Memo #9: Coding and Themes

Throughout my research and experience as a teacher at the program, I have come across several major themes. As a special education program that services girls in DCF care ages 12-22, the program often has students with limited or interrupted formal education, students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and students with PTSD-related disorders. As such, certain themes and codes pervade the teaching, planning, disciplinary, and teacher research processes. These themes present themselves on a daily basis in my classroom, and have become more glaringly evident throughout the process of research and data triangulation.

Theme 1: Student Ability

Students in the program have a wide range of ability. Ability pertains to both academic and cognitive potential. Students’ ability is impacted by one or more of the following:

• Level of cognitive functioning
• Impairments
• Interruptions to formal education
• Emotional and behavioral disorders
• Frequency of dysregulation
• Prior instruction / background knowledge
• Self perception
• Other factors

Student ability is often identifiable through triangulation of several data points: student performance on a variety of clinical assessments (e.g. Woodcock-Johnson), academic records, IEP and Progress Review updates, classroom performance, and formal and informal teacher assessments and observations. Throughout the timeframe of this study, student ability is unlikely to change substantially, but nuanced changes may be observed through careful triangulation using writing samples, survey forms, and formal writing assessments.

Theme 2: Persona and Self Perception

Self perception is a major factor in students of all ages in any setting. Students in the program have typically negative perceptions of themselves. Much of the work with clinicians at the program is geared towards improving self perception and self advocacy. As part of the treatment aspects of the program, students’ self perception is tracked through a variety of assessments. The data is tracked in students’ case files and is accessible by teachers and other pertinent staff members. In the classroom, self perception is often displayed in students’ attitudes towards their writing. As part of the research for this course, I have implemented a survey that gauges students attitudes towards writing and their perceptions of their own ability as writers. At the conclusion of the study, I will administer the same survey to see whether intensive writing instruction has an effect on students’ self perception. Data will be triangulated based on results of the above assessments. Ideally, I would have liked to administer the survey at the start of the school year and again at the end, though I hope to have measurable results even in the condensed time frame of this study.  

Theme 3: Students’ Personal Experience

One of the earliest lessons I learned as a teacher of writing is that drawing from personal experience is often the most effective way of getting students engaged in the writing process. One of the drawbacks of teaching in the program is that having students write about personal experiences is expressly discouraged. Because so many of the students have had substantial physical and emotional trauma, writing that involves personal experience can often be triggering. It can be challenging having students separate themselves from that trauma and personal experience by finding topics that are personal, yet safe, given the program’s population. Nevertheless, student identity and experience work their way into writing in a way that generates measurable data, and there are some safe topics (e.g. pets, weekend outings to the movies, daily chores) where students can express themselves. I will work to continue navigating the often treacherous topic of personal experience by building in prompts that tease out non-triggering responses.

Theme 4: People with Disabilities

The program falls under the umbrella of FAPE, and several students have moderate disabilities ranging from learning disabilities to physical impairments. Data is pulled from areas such as reports on present levels of academic functioning, clinical assessments, IEP reports, student work samples, and formal and informal teacher observation and assessment. Students with disabilities are the beneficiaries of differentiated instruction at the program, yet are held accountable to high standards. Data from students is calibrated to to take into account the various disabilities present in the survey group.

Memo #8: Data Collection to Date

Data Collection Tool #1: Student Writing Journals

    Up to this point in the study, the student writing journals have been the most valuable source of data for measuring results. The journals store all writing lessons’ notes and student writing samples. The writing in each of the journals shows the development and growth (or in some cases, lack thereof) of the students’ writing ability. They have been collected periodically to analyze for breadth, quality, and clarity of writing across a variety of prompts. Unfortunately, there have not been as many entries in these journals for several of the students, as the rigmarole of daily academic demands have cut into the time dedicated to writing. Additionally, due to the constraints of the program (specifically, in how irregularly students transition into and out of the classroom) each student has not had ample time to craft and organize the journal as it was intended: as a safe and familiar space for building writing skills.

Data Collection Tool #2: Daily Teacher Researcher Journal

    The Teacher Researcher Journal has been a useful way to track the development of my research project and the daily challenges and opportunities within the program. The entries in the researcher journal had been primarily summaries of daily lessons across all content areas, but I have begun only writing about topics that pertain to ELA and my research study. The journal has been a useful tool in tracking the daily progression of the ELA curriculum, especially the work done with writing. It has been a challenge to make meaningful entries every day, as the demands of teaching across all content areas often take time away from focused journaling. Nevertheless, compiling notes on individual students’ progress will produce valuable data for continuing the research project.

