Action Research Abstract

I began my research looking for a way to better assess where my fourth graders are at daily with math performance.  I was finding that waiting for the end of unit summative assessment was too late in reaching my learners.  I started researching ways to monitor progress more often, and ways to change my instruction to meet individual student needs. 

My review of literature brought me to many ideas that I can implement in my classroom.  A list of these ideas are as follows:  1) using assessments as a tool for improving teaching and learning, 2) assigning meaningful work, 3) using formative assessments, and 4) improving teacher feedback.   These ideas will help me greatly in knowing daily where my students are performing. They will also help in changing my instruction to guide them to the next level in learning. 

My question is, “How will using target-based instruction as formative assessment impact my fourth grade math students’ performance?”  My plan is to write learning targets for each math unit and use a self-rating scale of understanding to monitor progress toward the targets.  I will also use exit slips daily for current math topics and also previously taught math topics.  My students will then self-rate their understanding on a scale of 0 – 4 on a data sheet that I will provide.  I will use daily exit slips, bi-weekly data sheets, and observation of students to provide extra support and useful feedback.  This will help me know where my students are at daily and it will shape my instruction daily.

Questions

1.    Are formative assessments more valuable than summative assessments?

2.    Can learning targets and formative assessments be useful in all subject areas?

3.    Can students accurately rate their own understanding or  proficiency?

Backwards Design

My first backwards design unit of the year is my Earth Materials unit.  The beginning of the year has been a tough adjustment.  I have been trying really hard to get my class organized with curriculum, behavior, and into the routine of a typical schedule.  This process has been more difficult than it has been in other years.

Some of my curriculum has been hard to get to because of the time spent working on the classroom routine.  The best work that I have done with my students so far has been my Earth Materials unit.  I knew before I started where I needed to be at the end of this unit.  I also knew exactly how I was going to get there.  I am very focused and it makes my teaching of the BDU very easy, even with the hustle and bustle of the beginning of the year.      I would love to take the time to put many more of my teaching into this format.

Growth Mindset

I try to always have a growth mindset, both at work and in my personal life.  Currently I am beginning my 7th year of teaching fourth grade.  Each year I take in a new group of about 26 - 28 kids.  A teacher with a growth mindset helps to figure out what each particular group needs.  I know that I cannot expect each group, or even each student to function or behave in the same way.

As I am trying new ideas for teaching and behavior management, I always include myself as a part of the problem or solution.  I wonder what I am doing to contribute to the successes or failures of the group.  I find that when I look at my own role, I can identify things that I may be doing to make a situation difficult.  For example, if I make it a requirement that my students sit still, I may be creating unnecessary problems.  Instead I look at a problem and think about what I need the students to do, and what are ways to get there.

A New Year

I am always very excited to start a new year.  I love that in this job there is closure on each year.  It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and also the opportunity to make changes.  As I start each new year I add ideas or change things that need changing.

One thing that I am really excited to work on is the community.  I am having a slow start to my classroom routine, but this past Friday I was able to have a great conversation with the class about acceptance.  It felt for the first time this year that a classroom community is on its way.  This is by far my favorite thing about beginning a new year.

First Week

My first week was very challenging.  I felt really prepared and had fabulous plans written.  There were many more behaviors to work with than I anticipated.  The hard part was not being able to get to what I had planned.  I missed both my community building activities and academic plans.  I had planned a different energizer or brain break each day.  As I went along I could feel that the class was not able to tolerate so many different ideas.  Instead I worked on one activity for a brain break the entire week.

The activity I did was the greeting where you toss the tennis ball around the circle.  It took all week to get most of them tossing the ball and not pitching it, not laughing at each other, cooperating, etc.  I am glad that I gave them more time with the activity until we felt that it was successful.  Otherwise it feels like rushing through things just to get them done without any gain.

I am hoping each week will gradually get better.  I do love my group!

Action Research Project

My action research has to do with eliminating all of the weight on summative assessments.  Instead I am concentrating on daily formative assessments, learning targets, and really working on giving great feedback.  I have researched a lot on feedback.  I am finding that learning and progress is greatest when students know where they are going and are supported every step of the way.  If the teacher knows and communicates to the student about mistakes and how to eliminate them, then the student will benefit immediately.

One interesting thing that I found was from an article called, "Know Thy Feedback," written by John Hattie in 2012.  He said that when giving feedback, it should be very specific and not given with praise.  He said that if you praise the student while giving feedback, they may concentrate instead on the praise.  So be kind when giving feedback, but save the praise for a separate conversation.  It makes sense to me, but it also feels natural to give a "Great job!" along with my feedback.  This is something for me to work on.

This year...

This year I am so excited for a new beginning.  The things that I am most excited for are all of my new ideas.  Last year as I learned the new ideas, they seemed more difficult to implement because I was already in the midst of plans and other learning.  I think starting a fresh year with fresh students and families will make implementation much smoother.  Specifically I am looking forward to my technology ideas.  I did start the kidblog in my class last year and it went very well.  Now I felt that it was a practice run and I cannot wait to develop it from the beginning of the year.

I also blogged on my school website for the families.  It didn't go very well because I started about 2/3 into the year.  Not many parents read it.  I ended up quitting the blog and no one even noticed.  This year I am going to start it at the beginning and preview it with families at open house.  I will add class notes, homework assignments, a google calendar of events, a daily blog, links to websites for fun academic games, and some photos of our group.  I am hoping that it is a useful tool this year!