Reflection
Successes & Challenges
Surprisingly, I was most proud of my students' growth in terms of academic vocabulary usage. Although this was not something I had explicitly planned for, I noticed that my students were using phrases and terms we had gone over more correctly and more frequently. For instance, on the pre-test many students explained the organization of the text in vague ways ("It is organized because she went from one thing to another. She started with how her roommate assumed things."). However, by the post-test, students were using the academic vocabulary I had explicitly taught ("The article is organized chronologically because it starts with examples from the past and changes to examples from today.").
The biggest challenge related to scheduling constraints. Because my action research had to be conducted during the middle of my literature-heavy units, there was little time to incorporate nonfiction, expository texts into instruction. Although identifying main idea was a skill that my students needed to be taught, it had to take a secondary position to our major fiction course texts (Things Fall Apart, Lord of the Flies, and A Raisin in the Sun). Furthermore, as our school was functioning on a modified ACT schedule and had to lose time for snow days, periods of instruction were shortened. This created a more intermittent practice cycle than I would have liked for my study. I noticed that because of the time gaps between practice, many of my students needed more assistance remembering the strategies they were taught. This created a need for more modeling and explicit teaching and less time to practice the skills.
Effects on Future Teaching
After conducting this research, I recognized just how unfamiliar my students were with comprehending and analyzing nonfiction texts. The major focus in my classroom, and in most others, is on fiction even though the majority of my students will not read literature outside of the high school setting. Even though students may not be reading fiction when they graduate, adults are expected to critically think about nonfiction texts on a daily basis (manuals, leases, news articles, research, etc.). Additionally, I learned that many of the other disciplines expect their students to be able to decipher textbooks and research articles, but have never taught their students how to read within a content area. The expectation is that they learn these comprehension strategies in the English classroom. With this in mind, I recognized that the high school English curriculum, alongside other disciplines, needs to broaden its scope to teach students 21st century literacy skills. It is not enough to teach students how to analyze and interpret literature. We must also prepare students to deconstruct expository texts on a more consistent basis and in every discipline.
The MAIN-I Strategy was extremely helpful for certain students. For those who often got stuck and merely wrote down the topic, the strategy helped them to locate the essential information in the task and create a full-sentence summary of the most important idea in the text. The strategy helped them push their thinking rather than writing down what was easiest. I was excited to see growth on all indicators, even if the growth was relatively small. The growth was most noticeable in students who asked individualized questions about the strategy and really dug into the task by making annotations, highlighting important information, and crossing out supplementary details.
As a teacher, my research has helped me to become more cognizant of my data collection methods. I used and still use formative assessments on a daily basis and summative assessments often. Therefore, during the research process I used the qualitative and quantitative data I collected to improve instruction and make better instructional decisions. Data-driven instruction met students where they were and pinpointed the skills and strategies that were most effective. With a developed, cohesive, and streamlined system of data analysis, I prioritized the gaps in my students' learning and moved quickly through curriculum they had already mastered.
In the future, I will definitely restructure my English 2 curriculum to include more expository texts and scaffold the learning of main idea identification strategies. However, rather than planting instruction in the middle of my literature-focused units, I will instead explicitly teach this skill during my first and final units which focus more on nonfiction texts. This will allow me to give students the time they need to practice main idea strategies more consistently and with more focus. I also plan on spending more time giving students individualized feedback. Although I did not collect quantitative data on the usefulness of feedback, my personal interactions with students (as described in my journal) helped them process and use the strategies more effectively.
Another area that will be impacted is student motivation. I will be able to use the positive results of this research to emphasize to students the importance and efficacy of these strategies. Hopefully, student motivation will increase when they see how other students have improved. When I take more time to explain the purpose and rationale behind main idea identification, I believe that I will be able to hook students and gain more of their attention.
Collaboration
While conducting this research, I worked with a variety of professionals to improve learning. First, I worked alongside my CADRE mentor to analyze data together and create a working plan for implementing strategy instruction. I also worked alongside the English Department Chair during Professional Learning Communities (PLC) time to align the nonfiction articles I wanted to use with the curriculum we were teaching and our district pacing guides. I also made use of the district's secondary instructional coach to consider the best methods of formatting small group practice sessions. Finally, I also engaged with the building principal to share the results of my research and guide conversations about my own professional growth.
Sharing my research intent, progress, and reports created a closer bond between internal/external stakeholders and me. Working with teachers, administrators, support staff, and students helped to individualize instruction to meet the needs of the particular students in my classroom. Additionally, I was able to reach out to external stakeholders like parents to show the growth of their student.
