Week in reflection

This week has been an intense week. I am thankful that it is summer because the amount of reading would have created major data overload during the school year. I feel like I am getting a better grasp on my action research plan. But every time I read through it, I seem to think of new things. I worked with my partner teacher for three days this week and was describing my plan to him and some of my wonderings. He is just as excited as me and gave me some excellent technology ideas. I know there is much to do, but I also am excited to under go the process.

Action Research Plan

Action Research Plan

Goal:

To examine the effects of implementation of formative assessment and standards based grading in the fifth grad Science classroom.

Activities:

1. For weeks two through seven of the first nine weeks I will use the district 5E lessons with a formative assessment for each activity to indicate the student’s comprehension of the instructional content at that point in time.
2. Each TEK that is covered will be broken down into smaller concepts/process skills using the districts Earth Science Scope and Sequence to create a student progress tracking tool.
3. Through reteaching and student led learning the students will have the opportunity to grow in the concepts/process skills that they need or want to improve and demonstrate their mastery to earn a higher grade.
4. At the half way point and the end of the process, students and parents will have the opportunity to provide input through a survey.
5. Compare this years CBA 1 data to last years data. Look for any patterns that could strengthen our program.

Resources in order by activity number

1. Eduphoria: For action step one I will access eduphoria and use our district 5E lessons which now include a formative assessment.
2. To create the Student Progress Tracking Tool, I will use the 5th grade Earth Science TEKS, the districts scope and sequence and Classroom Assessment and Grading that Work to break each TEK into smaller concepts and process skills.
3. Resources to complete action step 3 will include many other resources such as: Reteaching, Eduphoria/additional resources, internet research, blogs, audio blogs with voice thread, podcasts, student designed tutorials, foldables, text.
4. The survey can be conducted via survey monkey for ease of access on the internet. Paper copies can be sent to those that need them.
5. All of our CBA data is in Aware, our online database.

Timeline:

The timeline for my this first cycle of my project will be from the end of August until the beginning of October. In my workshop it was strongly suggested to take small steps because the development of resources can be time consuming, so using this first six weeks of our Earth Science unit will be more manageable. It also ends with the first district CBA.

1. Lesson Plans and assessments will be created in August prior to school.
2. The student progress tracking tool will be created in August prior to school.
3. Reteaching and reassessing will be an ongoing process starting the end of the week of August 30th and going until the week of Oct 19th.
4. The first round of surveys will become available online at the end of the third week. This data will be assimilated as quickly as possible to consider any issues or concerns that need addressing. The second round of surveys will become available the end of the sixth week and then will be processed.
5. CBA data will be returned to the campus by the day after the test. Any corrective teaching will then take place and then comparisons can be made between this and last years data during the week of the 11th.

Below is the breakdown of the data within our Earth Science unit. Because the district uses a traditional grading system, not standards based grades, ending in week seven of the nine weeks will also give the students the opportunity to self assess where they are on their goals and earn the grade they want before I have to enter the nine weeks grade.

Week	Grade 5
2 – Aug 31	5.11B rock cycle – 5.6B water cycle
3 – Sept 8	5.11A erosion, weathering, deposition, landforms
4 – Sept 14	5.12A destructive & constructive forces
5 – Sept 21	5.11C natural resources/non-renewable/renewable resources
6 – Sept 28	5.12B describe process responsible for coal, oil, gas, minerals
7 – Oct 5	5.6B carbon cycle CBA 1

Person Responsible for each activity acording to number

1. Drew Brown: I will be consulting with my district science coordinator and my principal during this process.
2. Drew Brown: I will be consulting with my district science coordinator and my principal during this process.
3. Drew Brown: I will be consulting with my district science coordinator, my campus technology facilitator, my teaching partner and my principal during this process.
4. Drew Brown: I will work with my teaching partner and principal during this process.
5. Drew Brown: I will be consulting with my district science coordinator, my principal and my teaching partner during this process.

Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives

The formative assessments will be the main tool used to assess student achievement in the different skill and concepts. Then the student data will be tracked on the student progress tracking tool. This tool is a continually changing document that will provide initial achievement information and any future growth information for the students in each concept and process skill. My hope is that with the clear communication of the standards and the opportunity to continue to improve, I will see students engaging in further work to earn a higher grade. Surveys will also serve as a tool for parents and students to communicate how they like the program. At the end of the cycle the CBA will also serve as a tool to analyze our strengths and weaknesses as we look toward future improvement.

Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study

The same tools used above in the monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives will also be used here. The student progress tracking tool will show how each student’s achievement level. Student and Parent surveys will give me valuable feedback from their perspectives. My action research blog and class notes will also serve as a reflection tool for me to look back on.

This past week has been a very interesting time of learning and stretching my thinking. I continue to have to hone in on one topic, but continually find new ideas that I would like to consider in the future. Some of those ideas that would aid me as a science teacher would be some of the reading I have been doing into the most effective use of science lab journals for younger students. This has both professional and personal implications for me. I continue to try to improve both my personal and student performance, but I also have three sons that are very inquisitive and enjoy science. I believe I may just start a list of ideas to file for the future because I will probably forget half of my wonderings otherwise. I have been on the road this week, so I enjoyed the readings during prolonged stretches of highway and then am actually in a Wendy's posting this and my assignment. I look forward to continuing in my action research on formative assessment and standards based grading. I have enjoyed some time reading further on this topic and realize I will only be scratching the surface of this topic, but it will be a good start. To truly understand and implement these concepts will take years, but I am excited to get started.

Blogs are a communication tool

The use of blogs by educational leaders holds many possibilities. They are a fast way to share data with anyone that has internet access. They can be used to journal anything that the author wants to be saved and shared over time. The blog also allows for comments and interaction amongst people that may be not have the ability to meet in person. While in the past I have only used blogs for entertainment reasons, they can also serve as a valuable communication tool for educators.

Action Research

Action research is a one of those terms that will be tossed around in education circles. But, because of the time involved in properly participating in action research, few educators truly participate in it or fully understand the depth of it. I did not fully understand the steps involved in action research and because of that I missed out on how beneficial it could be to my classroom and campus. Choosing a topic from your campus or classroom to further study holds such great value because it can involve and directly impact my students' achievement. I also like the fact that action research is so flexible in that it can be done in many contexts. I have included a PLC in my study because there are a few of us that attended the Marzano workshop and after we teach it on our campus in August we will hopefully pick up a few more people. I think we will provide each other with valuable input and be able to act as a sounding board for each other. Action research takes time, but for professionals that want to improve themselves, their students' achievements, or any other campus cultural issue, it is a valuable tool for the teacher and administration. As I go through the steps of refining my topic, researching, formulating action plans and reflecting on the results I know I will learn many new things. Action research will be a valuable tool in my toolbox.