Journal 3

Data collection is finished!  Now it is time to grade, sort, graph, chart and so on- in my opinion, the hard part.  I am really excited to start analyzing everything I have collected so far.  I haven’t even graded the pre-test yet, so I really don’t know what kind of growth, or lack of, I will see.

One of my favorite moments of this study so far was the day my students filled out a graphic organizer for an article on legal for illegal immigration.  My middle school students never cease to surprise me- just when I think they are slightly bored with what they are doing, they pull out some of the most amazing conversations.  I mostly teach math intervention classes, and students in those classes usually don’t get too passionate about math (can you blame them?).  Giving students a topic that they are interested in and want to discuss is another story. 

All of the students participating in this study are Hispanic, and about half of them were not born in the United States.  Immigration is hot topic everywhere right now, but really affects some of my students and their families.  After we read an article with facts about immigration, students asked if we could have a debate.  We then spent the entire class (usually these are mini lessons that last 15-20 minutes) discussing different aspects of immigration.  It was so neat to listen to the student’s ideas, opinions, and misconceptions that they had.  This was one of my favorite lessons I have done all year.  To see how involved the students get when the subject is of high interest to them, makes me want to work harder to find more lessons that students can directly relate to.  In my math class, this will be a little more difficult, but I’m going to look at it as a challenge!

Journal 2

Data collection for my research project has been going quite smoothly so far.  My first lesson introducing graphic organizers to my students went really well.  I have not yet graded how they did on the comprehension questions that followed, but they were involved and engaged throughout the lesson.  A part of me wonders if they are trying harder  because they know that this is for a class that I am taking.  I think they all want to do really well for this reason.  I am excited to start analyzing the data and grading the comprehension assignments that were given.  I hope to see  an  increase in the student’s scores. 

I should have all of my data collected by the end of February- Pre-test, four lessons, Post-test, and student interviews..  This might not seem like a lot, but I only see the students every other day for 45 minutes.  I keep thinking I have a lot of time, but as the days are flying by, I realize this is not the case.  Last week, students were gone two days for a field trip, and they will all be gone again this week for two days, as every student will go ski.  In two weeks, we will be going on our first Spring Break (yes, I get two!)  At the beginning of the year, I scheduled four IEP’s the first week in March, so I will be lucky if I even see my students that week.  I am sure most other teachers have similar stories to mine.  I am really glad we had to make a time-management plan, if not, I might get lost! 

By my next post, I should have all of the lessons done, can’t wait to see how they go and share the experience with you!