Successes & Challenges
Surprisingly, I was most proud of my students' growth in terms of academic vocabulary usage. Although this was not something I had explicitly planned for, I noticed that my students were using phrases and terms we had gone over more correctly and more frequently. For instance, on the pre-test many students explained the organization of the text in vague ways ("It is organized because she went from one thing to another. She started with how her roommate assumed things."). However, by the post-test, students were using the academic vocabulary I had explicitly taught ("The article is organized chronologically because it starts with examples from the past and changes to examples from today.").
The biggest challenge related to scheduling constraints. Because my action research had to be conducted during the middle of my literature-heavy units, there was little time to incorporate nonfiction, expository texts into instruction. Although identifying main idea was a skill that my students needed to be taught, it had to take a secondary position to our major fiction course texts (Things Fall Apart, Lord of the Flies, and A Raisin in the Sun). Furthermore, as our school was functioning on a modified ACT schedule and had to lose time for snow days, periods of instruction were shortened. This created a more intermittent practice cycle than I would have liked for my study. I noticed that because of the time gaps between practice, many of my students needed more assistance remembering the strategies they were taught. This created a need for more modeling and explicit teaching and less time to practice the skills.
Effects on Future Teaching
After conducting this research, I recognized just how unfamiliar my students were with comprehending and analyzing nonfiction texts. The major focus in my classroom, and in most others, is on fiction even though the majority of my students will not read literature outside of the high school setting. Even though students may not be reading fiction when they graduate, adults are expected to critically think about nonfiction texts on a daily basis (manuals, leases, news articles, research, etc.). Additionally, I learned that many of the other disciplines expect their students to be able to decipher textbooks and research articles, but have never taught their students how to read within a content area. The expectation is that they learn these comprehension strategies in the English classroom. With this in mind, I recognized that the high school English curriculum, alongside other disciplines, needs to broaden its scope to teach students 21st century literacy skills. It is not enough to teach students how to analyze and interpret literature. We must also prepare students to deconstruct expository texts on a more consistent basis and in every discipline.
The MAIN-I Strategy was extremely helpful for certain students. For those who often got stuck and merely wrote down the topic, the strategy helped them to locate the essential information in the task and create a full-sentence summary of the most important idea in the text. The strategy helped them push their thinking rather than writing down what was easiest. I was excited to see growth on all indicators, even if the growth was relatively small. The growth was most noticeable in students who asked individualized questions about the strategy and really dug into the task by making annotations, highlighting important information, and crossing out supplementary details.
As a teacher, my research has helped me to become more cognizant of my data collection methods. I used and still use formative assessments on a daily basis and summative assessments often. Therefore, during the research process I used the qualitative and quantitative data I collected to improve instruction and make better instructional decisions. Data-driven instruction met students where they were and pinpointed the skills and strategies that were most effective. With a developed, cohesive, and streamlined system of data analysis, I prioritized the gaps in my students' learning and moved quickly through curriculum they had already mastered.
In the future, I will definitely restructure my English 2 curriculum to include more expository texts and scaffold the learning of main idea identification strategies. However, rather than planting instruction in the middle of my literature-focused units, I will instead explicitly teach this skill during my first and final units which focus more on nonfiction texts. This will allow me to give students the time they need to practice main idea strategies more consistently and with more focus. I also plan on spending more time giving students individualized feedback. Although I did not collect quantitative data on the usefulness of feedback, my personal interactions with students (as described in my journal) helped them process and use the strategies more effectively.
Another area that will be impacted is student motivation. I will be able to use the positive results of this research to emphasize to students the importance and efficacy of these strategies. Hopefully, student motivation will increase when they see how other students have improved. When I take more time to explain the purpose and rationale behind main idea identification, I believe that I will be able to hook students and gain more of their attention.
Collaboration
While conducting this research, I worked with a variety of professionals to improve learning. First, I worked alongside my CADRE mentor to analyze data together and create a working plan for implementing strategy instruction. I also worked alongside the English Department Chair during Professional Learning Communities (PLC) time to align the nonfiction articles I wanted to use with the curriculum we were teaching and our district pacing guides. I also made use of the district's secondary instructional coach to consider the best methods of formatting small group practice sessions. Finally, I also engaged with the building principal to share the results of my research and guide conversations about my own professional growth.
Sharing my research intent, progress, and reports created a closer bond between internal/external stakeholders and me. Working with teachers, administrators, support staff, and students helped to individualize instruction to meet the needs of the particular students in my classroom. Additionally, I was able to reach out to external stakeholders like parents to show the growth of their student.
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