School Presentation

So the school presentation went well, my audience was engaged and asked some great questions.  Below are some pictures from the experience.

3/25/14

Agenda

1.       List 3 ideas

2.       Grade your own writing (1^st article and original writing)

3.       Begin writing your next article

7:29 Participant K and A entered room and were provided a piece of paper and pencil.  Walker, “list your 3 ideas please.”

7:30 Participant M entered room

7:33 Collected 3 ideas from Participant K and A

7:34 Gave Participant K and A the ReadWriteThink Writing Rubric (2004) and gave them, “Three to five minutes to read over it.”  “You’ve got four more minutes, read through each section so you know where your stuff fits.  Be honest!”

Gave original writing to grade themselves.

7:39 Gave copy of 1^st newspaper issue for participants to read and grade themselves.

7:37Particpant L entered room

7:42 Participant C entered room

 7:55 Participant J entered room

Presentation

Tomorrow I will be presenting my research process and research findings thus far to the fifth grade team teachers.  I am actually very excited to share my experiences and what I have found.  Below is a portion of what I will be presenting to the fifth grade team.  A few of my discussion points will be:

• Connection between: accountability and school culture
• Writing Survey Results
• Coding results
• Blog
• Reinke (2005) research tool

 I look forward to giving results from my presentation :) Wish me luck!

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

As my research efforts are starting to wind down, I can say that I've truly enjoyed the process.  My question, "What affect would the implementation of a school newspaper have on student writing?"  I noticed, throughout this process spawned other questions in regards to student motivation, behavior, and accountability.  This research process has allowed me to reflect on myself as a teacher, my peers, and our school culture as a whole.  Today I found myself having a conversation with one of my colleagues and had a revelation that part of the reason that it was such a challenge to get my participants to turn in their work on time or even turn in their work at all was due to the culture of the school.  Students not turning in their work or being late with their work is a part of the school culture!  Something that I plan to do is the on task/off task behavior monitoring chart designed by Reinke (2007).    I would love to perform this intentional observation in each of the fifth grade classrooms (because my participants were fifth graders) and present my findings to the fifth grade team.

At this moment I would say that I am about half way through my research process.  I will make necessary adjustments for the next (probably last) newspaper issue for the semester in order to hold participants and myself more accountable.  I say myself because Randy Sprick (1998) was mentioned as saying, "If teachers are unclear about their expectations, the kids learn it's all a crapshoot, so you might as well do whatever you want," (as cited in Knight, 2007, p.143).  I found the following video very interesting and relateable to my situation with holding my participants, or in this video's words, employees, accountable.

Newspaper Meeting for FINAL revisions

7:30 Participant A and M enter room

7:32 Participant A goes to get others, Participant M makes suggestion of making “letters” (words) bigger so that people can see them better.

7:33 Walker zoomed, “Yea, now it’s easier to read!”- Participant M

7:34 Walker tells participants to go to tables and review the agenda for today J Participant J enters.

7:37 Participants C, L, and A enters the room

• Each participant that turned in an article read aloud and received help from the other participants.
• Had to calm down Participant J several times (overly excited and beginning to bother other people on purpose)
• Made the requested changes based upon what each participant felt their article needed to be better.
• Most of the changes made were in regards to spelling and adding conclusions to articles.
• Participant K was absent.
• Ran out of time to really discuss article 2 and taking the survey.

8:00 “Your job is to give me a list of at least 3 ideas for your next article by tomorrow!”

Agenda 3/18/14

1.       Read individual articles out loud

2.       Make FINAL revisions

3.       Discuss article 2

4.       2^nd Garfield Survey

• The FINAL newspaper that was made, will be distributed today to each classroom.  I have also given all of the fifth grade the Garfield Writing Attitude Survey and am steadily working on getting the raw scores and percentile ranking from each one.

2 more articles turned in :)

Below is a revised article by Participant C, and also an article by Participant A.  These will be coded at a later time.

