I've been inspired to document my professional thinking. Often as a teacher we are in constant search for answers as to how to best meet the needs of each student. Students are complicated. Some come to school with a fresh mani-pedi from their mother-daughter date while others need the dirt from under their fingernails. A willingness to act as a sponge once entering school is a characteristic of many students but not all. So how do we take the diversity of each student and each classroom with one teacher and make it all work? I am not sure but like to think that I am pouring my heart into trying to find out. My hope is that as I write through my thoughts and processes I will be better equipped to meet my students every day.

Daily Student Survey

Critical Friend Planner Worksheet

Student Survey

More Data and More Changes

Based on the data for the past few weeks not all students were thinking about their goals throughout the Daily 5 cycle.

This week I implemented the change that as students were coming to the floor for their mini-lesson they would do a 1 minute check in with their critical friend.

After surveying the class this week:

83 percent of students stated that they "Got it!" They shared their hope and goal with their critical friend and thought about it while they were participating in Daily 5.

17 percent of students stated they they were "On Their Way". These students shared their goal with their critical friend but may not have thought about their goal throughout Daily 5.

0 percent of students reported that they were an "Uh-Oh". No students did not share their goal and did not think about their goal throughout Daily 5.

I see the implementation of walking and talking with your critical friend after each Daily 5 to be a vital component to the success of a critical friend.

Walking and talking is where students place their book box on their desk and meet to walk to the floor together.

Data

Students were given this rubric:

Uh-Oh: I did not share my goals and hopes with my CF.

On my Way: I shared my goal Or my hope with my CF. I might have thoughts about my goal and hope during Daily 5.

Got it: My CF and I share our goals and hopes. I think about my goal and hope during Daily 5.

The first time students were surveyed zero percent said that they were an "Uh-Oh", 24 percent stated that they were "On my Way", and 76 percent stated that they "Got it!"

After gathering this data I changed the way I had students set their goal. First I had students decide if they were going to work on "C-Comprehension", "A-Accuracy", "F-Fluency", or "E-Expand Vocabulary". Once students decided which part of the menu they were working on I asked them to pick a specific strategy in that category and share the goal with their CF.

When students were given the same survey as above 1 week later:

1 percent said they were an "Uh-Oh"
31 percent said they were "On my way" and
68 percent said they "Got-it"

Using this information I have once again changed a procedure. At some point during our Daily 5 routine I now have the students check in with the CF. I also remind them of their goal several times by saying, "This will be our last Daily 5. Think back to your goal. What else can you do to meet your goal today?"

I look forward to giving the students the survey next week to see what new insights I gain.

Critical Thinking ?s #1

•What is the one thing you wish you had know before you start your inquiry process?

-I wish that before starting the inquiry process I would have known my learners. When I began the inquiry process I was gauging my knowledge on research and past experience. While these combined tools can be very powerful, each class has their own personality and perspective.

I am not sure that my process would have changed. However, I would be interested to have gathered a baseline on students participating in Daily 5 without a Critical Friend.

•What resources have you encountered that has contradicted your action research?

While "The Sisters" do not contradict my philosophy we have different philosophies. I see my most powerful teaching time with students to be during guided reading and the students' peers. I feel as though if I were to set their goal for them or with them each time their reflection would be too teacher guided rather than a motivation for the student. I also, am not ready to give up my guided reading time to meet with students in such a structured manner as "The CAFE" would suggest.

Student's Goals and Thoughts

Today as we started lining up for recess a student came up to me in a panic and said, "Mrs.Thomas I need to check in with my critical friend before going to recess. I need to tell her if I have met my goal." I thought it was interesting and exciting that even as we were lining up for recess this student was still conscious of the goal set with their critical friend.

Goals Set By...

Low average student: "I will work on word work today so that I can get better at spelling, reading and writing words."

Average student: "I will practice reading to someone today so I can practice my strategies when I get stuck and my partner can do 'Helpful Kangaroo'".

High student: "I will do read to self today so I can practice visualizing the story to help me understand it."

Most Daily 5 conversations...

"I did not meet my goal today because I forgot what my goal was."

"I met my goal today but not I need to practice reading the words I wrote."

"My read to self partner was a Helpful Kangaroo."

"I used Skippy Frog, Stretch Snake, and Flippy Dolphin today."

Click on this link to see visuals of what is posted under the "A for Accuracy" on our CAFE menu.

