Reflecting on Action Research

Thoughts about action research

I have really enjoyed all of the action research projects that I have completed as part of this program. The projects have actually helped me and my colleagues to enact significant changes in our department and have informed my teaching practice in surprising ways. I think that action research is really a more intentional and systematic version of what many teachers consider best practice: critically examining their classrooms, reflecting on the teaching and learning taking place, and making changes that result in better learning outcomes. I love that action research is collaborative and cyclical. It forces me to continually consult with other teachers that have talents and strengths different from my own. Although I wish that I could just "arrive" as a seasoned, autonomous, all-knowing professional one day, I think action research helps to remind me that I should always stay humble enough to learn from others and keep growing.


Ideas generated

The focus of my action research study was to examine the impact of collaboration between English Second Language teachers and high school general education teachers on ELL student attitudes and achievement in the general education classroom. I met with English language learners, general education teachers and the ESL professional in my building to discuss accommodations for ELLs in the general education classroom and found that both ELLs and their teachers perceived a need for additional training in modifications for students with limited English proficiency. I think that, as an ESL teacher in the future, I will need to carefully consider how to create professional development and collaboration opportunities for the general education teachers at my school. I would like to continue to research this topic and look for models of best practice in my professional learning community.



Suggestions to other ESL professionals

Based on the action research that I conducted I would definitely suggest that all ESL professionals consider implementing common planning time, online collaboration or other professional collaboration opportunities in their building to work with the general education teachers who teach their ELLs. General education teachers can certainly benefit when educated about second language acquisition and sheltered content instruction. Although I realize that collaboration is difficult on a school-wide level, I think any efforts made will undoubtedly positively impact learning outcomes for ELLs.

Observation #1

My first classroom observation took place on Wednesday, September 28th with Mrs. Cox, an elementary ESL professional. I chose to observe in this setting because all of my previous experience has been with adolescent English language learners. I was only able to observe for a little over an hour because I had to schedule my observation during my planning time. However, following this experience, I've decided that I would like to spend an entire day shadowing Mrs. Cox as soon as possible. In the short time that I was with her I was able to observe her working with three different groups of students. Her schedule is packed and I am sure that spending just one day with her will provide me with a great deal of insight into working with elementary ESL students. I truly enjoyed the brief time I had with Mrs. Cox and her students, but I have to admit that the time constraints that they were forced to adhere to left me feeling a little overwhelmed. Below are my notes and observations from the two lessons I was able to observe. I wasn't able to stay to observe the final group of students, but hopefully I will get a chance to see them in action next time.

Teaching
What was the purpose of the lesson?

The purpose of the lesson I was able to view in its entirety was to develop literacy skills including reading fluency and comprehension and to help students to use their imagination and evidence from the texts to make predictions.

How was the lesson structured –methodology, appropriateness,materials for second language learners, adaptations?

The lesson was a read-aloud session between the ESL student and a kindergarten student. The teacher chose an age appropriate text and took time to pause and model asking questions about the text. The purpose of the text was to encourage imagination. The teacher also took the time to point to visuals and illustrations for words that might be unfamiliar to a second language learner. In the next session the student and teacher will take time to go outside and use their imaginations to create sentences about the “animals” they can find in the clouds and trees around the school.

How did the second language learners react and interact?

This learner was very engaged and interacted enthusiastically with the teacher during the reading. Occasionally he needed to be redirected to the reading, but he seemed to enjoy both the literacy experience and the conversations that he engaged in with the teacher.

Community
What evidence of “community” in terms of the second language learner did you observe?

Each of the students seemed to have developed camaraderie as English language learners. They seemed excited to go to ESL class and were sincerely engaged in class activities. When I arrived, one student was having a tough day. She was a newcomer from South Korea and was sharing her frustrations and anxiety with a fellow student and her teacher. There was definitely a sense that the classroom was a safe space to share her burdens.

What is required to become a member of this classroom or learning environment—consider language, literacy, content instruction, materials, etc.?

The requirements for membership in this classroom vary depending on the schedule. All of the students are second language learners, but their language and literacy skills are extremely diverse. For example, the kindergarten students are not yet literate in L1 or L2, but some of them are strong English speakers. In other grades, students may be literate in L1 and/or L2, but their language skills may vary. All of the students receive services targeted at improving both their productive and receptive language skills. The older that the students are, the more likely that their lessons also focus on content instruction and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. The teacher utilized a variety of resources, but leveled readers are used most frequently.