Final Revision of the Newspaper

For the purposes of this blog, all names have been changed (pseudonyms) to protect participants and those involved.

Finally, a completed newspaper that can go out to the student body!  However, this endeavor did present some challenges.    As I had previously discussed in other posts, just getting participants to turn in an article was very difficult and I still have not received all articles back.  Randy Sprick (1998) is mentioned as stating, "If teaches are unclear about their expectations, the kids learn it's all a crapshoot, so you might as well do whatever you want," (as cited in Knight, 2007, p.143).  I have to take part of the blame, this experience taught me to the importance of having consequences for various actions in place; case and point, participants not turning in their articles on time.  There should have been a consequence of some sort to this behavior, but because there was not, the previously discussed behaviors followed suite.  Pictures and coding of the last two articles to come soon.

Teacher Interview Transcriptions

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant K’s________  strengths are in writing?

Uh participant K seems to have a good concept of her audience and who she’s writing to. Um, so it helps her to develop her writing when she uh focuses on her audience.

2.      What do you think Participant K’s needs to work on in writing?

Uh probably just grammatical and punctuation.

3.      In what ways is Participant K’s _________ progressing in writing?

Uh she’s developing her paragraphs to be stronger uh to uh portray her point more in depth with more text details.

4.      In what ways is Participant K’s not progressing in writing?

Uh just back to the grammatical and punctuation that she needs to work on, she’s still lacking in those areas.

5.      How has _Participant K’s writing changed in the classroom?

Uh she’s uh writing longer paragraphs with more details uh instead of short quick paragraphs.

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant J’s________  strengths are in writing?

Uh participant J is really good at determining what his outcome’s gonna be, uh what he wants to say and how he wants to tell it to people.

2.      What do you think Participant J’s needs to work on in writing?

Grammatical, and punctuation, capital letters, complete sentences, and getting a new paragraphs.

3.      In what ways is Participant J’s _________ progressing in writing?

Umm he’s been working with several people to uh help him with his writing so its uh stronger technical wise with his ideas and concepts.

4.      In what ways is Participant J’s not progressing in writing?

Uh he’s still a little sloppy with his grammat… uh grammar and punctuation stuff, that seems to be common

5.      How has _Participant J’s writing changed in the classroom?

He’s become more motivated to write stronger and better pieces.

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant C’s________  strengths are in writing?

He…he’s really good like with using transitions, I will say that umm like he’ll use words like “however” umm ummm somehow you know he’ll always connect paragraph to paragraph with transition words I’m really pleased with that, I think that’s awesome that he does that ; first or second, that’s a good thing for him. He’s really, he’s always good at sticking to the topic like whatever he’s writing about, he’ll take his time, he’ll think about it, he’ll erase and re-write  and   he’s real meticulous you know he wants it to be perfect.

2.      What do you think Participant C’s needs to work on in writing?

Uh I hate to say this again, but vocabulary with him too, especially cause you know  he’s ELL even though he’s an avid reader  different forms of writing I would like for him to use is a little harder for him, so working on vocabulary I think, and reading too like different forms of writing like I would love for them to get into poetry, different forms of poetry,  plays, like different forms of writing I think we need to work on that.

3.      In what ways is Participant C’s _________ progressing in writing?

Umm,…..he… he’s got pretty good mechanical skills and grammatical skills so all the things we learn in language he applies pretty well,  maybe idea development maybe expanding on his ideas a little bit and giving a little more detail I think.

4.      In what ways is Participant C’s not progressing in writing?

Umm well I’ve been encouraging them to use, cause part of our standards in 5^th grade is they have to use, recognize figurative language and understand it so we’ve been working with them to find metaphors, and similes and using personification, onomatopoeia, and all those things that are a little harder to use in writing to make their more alive and more vivid, they’re working on that.