Data Collection Tool #3: Student Writing Samples

As part of my research I have been collecting student writing samples. This is a tool I have used throughout my position at the program, as writing samples are invaluable when writing academic progress reviews and measuring student growth. At the beginning of the research process, I collected writing samples from several students. Many of them were handwritten, so I typed them and stored them digitally. I plan on comparing student samples from the beginning of the semester to writing samples that will (should) be completed by the end of this week. Samples will be analyzed for observing qualitative growth to gauge the efficacy of my writing instruction.

Data Collection Tool #4: Student Writing Attitude Surveys

    Last week I had my student take an opinion-based writing attitude survey. They responded to questions about writing by circling a response from 1-5 (or from “not at all” to “a whole lot”) that demonstrated their feelings about writing. The questions ranged from their feelings about academic writing to their own self-confidence as writers. Ideally I would like to have given this survey at the beginning and end of the school year, but both the constraints of the program and this course prevent such a timeline for research.

Data Collection Tool #5: Informal Assessment

    Having the same few students throughout the entire school day has its few perks. One of these advantages is being able to observe student writing across all content areas. In the small-group special education setting, I can track and monitor student progress in ELA, science, history, math, and elective courses. I can also blend writing instruction into each of these areas, and gauge students’ growth.

"Questioning Your Research Plans"

“Questioning Your Research Plans”

from Hubbard and Power,

The Art of Classroom Inquiry

Imagine you have just spent half an hour explaining your research project to an older family member. What questions might she or he ask you about your project?

• What’s a writer’s notebook?
• What kind of things are the students going to write about?
• Why do you think this will work?

How would you respond to these questions?

• A writer’s notebook is a student constructed notebook that allows them to express themselves and provides a space to practice and organize their writing.
• Students will establish Writing Territories which are parts of their lives that they are experts in. They will use parts of the journal for organizing crafting and editing strategies as well as for the primary intended purpose: writing for a variety of purposes.
• Yes.

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Imagine explaining your project to a colleague who has a very different philosophy of teaching and learning (think of a real person you know). What questions might she or he ask you about your project?

• Why are you wasting classroom time having students do arts and crafts projects? Isn’t this supposed to be ELA?
• Are they doing academic writing or just personal writing?
• How will you measure its effectiveness?

How would you respond?

• It’s not a waste of time if having the students invest in the design of their notebooks will foster buy-in and engagement. Just because it’s ELA doesn’t mean that there can’t be cross curriculum opportunities.
• They will do a mixture of both academic and informal writing that runs the range of low to high stakes writing prompts.
• I will sample student writing at the beginning of the study and at the end and conduct a pre, post, and summative assessment.

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Imagine explaining your project to one of your students. What questions might she or he ask?

• Do I have to?
• Why?
• Can I doodle in this?
• How do you spell _____________?

How would you respond?

• Yes.
• It will help you become a better writer.
• You can doodle on the cover and back, as well as in margins, so long as you’re not doodling to avoid doing work.
• Here’s a dictionary.

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Imagine explaining your project to a school board member. What questions might she or he ask?

• Is this common core aligned?
• How much is this going to cost?
• What other research will back yours up?

How would you respond?

• Without being overly snarky I would recite the standards it’s aligned to: W.9-10.1-5,7,10.
• You can create writer’s notebooks using paper scraps and recycled material for no additional cost. Otherwise, marble cover composition journals are available at Walmart for 89 cents.
• I will be building on the work of acclaimed writing teacher Kelly Gallagher. Check him out.

Data Triangulation in Qualitative Research

Data from observation: Student G’s academic performance and quality of her written work has diminished over the past several weeks. My interpretation is that her behavior and academic performance has suffered after learning that she will not be transitioning into a less restrictive public school setting. I can triangulate this interpretation by examining the connections between detailed observation forms (i.e. assessments of written work), teacher observation (e.g.. through my daily teacher journal), and reflections. This will allow me to pinpoint both the source and implications for the student’s performance.

Memo 5

SCWAAMP is a contemporary strategy for critical analysis that seeks to examine how dominant ideologies manifest themselves in texts, policy, and the real world. The acronym stands for Straightness, Christianity, Whiteness, Americanness, Able-bodiedness, Maleness, and Property Ownership. These seven aspects are the dominant ideologies that have traditionally governed our society and have been historically valued above all others. I have taught my students the meanings and implications behind SCWAAMP and how to apply the critical lens of SCWAAMP to a variety of texts. When introducing the concept to students, I often use myself as the model of SCWAAMP because I represent  all seven aspects.

    While I was born into SCWAAMP, I have come to push back against these identities as a professional, and work to share with my students that one’s identity is shaped as much, if not more, by their actions and beliefs as by their sociocultural background. As such, we have a measure of control over how we develop as individuals. Nevertheless, one cannot fully separate themself from the environment they are raised in, and this has shaped me as a teacher and has certain implications for my praxis. Each element of SCWAAMP has worked its way into my classroom.

