A Pause in the Action

I have not been consistently implementing my action. I have found that time is limited and transitioning is hard. Instead of having 2 meetings a day I am going to transition to 1 meeting a week. Students will meet with their Critical Friend on Fridays to discuss their work of the week and create a goal for the following week. Instead of having students create a hope for the day and reflect they are going to do the action backwards.

Friday: Students will share Word Work, books from their book bin, and a reflection of Listen to Reading. They will work together to complete a rubric. Then they will write a goal for the following week.

Monday: Students will review their goal with their CF.

The Hard Lessons

I tried to stick with my Adam Sandler movie clips and find one of the Grown-ups. In the movie the grown ups the kids are at a cabin and make phones out of paper cups.

We made paper cup telephones in first grade today. The reason we made paper cup telephones was 2 part: 1) Practice taking turns listening and speaking; 2) Work with your CF to build paper cup telephones. After the phones were built we brainstormed rules for what kinds of communication should happen through a phone. Students then shared their Read to Self goal with their CF via paper cup phone.

I have had students working with their CF whenever partner work has become available this week. The kids are so excited to see their buddy and I noticed a bond being formed. The first part to having a positive CF experience is establishing a relationship built on trust.

At the end of each lesson I was going to have students complete a rubric stating how the experience went. The rubrics are so hard for students right now and so I decided I am going to wait until next week when we are in the full swing of things to start that process.

One of my biggest observations is that all of these peer activities are very challenging for one of my students who is labeled OHD. She melts down every time she has to work with her CF. This student is one who I am taking anecdotal notes about daily as part of triangulation.

How does the implementation of peer conferencing effect student meta-cognition skills?

After much thought, grueling research, and analyzing, question, re-analyzing, and re-questioning my research and NEED I am excited about the question: How does the implementation of peer conferencing effect student meta-cognition skills?

I am addressing this question in my research and classroom based on the fact that I feel like my students engage in so many meaningful activities throughout Daily 5 and are given little opportunity to share them.

The new book written by the sisters implements a teacher conferencing plan focusing on the acronym CAFE. C=comprehension A=Accuracy F=Fluency E=Extending Vocabulary. Using research around the idea of a Critical Friend, Descriptive Feedback, Peer Motivation, Daily 5 and CAFE I am going to implement Critical Friend Peer Conferencing.

Throughout 2 weeks we will implement phases of Daily 5 embedded with lessons of building peer collaboration and partner work. Teaching students how to interact with a peer is going to be the key to the success of the action.

With implementing this action I hope students are increasingly aware of their strengths and areas to grow and FEEL SUCCESSFUL at where they are at.

I hope they feel like Nemo everyday.

Sticking with Billy Madison!

My vision and DREAM is that students will feel safe to take risks. Billy had never seen a blue duck before so he took a risk and drew a blue duck. I want my students to think critically about their learning and make connections. My hope is that each student will walk in everyday and be engaged, motivated, and positive.

To accomplish this goal I must set the tone and provide students with tools and resources that are appropriate.

I can't wait!

Sometimes I Feel Like Billy

Sometimes I feel like Billy Madison. Staring at the school bus with great expectation only to have it drive right by. Why do I feel like that? In working through my action research it seems that I easily become so excited by a source or idea only to later have it let me down.

Currently, I am switching my research from motivation to student-centered reflection. I think my question is evolving once again to, "How does student reflection motivate students in language arts?"

Welcome!

You will find comments and reflections on this blog as I struggle through my action research. Will students be motivated by the opportunity to organize their work? What will be the best method to encourage participation? What do the experts say? Stay tuned!