So it has been a while since I last posted and for good reason- I was married over spring break!
After much joy and whirlwind I have re-entered reality and am now present to the purpose of this blog. The research I have been collecting has focused on 4 categories
1. Attitude
2. Amount of sleep
3. Eating habits
4. Views on learning

My students have become accustomed to taking the survey during the week and really seem to enjoy having the chance to share their feelings. After collecting data for the past 6 weeks I have decided to teach a health unit during my full time take over.

Below you will find the four questions that I asked the students. I offered the survey Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Directions:
Read questions and then circle the number that best fits you. After you are finished please bring back to Ms. Cowan's desk. You do not have to put your name if you do not want to.

Question 1: How tired are you? (1-5; 1 being exhausted and 5 being very well slept)

Question 2: Ho do you feel about learning today? (1-5; 1 is not interested at all and 5 is super excited)

Question 3: How are you feeling right now? (1-angry, 2-sad, 3-lonely, 4-happy, 5-nothing at all)

Questions 4: Are you hungry? (1-5; 1 being very hungry and 5 being not hungry at all)

The results were interesting although for the most part the students are happy and well slept. There were a couple of students who shared that they were sad and angry and a number of the students come to class without eating any breakfast. For these reasons I really felt like a health unit will benefit them.

Reflections/Research

After feeling overwhelmed with all the data collecting I have decided to try streamlining the process a bit. I am doing daily reflections, rating myself on a scale of 1-5 and I am giving my students exit cards that also have a rating on them. The rating cards ask "How do feel?". I didn't want to be specific because I want their honest feelings about how they feel at the moment they get the card. I want to see if there are certain days students feel better or worse. I am also looking to see if the majority feel a certain way. For the reflections I am doing a free write before/after I get done teaching. What I have learned so far is that I am nervous before I teach and sometimes I am a bit scatter brained! After I teach I tend to over analyze and focus on the negative. I am trying to change my perspective and outlook to a more positive one. I am going to continue doing this and tweaking it, to find a system that works for me.

A bit more from a week-end heart ;)

So, I have no more graphs or charts or amazing information this week to add to our blog of Bi-weekly postings.  The last two weeks have gone by with so much disarray that I haven't deemed it irrational to take time to have kids fill out my survey.  (and besides that, there is little info to submit with testing.)
However, I do have a lot of learnings and self-reflections to add:

Here are some of my reflections from a stressful few weeks (imagine nightmares and hot sweats on a snowy mountain.):

1. Kids need boundaries.  These boundaries must be consistent, firm and non-negotiable. 
2. These boundaries always have an exception.  It is a work of art to balance the 'exception' with the rule.
3. Don't play in the game unless you know the rules.  (aka:  if students challenge you, don't feed into their challenge, unless you know how to win  ;) - and be ready to find out that your confidence was wrong.
4. Don't power struggle.  Instead set-up expectations and consequences that are easy to understand, and logical to use.
5. Follow through, and expect to do so.  (Even if I really don't want to punish students, I need to be ready to do so. That means, I can't set any punishments that I won't be comfortable following through with).
6. Kids want to succeed, but once they give up, its difficult to re-convince them that they CAN.
7. Encouraging the discouraged is HARD work
8. Teaching is akin to counseling...especially in ELD.
9. Take a deep breath when you need it.  Start again if you need to.  (keep your cool)
10. Kids like to be believed in
11. Teachers need encouragement too.
12. Be honest once you diffuse your frustration and anger, let kids know WHY you have felt this way (disappointment...etc.)

and about self:

1.  I have gotten better at keeping my cool
2.  I have learned more about how to express myself for the betterment of students.
3.  I need to raise my expectations of how students will treat ME.
4.  I need to be more on-top-of-it in cracking down on misbehavior.
5.  I need to see my class as a whole, as well as individuals, and not just as individuals...
6.  I want to fix all problems, and need to realize that that is not my job...and not always my lot in life. 


Beyond all these things, I have learned that not every personality meshes and sometimes I am not what a student needs...and I need to be okay with that.   EARTH TO AMY:  "you cannot solve the problems of the world one student at a time...especially if you get stuck on a road bump student...not even if you try harder."  It turns out, that when you stop trying, and just consistently support it is then that change surfaces...