    Straightness has been part of my identity for as long as I remember, and has given me a certain perspective on human sexuality. I grew up in a time when traditional views of sexuality have been challenged by a progressive understanding and acceptance of various lifestyles. My highschool years in the early 2000s were marred by rampant homophobia in the school community: an all-boys Catholic school where open homosexuality was not permitted. When I finally encountered LGBTQ texts in college, I would become more reflective in the role sexuality plays in society, especially with straightness as the dominant ideology. While my current position (in an all-girls school where open homosexuality is not permitted) dictates that that discussions about sexuality are prohibited from classroom discussion, I do my best to embed messages of equality and understanding in my instruction.

    Christianity also makes up part of my background and has shaped my praxis despite the fact that I no longer practice religion. I grew up in a Roman Catholic household with substantial influence from traditional Italian-American and French-Canadian views on faith. While I have not retained many of the more rigid tenets of Catholicism, I feel that my morals have been shaped by the overarching ideal of treating those how you would like to be treated. I try to embody this ideal of kindness to others in my instruction and role as teacher.

    Whiteness is also an impactful part of my identity and role as a teacher. To this point in my life, my race has functioned as a privilege, and I have been increasingly reflective of this as my understanding of racial dynamics and dominant ideologies has deepened. In my instruction I try to embed discussion of the roles race plays it different literary texts and interpretations of history. The white perspective has been dominant in American education since its inception, and I have been working to incorporate other perspectives into my classroom.

    Americanness has been a part of my identity since birth, but I feel that the entire concept of the American identity has been shifting recently. Americanness has always had an evolving definition as the dynamics of our country are constantly in flux. I find it challenging to share with my students a working definition of Americanness. I don’t believe that there is one true way to be American, and it’s complicated to find a balance between being a critically aware citizen and being a cog in the gears of the American education system.

    Able-bodiedness is something that most able-bodied people take for granted, and takes many forms throughout the spectrum of cognitive and physical ability. Having students with a wide range of challenges emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively, I am acutely aware of the implications of able-bodiedness in the classroom. My physical, cognitive, and behavioral able-bodiedness has permitted me to progress through life without the myriad of obstacles I would have to overcome without such able-bodiedness.

    Maleness is definitely a challenging part of my identity to cope with in my current role. Most of my students have been victims of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse at the hands of older males. I am reminded of this on a regular basis at staff meetings and interactions with administration when I do seemingly innocuous things like walk around my classroom. I, along with my other male counterparts, am told to teach strictly from behind my desk. While maleness has worked as a privilege in many aspects of my life, it seems to serve as a hindrance in my current role as a teacher.

    Property ownership is something that I have come into recently, though without the other elements of my SCWAAMP identity, I don’t think it would have come without greater challenges. Coming from a middle-class family, I know that I have had opportunities that many of my students have not had, and I am mindful of this when I deliver my instruction. Looking back, I have made mistakes by overlooking gaps between my experience and those of my students. For example, I had told the story of dropping out of college (twice) and working full-time instead. While I lived on my own, I knew that I would ultimately have some parental support to fall back on if things didn’t work out. My students don’t have this. I did not think about this when sharing this story of my background. When relating to my students my professional experience, I now leave out this detail-- which was initially intended to demonstrate how a modestly successful college and career path can be indirect.

    SCWAAMP has been an invaluable tool for teaching students how to apply critical lenses to texts and cultural items. It has also been valuable for reflecting on how my own identity is incorporated into my classroom. As I work to reconcile the disparities between the dominant ideologies and the rest of the world through education, I am mindful of my own implications in such disparities.

Memo #4: Research Questions

Memo #4: Research Questions 

One of the greatest challenges of my current position is the role I play in teaching all subjects. With a background in ELA, I often find it difficult to plan, differentiate, and teach engaging lessons in other areas, especially math. I have created four options to narrow down my research based on the current challenges in my position, on where I feel that I need the most growth as a professional, and on what my students would most benefit from. 

Question #1: What is the effect of using manipulatives on students’ understanding of Algebraic concepts? 

 As I learn more and more how to teach math at the highschool level, I find myself looking for innovative ways to help struggling students grasp abstract concepts. While it’s straightforward enough to teach students the steps to how to solve the problems (e.g. the PEMDAS steps, using reciprocals when dividing fractions, etc.), it can be difficult to get students to grasp the why they are able to reach a solution. Without this understanding, their comprehension of mathematics is merely surface level, and rather than going broad and shallow with my instruction, I am working to go focused and deep. 
To get students to a deeper understanding that produces measurable results, I have begun to incorporate manipulatives into my algebra instruction. My experience with manipulatives in the classroom had been limited to my time spent working in an elementary school, but I’ve begun to see their use at the highschool level. This past quarter, I had students dedicate a class period to creating algebra tiles out of construction paper. Algebra tiles are designed to be applied to solving equations with variables and exponents, and serve as a visual for plotting out equations. My research question aims to examine the efficacy of these aids in promoting student understanding and success in solving multi-step equations. To gather data, I will examine students’ performance both with and without the manipulatives. I can do this quantitatively through formal assessments and qualitatively through informal assessments. 

