Week Five

A word I hear a lot during the teacher meetings for the 5th grade is frustration--the frustration of trying to get students to read and, therefore, improve their reading. They desparately want to help their students succeed, but no matter what they try, they can't get them involved or motivated. I think this is a common problem for schools everywhere. My teacher allows students to use their study guides on tests in Social Studies, and they still get the wrong answer. They just won't take the time to find the answers. Many students don't get support or encouragement from home to do well in school. Lack of parent involvement and excessive absences only add to the problem of students' apathetic attitudes toward school.

A main concern is that students just do not read. This year students are supposed to read 25 books independently under the STAR reader program. During a team meeting this week, one teacher stated, "I know I need to teach differently but I don't know how." I think this is a frustration felt by many teachers. From all of these factors, I finally decided that my Action Research project will be on using different activities and methods to increase student motivation for independent reading. One activity that immediately sprang to my mind was Book Talks. We learned about these in a C&I course. They are kind of like a preview of a book that students give to encourage the rest of the class to read that particular book. I'd like to develop some sort of chart to measure if students are more likely to read a book that was reviewed by a fellow classmate. If anything, I'm hoping that this inquiry project can produce some new methods of encouraging students to read.

Week Four

This week I was able to participate in AIMSweb training for two days. AIMSweb is a program for grades 1-8 that measures student reading and comprehension through oral reading assessments. I learned how to administer and score the assessments and how to enter the information into the software. I also learned a lot about setting goals and progress monitoring. TCMS will be using this program to assist the measurement of the students in 1st period reteach. Teachers divided students into either reteach or enrichment groups based on WestTest scores, reading comprehension tests, and teacher observation. In the 5th grade, 5 teachers are teaching reteach. With room for only 8 kids in each class, the list had to be narrowed down to 40 kids. However, they is a chance this list will change when the program actually gets underway.

Although the training presented a lot of valuable and interesting information, many of the teachers were frustrated because they can't even begin to use it yet. The server is still down at the school, making it impossible to use AIMSweb or even check out library books. Technology can be a fabulous learning tool...when it's working. It can be very complicated to integrate technology when the school has a lack of resources or if those resources aren't available or aren't functioning.

Another grievance I overheard was that AIMSweb measures student progress but doesn't give any techniques for how teachers can help the students improve. If there were more focus on the intervention and less on the measurement, it might have been more beneficial for me.

Week Three

One of the biggest issues I'm noticing is absences; five students were absent one day. This issue isn't just limited to the 5th grade. The other interns and I attended a community presentation on the alarming dropout rate in Taylor County. They are 2nd in West Virginia for highest number of dropouts. The judge who presented stated that it starts with absences in the lower grades, and students get the mindset that school isn't important. The teachers and community are pulling together to implement programs to stop this problem. I'm hoping that I can help in any way by focusing on student motivation to attend school in the class I'm working with.

I'm still thinking about my action research project, but I like the idea of using cooperative learning somehow. The students in my morning class are always wanting to work together and help each other with work. They have offered to explain directions to a neighbor when I'm helping another student. I think these students could benefit from cooperative learning and group work. In my afternoon class, the students seem a little more hesitant to work with each other, but this class struggles the most with absences. I might look into the motivational aspect to encourage these kids to attend school.

Week Two

During this week, I learned a lot about collaboration from observing the 5th grade teachers' team meetings. The teachers had to work on slimming down the list of students in the Reteach classes to 40. They discussed various techniques, like using Word Lists to determine placement. The teachers also had to work on the R&R program at the school and figure out what to write in the letter to parents. Other topics included fundraisers, field trips, and rewards for the R&R program.

I've noticed that a lot of the students in my afternoon class ask for help on their work. I'm glad to help them when they are struggling, but I'm also afraid that I'm becoming a crutch for them. Many times all I do is read the directions back to them, and then they say, "Oh, now I got it." I want them to take the time to try it themselves before I help them.

My mentor teacher and I have been working on a seating chart for the students. The morning class has been behaving well, but the afternoon class is having difficulty with talking and off-task behavior. I've been teaching a little bit in the afternoon from my mentor teacher's lesson plans, and I think one of my weaknesses is classroom management. I'm hoping to learn some new classroom management techniques from my mentor teacher.