5.      How has _Participant C’s writing changed in the classroom?

Umm you know I would say that he’s one of mine that umm he likes to write, he’s not one that’s hesitant he’ll just jump in, cause I think he understands, you know, the importance of writing cause across all, you know, subjects they have to be able to write, and so he’s he’s a  always give his opinion, umm but persuasive type things he really gets into, those are things he likes so, I guess just seeing him use different genres of writing, he wrote a speech…

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant A’s________  strengths are in writing?

Umm he’s my student that’s uh able to pull like evidence from the text to support his ideas that’s a really difficult skills for 5^th graders, uh he’s got that.  umm he’s really good at sticking to the theme or sticking to the main topic when he’s writing, umm and he’s really good to go back and look at it, his work, and re-read it and edit it if he needs to.

2.      What do you think Participant A’s needs to work on in writing?

Vocabulary, like, adding and umm more like 5^th grade level words is something I feel he needs to work on I try to get him to do more reading, like independent reading, because I feel like if you do a lot of reading, then you’re automatically a better writer so I’m always onto him about read your novels, read more umm yea do more on your own because that will increase his vocabulary.

3.      In what ways is Participant A’s _________ progressing in writing?

Umm like I said he, he, he will take like the skills we learn in language and our reading language program is awesome  its really good to teach him punctuation and even the semi-colon, they can use that now. how to use adjectives and adverbs and he is one that can take that and apply it to his writing, like it’s not an isolated skill for him, he does well in language he always gets 100,  but I also want him to use that in his writing using those skills

4.      In what ways is Participant A’s not progressing in writing?

Like I said before, I just feel like...his vocabulary, his extended vocabulary he uses, and its not just him, a lot of kids I don’t feel they use the vocabulary I would like them to  so if we read more then you can write more

5.      How has _Participant A’s writing changed in the classroom?

Umm like I said, he’s  he’s not one like even when I give him journal time doesn’t hesitate to write like some kids are, like I said his grammar is better, his organization is better, you know he’s one of mine that will change paragraphs when he changes topics that’s a hard them for them, yea he’s improved.

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant L’s________  strengths are in writing?

Umm strengths with her probably main idea and details, like she keeps those cohesive way more than she used to, umm she’s starting to use transition words like paragraph to paragraph, umm she’s still not using a lot on vocabulary, organization I guess would be her strength.

(Me: So would you add vocabulary to one of the things she needs to work on?)

2.      What do you think Participant L’s needs to work on in writing?

Yes she’s another one I encourage to read more cause she’s… I don’t think she’s discovered how good books are yet and I would really like to see her do that, umm I think if she did she would apply that more to her writing

3.      In what ways is Participant L’s _________ progressing in writing?

Uh like I said say organization, her grammar, she’s another one that does awesome in our language program, uh she’s pretty good to apply you know new words, vocabulary from like social studies or math on like answers on like short answers, but I would like to see more of that like in short stories and just you know journal writing

4.      In what ways is Participant L’s not progressing in writing?

Umm spelling is still a little bit of an issue, umm cause I know that’s not that big of a deal anymore because of computers, spelling, main idea, detail like development, elaboration, I would like her to elaborate more, like paint a better picture with words.

5.      How has _Participant L’s writing changed in the classroom?

Umm since the beginning of the year she has improved a lot, she’s one of mine that actually changed levels in reading, she went from Apprentice to Proficient so that’s good. So I guess you can say she’s applying what she’s learned to her writing to her reading a little bit. Umm  she is really aware of like audience, I’ll say that for her,  she knows how like to address the audience and consider the person that’s going to be reading her paper  I heard her talking to her talking to someone at her table about that,  “Who do you think we’re writing this for? You can’t say that, we’re not writing to a friend,” haha she’s a funny one.

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel __Participant M’s________  strengths are in writing?

Her strengths…now I’ll say this for her, she reads and she remembers like vocabulary. Like any word that we use in social studies, umm and like really hard words like yesterday she used expedition you know that’s a good thing; so she’s real good at taking vocabulary that she learns and using it in her writing like in her daily short answers or extended responses

2.      What do you think Participant M’s needs to work on in writing?

She still needs to work on organization, umm and again having… she has such personality I would like to see her voice out in her writing, she’s got this big personality I would like to see her use that more in writing.