Question #2: What role can technology play in student learning in the highly structured therapeutic classroom?

In my current position, technology is rarely used by students in the classroom due to a number of constraints. In the few times I have worked with students and technology, I find that they struggle with many basic functions that are essential to technology use. In my building there are currently only three usable Apple computers. These computers are in another teacher’s classroom and are often very inconvenient to use due to the disruptiveness of both classes of students. Nevertheless, there are times when these computers must be used by my students, and I’m eager to see what more frequent usage will do to student performance. 

An article by Marc Prensky I came across last semester described the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants, explaining how those born in the last 30 years were essentially born into digital literacy. Danah Boyd challenges this idea in her book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. She explains the pitfalls of assuming that just because someone was born in the late 20th or early 21st century that they are, by default, digitally literate and competent. I would be interested in incorporating the ideas of Prensky and Boyd into a study of my own classroom’s proficiency with technology. I would examine students’ current levels of digital literacy, implement technology-based instruction and activities, and chart student growth in their use of technology. An obstacle to overcome would be the mild inconveniences of the physical spaces of my building that hinder the regular use of technology, but this is most certainly surmountable. 

Question #3: What is the effect of the redirection process on student behavior, classroom management, and student learning? 

The primary means for discipline at my program is the redirection process. This is a behavior management tool that is designed to curb misbehaviors by students who are primarily diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders. While the redirection process has had an effect on student behavior when coupled with an incentives program, I have found that this process is often at odds with students’ educational progress. 

In my research, I would aim to measure how students’ overall progress trends when compared to the amount of time they spend in redirection. I have had several students regularly spend long stretches of the day in redirection, and as a result, have a substantial amount of makeup work and supplementary assignments. I have found that such instances result in lowered academic performance, and would be interested in collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to further explore this trend. 

Question #4: What is the effect of using structured writer’s notebooks on student writing? 

In my second year at the program, I have started using writers’ notebooks to supplement my writing instruction in ELA. Based on a model from Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers, these notebooks are designed to engage students in all stages of the writing process and to provide them with a personalized space to complete assigned and independent writing tasks. They seem to be a valuable resource in writing instruction, but I do not yet have the data to support this. 

For this research study, I will gauge the quality of students’ written work at the beginning of the writer’s notebook usage (I average one new student per quarter, so I will have plenty of opportunities to start this research freshly), then measure their growth as they become more familiar with conventions of academic and creative writing. I will ask questions about how often these notebooks are being used for their intended purpose and how often they are being utilized as resources for writing.

Memo 3: Teacher Researcher Methodology

When defining teacher researcher methodology, it is necessary to supplement the definition of “what” the methodology is with “why” the methodology exists to begin with. Teaching is an occupation constantly in flux as it evolves based on continuous research that elucidates on the minutia of how students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities learn. Therefore the definitions of what researcher methodology is and why research is to be conducted must likewise adapt.

    Teacher researcher methodology is not unlike ecological research examining animals in their wild habitats. The subjects of the study must be identified, questions about the subjects must be posed, previously recorded data must be gathered, necessary equipment for recording new data must be ordered, and the subjects’ behaviors in their natural habitats must be recorded. The research we conduct on our students, colleagues, and selves takes places in our habitats (where human subjects’ “interactions in their physical and sociocultural [millieu]”) is similar to the research of an ecologist (Steffe and Thompson, 2000). It is research conducted by teachers in their own context (habitats) with the aim of better understanding their practices (Xeri, 2018).

All in-the-field research typically shares a similar pattern of building upon the research of forebears. Teaching is, in general, not reinventing the wheel. All teachers have once been students, and their own instruction has the indelible mark of those that instructed them. In a similar fashion, previously established theories work to inspire, guide, support, or inform the next generation of researchers in their own inquiries (Baumann and Duffy, 2001). Teachers must synthesize existing findings and practices with their own research to supplement and improve their instruction (Baumann and Duffy, 2001). This is integral to why one must research.

The initial answer to the question of why a teacher must conduct research is simple: to get better at teaching. Research aids teachers in our “learning, understanding, and the growth of ourselves and our students” (Alexakos, 2015). It promotes an intentional and systematic change within the classroom (Xeri, 2018). Additionally, it functions to “awaken learners’ own questions and use these as the driving force for learning” (Falk and Blumereich, 2005).

Adapting to current research on best practice and how students learn is essential to being an effective teacher. Learning from those who have come before us and learning from those whom we directly serve are at the core of teacher research methodology. Teachers must stay ahead of the evolutionary curve of education by keeping pace with current research and, more importantly, keeping pace with the needs of their student populations.