Ethnographic Perspective
What events occurred during your observation – formal interactions and informal
interactions?

When I arrived to Mrs. Cox’s classroom I found that she had taken a break from her current lesson to address the needs of one of her learners. The young girl was crying , but trying desperately to hold herself together. The teacher took the time to explain to the girl that every student is allowed to have a “melt-down” and then wrote the word “melt-down” on a vocabulary card. She also handed her a box of tissues and encouraged her to cry if she needed to. She also encouraged her to tell her regular education teacher when she needed a little time away from class if she was feeling overwhelmed. While allowing the student a moment, the teacher turned to another young lady, and asked her to remember how difficult it was to come to the US as a newcomer. The girl shared about her experiences and both girls were then hugged and sent to class.

After dismissing the girls the teacher followed up with a 3rd grade boy that was working independently on reading comprehension questions from a reader. She checked his work, congratulating him on a job well done and then sent him to class with a fellow classmate that had stopped by the room to pick him up.

After sending these students to class, the teacher and I headed out to the playground to pick up three kindergarten students, two boys and one girl. The teacher had brought a stuffed hen and a big book with the letter “H” out to the playground. On the way in to the classroom the teacher held out the big book and asked students to repeat words beginning with the letter “H.” She gently corrected and redirected one of the boys as he pointed to the “chicken” in the book asking “Can you say “hen”?” Once, inside the classroom the students paused at the door beside a butcher paper cutout with a poem written on it. They recited the poem about rain with careful diction and motions to go along with the words. The teacher then directed the students to sit on the carpet, but was almost immediately interrupted by one of the mainstream kindergarten teachers. She needed two of the students to return to class because their class was scheduled to complete a health screening. One girl and one boy left with their teacher leaving another boy and the teacher to participate in the lesson. The lesson was about imagination. The teacher and the boy read a book about a young girl’s adventure on the walk to school as she imagines seeing jungle animals and trekking through the desert. The teacher often paused to ask questions and allow the learner to make observations and predictions. At the end of the story the teacher explained that the next day they would go outside to find their own adventure and then write a story about it together. The teacher then rewarded the student with a “bee-buck” (a school-wide positive behavior program incentive) for his attentiveness and participation in class that day.

What can an observer see if he/she entered the classroom at this particular time?

An observer in this classroom can see boxes full of books, small tables for reading groups and a carpet. On the wall the teacher has posted three poems, several word walls and other vocabulary visuals. Throughout the course of my observation I saw students seated at the tables working in groups and independently. I also saw students and the teacher seated on the carpet for reading circles.

What evidence of “acceptance and welcome” would a second language learner see?

The students are clearly welcomed by the smile on their teacher’s face when she greets them. The students can also see that the space is theirs to share as there are many manipulatives and classroom objects that they have access to.

Fieldwork Introduction

Hello everyone!

This semester I look forward to reflecting/ journaling on my ESL blog about my fieldwork experiences. After many semesters of reading, discussing and writing, I'm excited to actually see how English language learning takes place in a real classroom. Although I expect to observe many different teachers this semester, I plan on spending the most time with the ESL teacher in my own school building. She teaches ELD courses to high school students and I know she is an excellent teacher. I look forward to seeing some of the students I've had in the past few years in this environment and meeting new students that have not been in my Spanish classes. I hope to learn and grow a great deal this semester! For more information on me and my ESL teaching plans see my blog intro.

Blog Post #5: Issues in Education

While reflecting upon the many articles dealing with educational issues, I am reminded, once again, of the immense complexity of the teaching profession and the many stakeholders in the education of our nation's children. Teachers, administration, politicians, parents, community members, and, most importantly, students are inherently part of the institution that is public education. I think that is why, as many proponents of the privatization of education would suggest, it can be so VERY difficult to affect change in our public education system. Many of the articles that I read brought to mind changes that I, personally, would love to see take effect in educational institutions.