3.      In what ways is Participant M’s _________ progressing in writing?

Umm…again, I have to say again language, our program I do love it, so she has been applying skills that she’s learned in language I feel like to her writing, organization is better with her, definitely better.

4.      In what ways is Participant M’s not progressing in writing?

Uhh..detail, adding details, umm like especially like taking….her ideas…like finding details in the text to support an answer is hard for her umm and just expanding on an idea.

5.      How has _Participant M’s writing changed in the classroom?

Uhh she’s one of mine that’s’ very enthusiastic she you know like I said applies vocabulary that she’s learned and her voice is starting to come through more in her writing.

Newsletter as is without corrections or revisions

Below is the school newspaper with each article written just as the participants wrote them.  This is without corrections or revisions from the participants.  I plan to show this to the participants and have them revise their individual articles.

Still very raw data. I left all of the grammatical and spelling errors in there as to show the participants evidence of where they need to focus in order to strengthen their writing.

Teacher Interviews on Participants

Oh the woes of technology....

This past Friday, I tried to conduct teacher interviews in regards to their insight and opinions on the participants.  After beginning my attempt of the first interview, I quickly realized that my efforts would be more efficient and accurate if I utilized technology (ie: voice recorder or video camera) to get all of the details that were given in a quicker manner than I could write them.  Unfortunately, technology was not cooperating quite the way that it was needed.  After several attempts to find a voice recorder that would work, the technology coordinator and I finally settled on using a video camera; however when it came time to upload the videos, there was some malfunctioning on that part.  I have since emailed the questions to the teachers and will also make an attempt to record again using an iPhone.  Below you will find the interview questions that I used:

RESEARCH PROJECT TEACHER INTERVIEW

1.      What do you feel _(the participant’s)__________  strengths are in writing?

2.      What do you think ____(the participant)______ needs to work on in writing?

3.      In what ways is ___(the participant)_________ progressing in writing?

4.      In what ways is _(the participant)__________  not progressing in writing?

5.      How has _(the participant’s)__________   writing changed in the classroom?

From what I remember from the interviews the areas of need that I've heard most from the teachers were:

1. Using detail from other resources to support their writing.
2. Vocabulary
3. Grammar

Stay tuned.  More information to come :)

Codes

Table 1 Code Mapping (To be read from top to bottom)

__________________________________________________________________________

Initial Codes

Informing                                                Relating                                              Empathy
Quoting                                                  Illustrating                                          Speaking
Listing                                                    Inquiring                                Connecting subject to life
Ends abruptly                                         Personal connections                    Strong emotions
Speaks directly to reader                       Overwhelmed                            Weak writing style
Using “you” a lot                                    Recognizing audience                        Comparing
Questions the reader                              Establishes subject                        Identifies strengths
Restating names of groups                    Provides illustrations                Spelling errors throughout
Less specific                                       Grammar errors throughout
____________________________________________________________________________

Secondary Codes

Quoting peers and teachers (GS)
Illustrations (SD)
Quoting peers and teachers (SD)
Listing directly related to subject (SF)
Using relevant social vocabulary (RWC)
Grammar, Spelling, Weak Writing (E)
____________________________________________________________________________

Final Codes

Group Similarity (GS)             Supporting Detail (SD)                   Subject focused (SF)

Real World Connection (RWC)                 Errors (E)                

Group Similarity (GS)

I selected the term group similarity to describe the way that the participants in the school
newspaper group were using similar writing elements in their articles.  Writing elements that I coded that were described as group similarity were: using quotes from peers and teachers, listing details and
ideas, and directly informing the reader about their respective subjects.

