Middle School Action Plans

Hello! This is our first group post, our past posts have been research based to help our team of middle school teachers find a basis for their action research plans. Today we will highlight the importance of action research and then identify each of our personal ideas for action research.

ACTION RESEARCH:

What is action research?  How does it work?

Action research is a process of identifying a problem or an area of weakness in your classroom or school.  Once the problem is identified the person doing the research wants to create a question that is specific as to what they will be researching.  Next the person doing the research should review sources related to their question they developed to see what is already known about the topic.  This is a way for the researcher to figure out what strategies they will want to put into place.  The researcher implements the strategy, collects and analyze the data that can be either qualitative or quantitative.  Finally the research will see if the data supports their question and if the results had a positive impact on creating change to improve the school or classroom by continuing with the strategy implemented.  Either way the data should be shared with school personal.

What are the benefits?

The benefits of action research allows positive change to occur in your classroom and school.  It allows for teachers to have an open line of communication as to what works for them and what does not.  Action research is a way to foster continuous growth for the teachers involved in the process.  The individuals doing the research are always learning through this process making them life-long learners.

Who are the people involved?

Anyone in the school system can be involved in action research.  I would think it is most often the classroom teacher and the administration conducting the research to improve the classroom and school.

What is at stake?
Everyday teachers are faced with more and more diverse students so it is important for us to continually find the best teaching practices.  Action research allows for teachers to not just use trial and error as to what works best in their classroom but have solid answers to the questions we ask ourselves as we teach and plan.

ACTION RESEARCH PLANS:
THERESA: I am going to focus my action research on increasing math fact fluency in multiplication for my two time-and-a-half courses.  Students who struggle in math class often lack fluency with their basic math skills.  If I can improve this aspect of their math background other more complex math skills will be less cumbersome.
GINA: Action research is such an overwhelming concept, especially when it is applied to Art. Art is a subject area where measuring student’s graded assignments is often objective to the teacher. Art grades do not resonate with the school community equally as other subjects. I want to find an action research plan that will show the importance of art to every stakeholder- teachers, principals, parents and especially to my students. Collecting data to prove the importance of my art curriculum can be biased and unreliable. I want to use data that is already collected for my students by our county system- MAP.  I will track my student’s skill base and then compare this data to students who do not receive art education. I hope to use their math MAP data to show growth in the areas of Geometric Measurements and Relationships, topics I cover in every art unit.
KATIE: This week we were tasked with formulating our problem statements for a research project that will carry over approximately 12 weeks, and perhaps beyond that into our eventual thesis projects. For me, this was, and still is, very daunting. I started by brainstorming some things that I’m interested in or notice as deficits in my classroom. One is student engagement, but it seemed like too big a topic to take on in 12 weeks. Another is our mandated Performance Based Assessments in the language arts curricular program, but that, too, seemed too big to tackle. So, I went online and checked my students’ most recent standardized test data. What I found there was not surprising, but intriguing. Overall, students had scored the lowest on the portion that was about informational text. Because this is such a big push under the Common Core standards, whereas it had previously not been a focus, the fact that students performed poorly was to be expected. However, I would be interested in looking at the kind of strategies I can use to help students be more successful in this area, especially since it’s not something I imagined myself, an literature major, really teaching in my Language Arts classroom. It will take some research to identify strategies with which to conduct research, and I’m not 100% sure it’s going to be THE research task I run with, but it seems like a good start.
SEAN:The proliferation of technology in the classroom presents a challenge to both teachers and learners. Generational differences, usage expectations, and openness to innovative applications hinder the development of both students and teachers, often relegating technology to little more than a research or word processing tool. At Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy, eighth grade students are equipped with Chromebook computers on an individual basis. Computers were purchased with donor funds earmarked for technology. Despite initial excitement from teachers and students, a curriculum designed to utilize technology has not been developed, due in part to a hesitant faculty and staff. My research plan is centered around improving curriculum with technology in mind.
ELANI:

Job Growth and Technology

Middle school teachers are super human. Few human beings are willing to dive head first into the middle of human development, sparing no cost, monetary or otherwise, to escort students to greatness, or at least a passing grade and a fulfilling social life. These committed adults construct the school, working not only as teachers, but as guidance counselors, coaches, and all knowing mentors.

In the next ten years, many of these super human beings will retire, trading in their capes and textbooks for swimsuits and sun. A new era of teachers and a new era of technology beckons for tomorrow's middle school students. Considering the potential turnover in teachers, proper training in utilizing technology in the classroom is more important than ever for both current and future teachers. 

