawing they did on the diagram. I also have interviews of my focal students.

Thus far it's been interesting to see how students go about solving these problems. Some students rush through these problems (the common mistake that many of my students make) whereas others truly take their time and try to understand what it is that the problem is asking them.

to be continued

12/3 Scholars Meeting

My inquiry question at this moment is: How do students’ ability to show their thinking help them to successfully understand and solve word problems?

 

The learning goal for my students is: That students will be able to read word problems and know what information is necessary in solving the problem. Students are often given word problems that have lots of unnecessary information. I would like them to be able to identify key vocabulary that will help them understand what the word problem is asking them to do.

 

My indicators for success: Students would correctly identify problems correctly and their ability to solve/show their understanding of a problem would get easier and their drawings would be more descriptive

 

Focal students: I still haven’t figured out which specific children, but I think I want to look at 3 boys/3 girls and transient vs. non transient

 

11/15 Scholar's Meeting

At the moment my question is: How can I help students analyze Math word problems  in order to figure out what specific operation they are being asked to solve? 

Being as specific as I can be, what I want my students to be able to learn and do is analyze word problems and first figure out what operation they are being asked to solve. Next they should be able to choose an appropriate strategy to help them figure this out. 

I would know that my students were accomplishing these goals if I saw them finding success on tests/hw in word problems or if I heard them explain their reasoning behind why they chose to answer the word problem in a certain way. 

I could collect information by looking at written work (mostly in class because then I know it's their thinking and not their parents'). I also could use audio recordings or video recordings if I were to work with small groups. I figured out a type of worksheet I want to use to track students' progress to see if they know what I'm asking. 

--------------------------After small group meeting-----------------------------------------------------

What I'm thinking now is that the new worksheet that I came up with is a great way (if I don't say so myself) to get students to start doing what I want (which is to think about how to go about solving a problem). I'm thinking of incorporating it in one of three ways.

Option 1) Have students solve their problem on a half piece of paper and then get a clean sheet to do the solution on (after I collected their other sheet)

Option 2) Have students solve their problem on the top half of a paper and then write the solution in a colored pen on the bottom of the page.

Option 3) Have students solve their problem and then make corrections in pen on the same piece of paper. 

Also having students explain their thinking/rationale with a partner and recording those thoughts would be powerful. Using my Elmo and having different students share the way they solved the problem and projecting it for everyone to see could also be powerful.

Finally I think I really need to be explicit about having students show their work. Drawing out their answer is important because it helps them make sense of the problem and could show someone how they went about solving their work

11/1 HW: where am I now with my thinking?

The student work I have collected for my inquiry since the last meeting is student quizzes (corrected) with scores. I have some pre-tests as well which I plan to correct and use.

One thing I am hoping to understand from this student work is what areas are students still struggling in. I've done a bit of looking into this and the big thing that students are having trouble with is the language in word problems.

My current question has changed and has veered away from pre-tests and deals more with the wording of questions. So my question would now be "what are the types of math word problems that my students are struggling with and how can I help them learn to understand what is being asked?"

My thoughts at this point about my inquiry are that I know my interest is still Math related but I'm not sure what it is that I specifically want to know. I know that my data collection can be student work but I want to understand more of their thinking. We just began a new math program that students use 3 times per week (on the computer) and the kids love it. In it they need to take notes that they will later use on tests and I'm wondering if that's an area I may want to focus on (how notes can help students when preparing for a test)? These are just some ideas.

Scholars Meeting

1. What did you learn from the data exploration today? 

After looking at today's data I'm realizing that I want to focus more on  what students can gain from the use of pretests, not what I can learn. I feel as if I already know what students can gain from the use of pretests. It would be beneficial for students to see their growth and be more active in their learning process. The use of pretests reviews what they should have already known in 2nd grade and then shows them what to expect in 3rd grade. 

2. How does this connect to your area of interest for your study this year?

My area of interest this year is Math. There is a big jump from 2nd to 3rd grade. Students are now expected to copy out of the textbook instead of write in it. There are significantly more problems to be completed along with many more directions that students should read independently. Students should be able to read the directions and answer the problems on their own, and because that is the expectation for the end of the year STAR test, I'm already expecting my students to read on their own and rely on themselves rather than always turn to me for help. 

3. What is the current draft of your question?

The current draft of my question is How can the use of math pretests help inform my math instruction?

4. Your thoughts now? (Other points to record/remember)

Anna's advice was helpful. Linking my question to student learning and what they will gain from it, will in turn help me figure out what is or isn't working for students and whether or not I need to continue with certain strategies or adopt new ones. I want to make sure that this inquiry helps them and not just myself during this next year. I want them to see the importance of their growth.

After the mixer: After speaking about my topic I feel a little bit more focused on what it is that I want students to learn. I want students to see the connection of what they're doing in class to real life.  What can students learn from math pretests that will....(this is where I'm stuck). I don't want my question to necessarily go back to me but rather. I want to do a math talk, give a pre-test and then begin teaching. After I'm finished I want to do a final math talk to sum up what we learned and tie it to real life. 

My question at this point in my research is: What instructional strategies can I use during the week to help my 2nd graders practice their spelling words? (This would be the broad question more for the class)... a more refined questions in response to my 4 focal students would be: What instructional strategies are beneficial to my 2nd grade English Language Learners that are struggling with spelling in English?

What I have learned about the learning of my class: I have noticed that students have been great teachers. When partnered up with each other, they have really enjoyed quizzing each other on how to spell particular words. These interactions have been meaningful to them and have engaged them more than if I were to give a random lesson about spelling. I also have realized that keeping them informed of their progress as well as goals I have for them helps keep them on track with their work. Students are working harder to do better and I can see the excitement on their faces as they see their spelling scores. Although I don't do it as much because I'm afraid of the invalidity of the work is to have students correct their own tests. When students have corrected their tests (I did this with pre-tests) they were more aware of the mistakes they made and how to self-correct. 

Knowing this about how my students learn has impacted my practice because it has made me much more aware of the fact that students need to be involved. Although I'm the teacher, I don't want to return graded work without discussing it and having students view their work and review it. I want students to take part in the process and internalize their learning and through metacognition have them become more insightful and critical thinking students. 

As I near the end of my inquiry I have seen the progression (as well as lack of progression) that many of my students have made. I now hear them say "Man! I forgot to put an r at the end". They are internalizing their work and seeing where they went wrong and how they could have fixed it. Students are also more excited about weekly tests and the in class spelling games associated with it.

After discussing my inquiry with my small group, I wish I would have blogged more frequently throughout my inquiry. Had I kept a weekly blog about how the weekly spelling test went, I think that I could have retained more information, such as what words were difficult for students, certain factors that affected students' performance. My inquiry is coming to a close. I have about 4 more weeks of spelling tests and then we'll be finished. I already have my findings, but it would be nice to have the final numbers to show how my students did.