Common in most articles was the participants’ ability to inform the reader about their subject.
Early articles were quite vague in the amount of detail to support the informing nature of each article.
The information given seemed to be more of a listing type of process rather than completely explaining
the information for the reader.  For example, “There are some more programs like girls on the run,”
(Participant J, 2014).  This is an example of Participant J mentioning or listing one of the after school
programs at the school; however, it does not offer details for the reader to gain a better understanding
of what, “girls on the run,” is or involves.


Supporting Detail (SD)

The term supporting detail was selected to describe how the participants provided more
information to strengthen their article.  Writing elements that I coded that were described as supporting
detail were: directly quoting peers or teachers, having comparisons, and making use of illustrations.
Supporting details varied from article to article.  Early articles provided supporting detail in
different ways.  The information given offered some insight into each participant’s subject for the reader.
For example Participant K interviewed a peer M.H., “I have never been bullied. I have never bullied
anyone. I do not have a Facebook or Instagram so I have never been cyber bullied,” (as cited by
Participant K, 2014).

Ugh, another snow day......But coding none the less

So this morning as I gaze out of my window, it's really looking like the next ice age is on its way (haha). Just me being dramatic, I know, but the snow days are really getting old; but the show must go on.  I have looked through the interviews that I conducted with my participants and have begun to code them; again, looking for the "-ing," and words that were used more than once.

Participant A

• Pausing
• listing
• repeating
• the word, "umm"

Participant L

• Pausing
• lots of action words
• relating
• restating
• listing
• repeating
• the word, "umm"
• the word, "like"
• the phrase, "my life"
• the word, "home"

Participant C

• repeating
• maybe-ing
• listing
• restating
• pausing
• the word, "uh"
• the word, "maybe"
• the word, "sometimes"
• the phrase, "what happens"

Participant M

• pausing
• thinking
• restating
• the word, "uh"
• the phrase, "I feel"

The other two participants' interviews to come soon.  As a way to address the difficulty of receiving articles back from participants, I maybe able to adopt Wendy Reinke's (2005) form that was used to monitor on task and off task behavior in the classroom; then, take that information present it to each respective homeroom teacher and collaborate to come up with a plan of action to get articles back in time. "The form is easy to use.  Every five seconds, the coach glances at ta student.  If the student is on task at the moment the coach looks at her, the coach puts a plus sign (+) in the appropriate box.  If the student is off task, the coach puts a zero (0) in the box," (Knight, 2007, p.146).  Other suggestions are welcome!

A finished article update...

Below is Participant K's completed article.  As you can see it does present a better picture of Participant K's point of view because she included some quotes and information from her peers that she interviewed.  I do think that she could have included a little more information and went further with her interview process, however, I also understand that she along with the other participants are students who have other responsibilities. That being said, there could still be more information included.

The article seems to end very abruptly. Next steps for all participants involved is to self-evaluate their own articles using the rubric.  Then publishing with the articles that we have and moving on to the next issue of the school newspaper.

Beginning to Code

I am beginning to code the information that has been submitted for my research project.  Before I address the coding, I must address how frustrating the process of actually receiving the articles and other writing pieces from my participants has been.  Knight (2007) speaks on behavior within the classroom, "Learning how to manage student behavior in the classroom is one of the most challenging an important skills teachers need to master," (p.142).  My experience in constantly reminding my participants and waiting for them to turn in their articles definitely connects to Knight's (2007) statement.  The question is, how to go about addressing the issue.  This is a research project, but it is also a great opportunity for students who may not otherwise have a platform like a school newspaper to voice their opinions, thoughts, and ideas.  Suggestions and ideas are welcome!

Moving on to coding the information, taking Dr. Professor's (pseudonym) advice, I have begun the initial stages of coding, reflecting on the "-ing" of each article, so what are the participants doing? My findings are listed below:

Participant J

• Informing
• Listing
• Speaking
• Illustrating

Participant K

•  Relating
• Inquiring
• Empathy
• Informing
• Quoting
• Interviewing

Participant C

• Informing
• Quoting
• Interviewing

Overall, these three participants (I'm still waiting on the other three participants' articles) are all:

• Informing
• Interviewing to get the information