Learning About Your Students - CUR 520, WK2 - LOVELL

From my experience with this class, they are ultimately not interested in reading, and are not likely to pick up a book and read for enjoyment. Students have demonstrated a lack of interest and effort when they have deemed work as challenging and/or difficult. They have often begun acting out during these times, either with behavioral issues or by simply not doing their work. All students have demonstrated an interest in sports, video games, and video applications, and students seem more interested in academics when they integrate any of these, even if it’s just through the usage of stories or word problems. Students often believe that attending school takes them away from the things they are interested in, and, thus, they see school as “boring”.

Survey Results (Continued)

Student Survey Results

• A lack of interest in reading
• Motivation is more focused on getting something tangible rather than academic success
• Students believe they do not put forth their best effort when they find the work too challenging or boring
• Students do not generally like school because they find it “boring” or there is too much work.
• Students work best with their friends or people who have similar interests as they have
• Boys and girls are both interested in sports and video games outside of school, as well as video apps such as TikTok and YouTube

Parent Survey Results

• Goal for students is to get “good grades” in all areas and/or to improve reading/math scores
• Strategies implemented at home are more aligned with trying to force students to get to work with threats of punishment
• Students enjoy playing with friends outside or on video games
• Families place more importance on good grades over improved social/communication skills
• Parents collectively think their students struggle with math and reading, with more trouble in reading
• Most parents do not read at home because of a lack of materials and a lack of English fluency at home

Survey Results Summary

Almost unanimously, parents have a focus on two things: good grades in all academic areas and improved scores in math and reading. Parents do not do a lot of reading at home in my school’s area, and parents suggest this is due either to a lack of materials at home or due to the language barrier as most parents are Spanish-speaking and students are reading primarily in English. While parents are concerned with social and communication skills, their primary focus is on “good grades”. Parents do not have a collective opinion about what motivates their children to be successful, but they believe that the students often are more motivated when they know they are going to get something in return, responses that closely resemble what students have collectively suggested.

With these anticipated responses in mind, I developed an activity that would hopefully garner interest in the application of reading and math skills, while also establishing cooperation amongst students and providing them with an opportunity to learn something new about one another.

Activity Logic

This activity is designed for a sixth grade classroom and as a beginning of the year activity to be used within the first few days of class.

While students are submitting their answers on their Chromebooks using the Google Forms format, the teacher will be able to see how well students are reading and inferring what the questions are asking. Student responses will be solely the work of each individual student, though the teacher can provide clarification to the questions as needed.

Once the survey responses have been collected, they will be housed in a spreadsheet. The teacher will copy the spreadsheet without the names and share this with the class through Google Classroom, allowing each individual student to see all responses. The students are then placed into groups randomly--either by the teacher or by allowing students to choose with whom they work--in groups of no more than four students.

Together, groups will determine which question they want to create a graph for and analyze the responses to that question. Students will work with others in their group to share inferences and understandings of what the answers are saying and if there are any similarities in responses. For example, if a group is analyzing responses to the question “What is something you are interested in learning more about in school?,” students may analyze all responses and see that multiple terms are used that fit under the umbrella of “science,” with the terms including “volcanoes,” “electrical currents,” “Science fair,” “doing experiments,” etc. It is up to the students to work together to determine what information will be presented in their graphs. To simplify this activity, students are only focusing on one question and the responses to that question. The teacher could assign a question to each group or allow them to pick and choose.

Using a large piece of poster paper, students will develop a colorful graph to display their findings. Groups must decide what type of graph will best apply to their information: bar graph, pie graph, line graph, or something else. This requires background knowledge of graphs--how they look, what information they present, and how to organize one. As this is designed for a sixth grade classroom, students should have sufficient background knowledge of graphing to complete this activity. This will allow the teacher to see how sufficient the background knowledge is in the first few days of class as graphing is one of the early math lessons we cover in Sixth Grade mathematics in California. Standards covered are:

ELA

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1 - Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7 - Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Math

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.A.1 - Recognize a statistical question as one that anticipates variability in the data related to the question and accounts for it in the answers. For example, "How old am I?" is not a statistical question, but "How old are the students in my school?" is a statistical question because one anticipates variability in students' ages.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.A.2 - Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.A.3 - Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its values vary with a single number.

1

How well students are able to read informational text and form inferences as they analyze the responses to the singular question they are using. The responses can vary greatly, so the students will have to make inferences and communicate these to their partners to make final decisions.

2

How well students use their inferences to determine how to develop their graph, including the data on the x and y axises.

3

How well students are able to problem solve when it comes to making decisions with others, developing their data sets, piecing their data together, and more.

3

4

How well students can collect and analyze data, skills necessary in all subject areas throughout the entire school year.

5

How well students can consolidate data into a visual representation, which they will have to do throughout the school year both in groups and independently.

6

How well students can work with other students and independently because students will be required to work with various other classmates throughout the year on a variety of activities.

7

How well students can present information aloud and in front of others--this gauges how well students read, how well students speak in front of others, whether students are more active or passive in presentational activities, and more, which ultimately drives what the teacher will need to work on with each individual student moving forward.

8

How well students use technology effectively and efficiently, whether students are able to use technology or if they need additional guidance (this is especially crucial for my classroom as each student is provided a Chromebook in class and we teachers have an expectation to use technology readily in our day-to-day activities).

9

How students’ social-emotional behaviors and skills impact their ability to complete activities and work with others.

9

10

What communication skills students currently possess and what will need to be worked on moving forward.

10

This activity is meant to provide the teacher with as much information in a short amount of time as possible. Although this activity seems simplistic in design, its purpose is multi-layered and significant as it readily applies skills that students will need to utilize throughout the school year. By doing this activity at the start of the year, the teacher is able to quickly see in which areas students either succeed or struggle, providing the teacher with an immediate set of data in which to drive future instruction. While the teacher may develop these ideas based on data reports from the previous school year and the information received from past teachers, it is crucial that the teacher gains a first-hand account of these skills and capabilities inside their own classroom to develop the teacher’s perspective of each student based on performance rather than outdated data or heresay.

Activity Conclusion