The NCPA article on teacher salaries adjusted based on the cost of living related to two very frustrating, and often controversial, issues in public education. The first is the importance of raising teacher salaries to match those of other college educated professionals. Our nation can't expect to recruit the best and brightest graduates into the teaching profession if they know they will not be payed a competitive wage. I think that our society has lost respect for the teaching profession, perhaps with good reason. However, this lack of respect is most apparent in teacher compensation, and, without substantial change, education will continue to find it difficult to recruit highly qualified teachers into the profession. Another issue that this article brought to mind is the polemic merit-based pay debate. I, myself, am an advocate of a reasonable merit-pay system. My stance is probably partly attributable to my relative inexperience in the teaching profession and the fact that I have a rather competitive nature. I can certainly, however, understand the drawbacks to a merit-pay system if the assessment of merit is based solely on standardized testing. I understand teacher fears over the outcome of evaluations that determine salaries. However, that is a reality that other adults, working in the private sector, face everyday. It is hard to sustain motivation to teach to the best of your ability when you know that the teacher with the Master's degree and twenty years experience showing videos each day next door if being paid more. I know their has to be a better way to determine teacher pay.

Perhaps equally as controversial as the debate on teacher salary is the debate over school choice in public education. The Goodman article on educating the children who were victims of Hurricane Katrina reminded me of the importance of this issue. Although I teach at a traditional public high school, I recognize the impact that choice could and should have in school reform. However, I feel that we should exercise caution before proclaiming any approach to be THE solution for public education reform. Many studies reveal that both vouchers and charter schools fail to produce the outcomes promised and may even hinder reform.

The articles mentioned, as well as the articles addressing child labor, early childhood education and education's environmental responsibility, serve to highlight the need for educators and policy makers that are willing to think critically about the issues, put politics and buzzwords aside, and stand for all that is in a students' best interest. Although their are not simple solutions, I believe that the best way to move forward is through the intentional pursuit of learning above all from the classroom, to the school board, all the way to Washington.

Blog Post #4: Control

The issue of curricular content can be a great point of contention among the stakeholders in education. Parents, teachers, administration and community leaders rarely agree on best practices in regards to selecting the content students should learn. Viewpoints diverge even more when discussing how the content should be presented. As suggested in our blog prompt, I believe most of our debates over curriculum, particularly multicultural curriculum, stem from issues of control. Although the phrase has become a cliché, it is true that knowledge is power. The most educated members of society have the most control over their futures. With knowledge comes opportunity and authority. Sadly, it is also true that human beings have a propensity toward self-preservation and protection. Once a group has attained power, they rarely relinquish it for the common good. It is from this perspective that many proponents of multicultural education argue for change in the way we present our curriculum. They ask that we encourage divergent thinking and present history and culture from multiple perspectives. Some go further and encourage students of specific backgrounds or cultures to preserve their own culture first and foremost. I truly believe that, for the most part, these proponents simply hope to protect and maintain their heritages. However, many experts argue that education from a segmented view only serves to further disenfranchise groups already at-risk for school failure. Instead, many multicultural education advocates hope to focus on commonalities rather than differences. They see multicultural education not only as the presentation of various cultural views, but moreover as equal access to a core curriculum that provides opportunities for all learners.

It is from this perspective that Hirsch argues for a curriculum based in shared cultural literacy. He shares an example from South Africa where students from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds need to be educated together. Hirsch argues that, in any nation, there is a need for a common core curriculum that prepares all students to participate as contributing members of society. This, he believes, levels the playing field for all groups in a society. I have seen firsthand the importance of cultural literacy during my time studying in Segovia, Spain. In Spain there is no official national language and regionalism and autonomy are regarded above all else. However, all students learn castellano, or what we here in the US call Spanish. Classes in Cataluña are taught in both castellano and catalán, in the Basque Country in castellano and euskera and in Galicia in gallego and castellano. This system of education stems from the idea that communication between citizens of Spain is foundational to a strong nation. This shared language makes them stronger, yet they maintain their own identities as autonomous regions. I think Hirsch’s core knowledge curriculum ideas are similar. Having a common knowledge set provides a foundation for educator’s to build on. When all students have access to this knowledge base then we are truly providing a multicultural education.

I also believe, as Adam Waxler, that providing students with varied cultural perspectives does not have to be a matter of creating independent units of study. Integrating cultural into traditional curriculum is just good teaching practice. When we separate groups and cultures we create boundaries that need not exist in the minds of our students. Yes, there are marked differences between the cultures that comprise our planet, but there are many commonalities as well. I think a balanced approach to multicultural curriculum is integral to righting the inequities in our educational system. Curriculum should be comprised of both core understandings and varied viewpoints. Students should share a foundational understanding or level of cultural literacy, but also be able to examine issues from many sides and analyze and judge for themselves.