Phase One
Description of Implementation
For the Phase One segment of my action research, I focused on finding a project that promoted differentiation in mathematics for my second grade students, while supplementing with technology. In my classroom, we have been encouraging the students to use various math practice standards such as explaining our thinking while trying to understand others' thinking as well, solving problems in multiple ways (using various strategies), and finding many ways to see a number. I really honed in on these standards when developing my phase one plan and found it imperative to use what my students already know as a foundation for this project and then expanding that knowledge and understanding among them.
For the Phase One segment of my action research, I focused on finding a project that promoted differentiation in mathematics for my second grade students, while supplementing with technology. In my classroom, we have been encouraging the students to use various math practice standards such as explaining our thinking while trying to understand others' thinking as well, solving problems in multiple ways (using various strategies), and finding many ways to see a number. I really honed in on these standards when developing my phase one plan and found it imperative to use what my students already know as a foundation for this project and then expanding that knowledge and understanding among them.
In order to develop these practice standards, we have developed a strategy of having a "Number of the Day" and giving the students three to four minutes to come up with and write down on their personal whiteboards all the equations they can think of that equal the daily number. This provides differentiation as my cooperating teacher and I do not have a requirement for how many equations the students need. Some students will fill their whiteboards while others only come up with two to three problems. After the allotted time, we gather as a class and the students share out the equations they come up with. They have to explain their thinking before I can write the equation on the Promethean Board or classroom whiteboard. Other students are able to politely disagree if they find disconnect with the numbers. If a student disagrees, he/she will explain why and then work it out with the other students to come up with a correct response. The daily "Number Talks" have allowed the students to see how many ways there are to see numbers and that there is not only one correct way to view a problem, but rather there are multiple ways of thinking.
By taking what my students already knew from the daily number talks, I decided to create a project that would allow my students to have their own number and find different ways to solve for their designated number. Originally I planned to assign each student an equation and have the students show their thinking when solving for the problem, however after the enthusiasm and success shown toward the daily number talks, I decided to implement what the students were comfortable with and give each student an individual number to find equation for, rather than an equation to find a solution for. If each student is assigned his/her own number, I felt like my students could take ownership of their work and really have something unique to explain to one another. I assigned my more advanced students a higher number, and my developing students a lower number. I asked my students to come up with at least three equations and explanations that equal their number, though some students did more and some less. The students would write down one equation at a time on their whiteboards, and take a picture of their work with their classroom iPods that each student has. Once the pictures were taken, the students used the app, "SonicPics" in order to narrate over their picture and explain their thinking out loud. "SonicPics" is an app that allows someone to take a picture, narrate over the picture, and turn the pictures and narrations into a slideshow video. I found this to be a perfect project for my action research as my students were able to have as many equations as they wanted, explain their equations however they wanted, take ownership over their own number, and implement technology.
The Phase One segment of action research had three segments leading up to the final project. The first segment was to have a daily "Number of the Day" and or an equation to solve for. The students would then have two to three minutes to find several strategies in order to solve the equation or come up with an equation that equals the number. The students would then share out our their ideas, explain their thinking, and I would write the strategies on the Promethean Board to show the various ways of thinking about numbers and solving problems.
The Phase One segment of action research had three segments leading up to the final project. The first segment was to have a daily "Number of the Day" and or an equation to solve for. The students would then have two to three minutes to find several strategies in order to solve the equation or come up with an equation that equals the number. The students would then share out our their ideas, explain their thinking, and I would write the strategies on the Promethean Board to show the various ways of thinking about numbers and solving problems.
The next segment for my Phase One project was to assign my students their own number to solve for. Originally I was going to have my students solve an equation and explain their thinking with various strategies, but I realized the students had more confidence and clarity when explaining how they found an equation for a set number rather than explaining how to solve an equation. I gave each student a designated number and my students would then write down all the equations they could think of for their specific number. Once the time allotted for individual thinking ended, the students would have time to partner talk with another student to get comfortable explaining their thinking aloud. I also thought partner talk would allow the students to share their findings with one another while also getting the chance to try and understand other students' thinking as well.
After my students were able to share their number and their ways of thinking with each other, they finally began the video-making process. Because the students were already given the chance to share their thinking aloud with their classmates, I felt they were prepared to explain their reasoning using the technology to make a video.
The videos took about three days to make. The students spent the first day taking pictures of their equations that equaled their number; the second day the students uploaded their pictures in the SonicPics app; and the third day was spent narrating over the pictures to explain their reasoning and thinking behind the equations used to find their given number. Once the narrations were complete, the students simply saved the videos to the iPods and uploaded them to the classroom DropBox. Each day of the video-making process included about ten minutes of modeling the app and another fifteen minutes designated to the students making their videos.
Once the videos were made and uploaded, I ended the phase one portion of my action research with classroom a final classroom discussion, along with individual and small group follow-up interviews. The purpose for the discussion and interviews was to discover how the students felt about the project and note if they were proud of what they had accomplished, if they enjoyed the process, and if they felt as if they had learned about themselves and others as mathematicians. I was looking to find if my students had gained a deeper understanding of numbers across all learning levels to really note if I had, in fact, developed a new type of differentiation in my classroom. I was also searching to find if the students felt the technology had benefitted their learning, caused an added frustration and confusion, or if the technology was simply a tool used for fun and neither encouraged or inhibited them from developing their knowledge and understanding in this activity.
The videos took about three days to make. The students spent the first day taking pictures of their equations that equaled their number; the second day the students uploaded their pictures in the SonicPics app; and the third day was spent narrating over the pictures to explain their reasoning and thinking behind the equations used to find their given number. Once the narrations were complete, the students simply saved the videos to the iPods and uploaded them to the classroom DropBox. Each day of the video-making process included about ten minutes of modeling the app and another fifteen minutes designated to the students making their videos.