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts positive growth in jobs for middle school teachers. Will this job growth merge with effective teaching? We need a few more super humans. I hope we can find our capes. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics

"Middle School Moment"

"Middle School Moment" is the title of Frontline's 2012 documentary about middle school and the dropout trajectory. Filled with poignant stories, shocking statistics, and emerging strategies, this documentary highlights this often overlooked segment of a student's school experience. The film makes the case for a holistic approach to middle school education because the multi-dimensional needs of the middle school student are ripe with urgency and the potential to determine their educational trajectory.

Such a conversation has many implications for the middle school leader, as she must consider how to maximize resources to address so many pressing needs. While this indeed is challenge of any school leader, "Middle School Movement" charges one to understand the ramifications of decision-making at this particular juncture in a child's life.

"Middle School Moment"
Transcript, Video & Discussion Notes available

The Critical Years

        Think back to your middle school experience, who was your favorite educator? Was it your wacky P.E. teacher who taught everyone how to do the electric slide and the boot scooting boogie? Or maybe it was your history teacher who came in dressed as a medieval knight? Excellent middle school teachers are known to leave us with an exciting or fun memory. These teachers knew how to refocus our friend drama and bad hair days, into an engaging educational experiences.
          In Elissa Gootman’s The Critical Years articles, she looks at the changes middle school students face and how our school system is not effectively helping our students. Her second article For Teachers, Middle School Is Test of Wills she looks closely into the relationships students have with their teachers, and how most teachers are not prepared for the demands of middle school.

Gootman states “Around the country, middle school teachers are often trained as elementary school generalists or as high school subject specialists, with little understanding of young adolescent psychology.” And points to the findings from the The Education Trust, a Washington-based advocacy group, explaining that a “scandalously high” number of middle school classes are taught by teachers lacking even a college minor in their assigned subjects.”
            These articles were written in 2007 during the height of testing, and many of the failing students and schools were shown through the test scores. Statistics showed the drop in student test scores from elementary school to middle school levels. Now that many school systems are changing their models from high stakes testing, I wonder what data will come from middle school students and teachers? I am interested in how changing our data will influence our teacher? Will retention rates change? Will we focus more on mastering the curriculum and less on teaching to the test? To read more on this ideas, find the link below to all three of Gootman's articles.

The Critical Years- The New York Times

Beyond a Project

Last week in class we seemed to really focus on two major questions: What is action research? And why is it worthwhile? Both the book and the article by Ross-Fisher answered these questions, and although I left recognizing the benefits theoretically, I am still struggling with recognizing personal, practical benefits.

I think part of that struggle is that it's easy, as a teacher in today's world, to feel disempowered. Yes, I could research why a certain strategy is best for kids, but why bother? I'm going to be told what strategy, or what technology, or what assessment to use anyway. I decided to explore the concept of action research a little bit further, and found some hope in Chapter 2 of Roger Pine's text: "Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies". He states: "Action research assumes that teachers are the agents and source of educational reform and not the objects of reform (2009, p. 30). Using data to support strategies that we know work well, and to shed light on popular strategies which may not be effective, might be a way to influence current educational policy. It could, potentially, pave the way for more teacher freedom.

So, putting aside some of my cynical nature, I will try to look at the action research process beyond just a project, a hoop to jump through for some class, but as a way to assert myself as a agent, rather than a victim, of reform.

**To explore more of Pine's Chapter 2 text on SagePub, click here.

Teaching Middle School Students

Have you ever wondered why a teacher would ever want to teach middle school?  I'll tell you it is an interesting age.  Students are changing and figuring out who they really are and the type of person they want to be.  The students are figuring out who are their friends and trying to fit in.  They are being to become more independent and end of making mistakes and learning from their experiences.  Their middle school teachers are there to help them grow and guide them into making good choices.
With all of this going on how are their teachers suppose to get them to focus on Shakespeare, solving ax + b = c and learning about the three branches of government.  After reading, 'The Art of Managing Middle School Students," you will have some insight how a teacher accomplishes their job.

I find it is incredibly important to build a good student - teacher relationship with the students.  Students at this age are most worried about relationships.  If the students feel that they can trust you as the teacher and know that you truly care about them that relationship can go a long way in getting the students to do what you need them to do.  It is also important to keep the students engaged so they continue to want to learn.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/art-of-managing-middle-schoolers-ben-johnson