'till next time,

-Amy Marsh

Data Report and Reflection, Volume 2

Student Data
I'm still not teaching full time, but will be in a week or so. Accordingly, my exit card plan has not yet been implemented. I am, however, working with students more and more frequently. I'm working out ways to deliver instruction more clearly and to avoid my own personal tendency to just give them the answer. I'm working with a student in Advanced Acting who is doing an old age makeup project, and at first I caught myself simply telling her which step to take next, but I have since been transitioning to a more discovery-based questioning approach to the process. You can't learn to do makeup without actually putting on makeup, no matter who is telling you what to do.

Adult Data
I had a visit from Charleen and she observed my lesson on costuming in Acting I. Everything went well, just a few hiccups which I received several good suggestions for. One thing I learned was not to tell students that they'll be making their own groups before I've explained the activity. The directions quickly get drowned out as they begin to talk to one another about who will be in who's group.

I also spoke to Beth about the lessons I've been teaching in her acting classes. She had generally positive things to say about my teaching, pointing out specifically that I make good use of demonstration and thoroughly explain what we're working on step by step. She also seemed pleased with the feedback I've been giving the students as we work.

Personal Data
Sleep log hasn't been much changed this time around. I'm still averaging 7-7.5 hours a night. I'm getting a little more comfortable with the schedule and confident with my energy levels, so I've been more willing to stay up a bit later to get things done or attend events (like the play last Monday night).

Attitude check-ins are mostly unchanged, as well. I suspect they'll begin to vary a bit more when I'm teaching all three classes, but for now I spend most of my time feeling content or interested, with the occasional "bored" creeping in (mostly when the students are rehearsing in the acting classes and none need my help).

Reflections focused a lot on my experiences in theatre and how I'm connecting it to my experiences in the English classes. I spent a lot of time watching Beth prepare the students to put on the play and learned a great deal about the whole process of putting on a production. I've been involved before, certainly, but never from the director/teacher's point of view. It was a very enlightening (and a little bit frightening)experience for me.

One memorable moment in the Freshman English class: We've been studying The Odyssey, and one lesson plan involved students acting out the famous "Test of the Bow" at the end of the story. We have a student in 1st period who is also very involved in Theatre. She's a Freshman, obviously, but she completely blew my mind when her group left to prepare their presentation. I tagged along to watch, and she basically morphed into a director for their little scene, teaching and coaching her classmates on stage movement, blocking, and remaining open to the audience. It was so awesome to see a student apply knowledge from one class to another in a meaningful way, and I'm excited to keep exploring ways to integrate theatre into English classes.

Reflections...and a bit of data

So, its taken me a while to post this partially because I have forgotten, and partially because I don't have very good internet access, so it it is, finally being sent in for your viewing pleasure.  Over the last two weeks, I have done my best at giving my students a survey at least twice a week.  When I give them a survey, I am also taking one before and after class and reflecting on my before vs. after feelings.   Its not surprising that my feelings of success during a lesson closely correlate with my students' feelings of success, and vice-a-versa.  

I have chosen to watch this grade 8 ELD class because I am hoping to inspire more learning in the classroom through this feedback, and my own reflections of what works and what doesn't work.  I wish I was a little better at remembering the surveys more often.   This is something to work on. 

Below is the data I have been collecting.  Its been nice to note that students are slowly starting to care and enjoy their class a bit more.  This is super encouraging, because when I came almost all of them would have sooner eaten raw steak than sit through 10 minutes of their ELD class.   Or, like I am still struggling with, many have simply 'checked-out.'  Hopefully this chart keeps growing!!!

 

I was really glad to see the enjoyment line rise in this chart, but I would like to see both rising together.  Their survey asks for a 1-5 rating of effort and enjoyment: 1 is low and 5 is high.  The above graph shows the average over 4 days.  However, because of the small size of the class, when one or two people are gone, the average is thrown off.  Especially because some students are always very positive, while others seem to usually give a lower score no matter the day.  More days and data will be necessary to arrive at any conclusion about the data being collected.  I am interested to see what I will find out! 

Thoughts? Suggestions?  Questions?  Ideas for improvement???