After Break

After the Holiday Break all students were given a new Critical Friend. I decided to pair students of different abilities. I placed high students with low-average students and low kids with high-average students. After two weeks of observation I have not noticed a significant difference in the way the students share their goals, execute their goals, and check back in.

Here are some of the goals students have been sharing:

Low Student- Read to someone, read to self, and word work to get better at my writing.

Average Student- My goal is to read to somebody to get better at reading so when I see the words I can know them right away.

High Student- Do all the Daily 5s to get better at reading, writing and spelling.

Quotes from last week!

When I asked students what made them a good critical friend here was some responses:

* I told the truth.
* I got better at speaking
* Listening while the other person talks.
* Taking turns.
* Asking clarifying questions.
* Talked quietly
* Listened

Here are some of the goals students set:

* If I get stuck on a word I am going to try Flippy Dolphin (change the vowel sound).
* I am going to do word work today so I can sound out words and read them.

Off The Wagon...

Wheels fell off the wagon of my action research the past 2 weeks. With Thanksgiving approaching and the hustle and bustle in the air I did now allow students the time to meet with their critical friend.



However, this ended up being a powerful piece of research. Through my observations my students who are of higher ability seemed to lack purpose and those of lower ability seemed easily distracted. These observations led me to this question: "Is it the relationship with the critical friend that is driving positive behavior and rigor during Daily 5 or is it the actual goal setting?"

What would be the next step to find an answer to this question? I think the kids could tell me. At the end of the upcoming week I am going to pose the "Why?" question to the students and have them verbally answer in regards to their critical friend.

Prezi

Mid-Action Summary

My analysis falls into 3 categories.

1. Student observation- Observing students set their goals with the CF has been a wonderful experience. Students are very intentional about asking clarifying questions. This 1 minute DAILY conversation (the students begged to meet with their CF everyday) has turned the room into a safe place of differences and community. Students have progressed to using our CAFE strategies bulletin board to set goal and areas I have suggested in a small group. Students spend more time on task the day when we write down our goal their goal. When students report after DAILY 5 they are very honest about their progress. One student said, "I am a better reader today because I stopped to check for understanding." His CF said, "How did you check for understanding?" These are the sort of conversations that tell me that students ability to reflect and understand their own ability is increasing.

2. Student rubrics- Students report in their survey (I have students complete a survey the last day of every week) that they enjoy meeting and talking to their CF. Some report that they need to get better at listening and asking clarifying questions. All students report that they are a good CF.

3. The teacher- I have learned to love CF's as part of our daily routine. Students love making the connection with other students and sharing the great progress they are making. I still have not found it necessary to change students' CFS.

Clarifying Questions

This week we focused on asking clarifying questions and giving feedback. I introduced giving feedback through a writing lesson using play dough. Students created a pencil holder. Then, they chatted with the students around them about how they could make it better. Students gave and received feedback. We saw that every one's creation was different but use able and the importance of giving feedback. If you do not give great feedback then you are not challenging your peer to do their best creating.

Clarifying questions was taught and practiced this week. Students used the prompts: "I think..." "I know..." "I wonder..." To better help themselves and their CF understand their goal.

I feel like we are in the full swing of things and the kids long to have a CF conference. Now, if their teacher, allows for adequate time for meaningful conversations to happen is when the learning really takes place.

Teacher Notes

"Mrs.Thomas! We forgot to meet with our critical friend! I have to meet with them before I can start Daily 5!" This was a quote of one of my tier 2 students. On Thursday I forgot to have the kids meet with their CF before DAILY 5. They became so in tune to setting goals together and dialogue that THEY COULD NOT begin with out this component. This tells me that the CF piece of Daily 5 has a value and a purpose for my students.

Continuing...

This week I heard awesome conversations between students. Students were using our CAFE bulletin board to set Daily 5 goals for themselves. One student even said, "Mrs.Thomas I work hard when I know my CF will ask me what I was doing." Another student said, "Mrs.Thomas, I am going to practice stopping and reading again." Students practiced writing their goals before meeting with a critical friend and then sharing them verbally. The last day of the week we practiced thinking the goal in our head and then sharing. Students also evaluated themselves on the CF process.

Furthermore, students brought up their CF during their Goal-Setting Conferences. Parents were so excited to hear about the interaction their child was having with other students. Also, the first graders had such an easy time participating in the goal-setting because they had been practicing setting goals with their Critical Friend.

The Themes of the Right Answer...

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.