Once the videos were made and uploaded, I ended the phase one portion of my action research with classroom a final classroom discussion, along with individual and small group follow-up interviews. The purpose for the discussion and interviews was to discover how the students felt about the project and note if they were proud of what they had accomplished, if they enjoyed the process, and if they felt as if they had learned about themselves and others as mathematicians. I was looking to find if my students had gained a deeper understanding of numbers across all learning levels to really note if I had, in fact, developed a new type of differentiation in my classroom. I was also searching to find if the students felt the technology had benefitted their learning, caused an added frustration and confusion, or if the technology was simply a tool used for fun and neither encouraged or inhibited them from developing their knowledge and understanding in this activity.
Findings
After looking at all the videos my students made, I felt really good about my Phase One project. Each student's video was so different, and the students seemed very involved. Unfortunately, I needed to make adjustments for some students and give them a smaller number or allow them to narrate only two equations rather than three. There was a handful of students that were very quiet in their videos and I could tell they were not perfectly confident in the idea and direction behind this lesson. That said, sharing their numbers with each other and extending their thinking to other classmates gave my students the confidence they needed to make a video.
After collecting data in my classroom by observing my students and their work ethic, I saw my advanced students getting bored when they finished their math early and my developing students becoming frustrated because they did not have enough time to finish their assigned in-class math worksheets. I knew I needed to provide differentiation somehow and these videos allowed the advanced students to continue finding new problems. The students were excited to share more and more ideas as they came. They were no longer bored because they were excited by the idea of finding more equations to solve for their number. Contrarily, my developing students were taking their time and using common knowledge they already knew rather than finding new ways to solve problems. The descriptions in the videos of my developing students were simple and it seemed as though some students were unclear of the focus of finding new ways to solve problems. At that point, I decided to allow these students to explain only two to three equations, and that is when they became less frustrated by the feelings of running out of time and giving up.
I allowed my students to be very independent with this project, and I think that came as both a strength and a weakness to my students. Some students were able to thrive off this independence and after checking their videos, some students completely grasped the concept while others needed more guidance. I needed to provide more modeling with the actual technology and guide my developing students more closely. I was finding that my developing students were still shy and not fully grasping the benefit of sharing their new ways of thinking out loud. They were relying on the technology as a source to talk to quietly rather than sharing their thoughts with others. That said, the biggest pro of using technology was enabling the students to use a tool they enjoyed. The technology enabled several of my students to share expression, and while they may have felt uncomfortable speaking in public, a large group of students showed a greater sense of confidence when speaking to an iPod. The students were aware that these videos would be shared with others at some point, but the personal recording time still provided the sense of confidence my students needed when having their first “public speaking” experience. Of course, the technology also granted the opportunity to save videos that could be viewed for future audiences.
The biggest weakness with using technology was how much modeling needed to be incorporated when developing this project. The modeling and follow-up questions took a good chunk of time out of the lessons and this could be seen as wasted time. That said, my students will continue to use technology in their futures so while the modeling and explanations for using the app did take awhile, it will benefit my students in the long-run and looking back, I would not have simplified the technology my students used.
I felt like this project was a success and Phase One went very well. While some students needed to go back and edit their videos by adding more narrations, there was never a lack of excitement or enthusiasm. After class discussions and follow-up interviews, my students were using similar strategies and seeing numbers in a way they did not see before, as they spent some time sharing and listening to other students about various ways to think about numbers. This project extended my students’ thinking by sharing their explanations with classmates, learning to understand others and note new strategies, and receiving feedback that could improve the students’ articulation in mathematics.
Technology is a supplemental tool for differentiation. This differentiation came when the students spent the time working to master their personal number by finding various equations and explaining the thinking behind these equations to other students. The technology is not what provided differentiation, but what documented the differentiation and added a sense of enthusiasm and motivation for the students.
Through the course of my Phase One project, I learned that my students have high potential to be academically independent when working toward a goal that is attainable. I discovered that my students enjoy math and the challenge of it, as long as it is not one that seems unsolvable. Differentiation is imperative in my classroom because it motivates and encourages my students at all levels, rather than catering to a majority. Technology-based differentiation affects student-to-student interaction, as each individual is able to take ownership of his/her completed project and gain peer feedback from other students in the class. The student-to-teacher interaction in the classroom is changed because I am now able to intricately view the work of each individual student in my class by viewing the narrations and illustrations my students created for their videos. On a day-to-day basis, I am able to work one-on-one with very few students, as there is not enough time during the math lessons. However, documenting and saving videos through various uses of technology enabled me to deeply review the work of each student, all in one day. Technology-based differentiation provides a sense of enthusiasm, passion, and engagement for my students as they build up from a basic mathematical foundation using tools they enjoy and benefit from.
After looking at all the videos my students made, I felt really good about my Phase One project. Each student's video was so different, and the students seemed very involved. Unfortunately, I needed to make adjustments for some students and give them a smaller number or allow them to narrate only two equations rather than three. There was a handful of students that were very quiet in their videos and I could tell they were not perfectly confident in the idea and direction behind this lesson. That said, sharing their numbers with each other and extending their thinking to other classmates gave my students the confidence they needed to make a video.
After collecting data in my classroom by observing my students and their work ethic, I saw my advanced students getting bored when they finished their math early and my developing students becoming frustrated because they did not have enough time to finish their assigned in-class math worksheets. I knew I needed to provide differentiation somehow and these videos allowed the advanced students to continue finding new problems. The students were excited to share more and more ideas as they came. They were no longer bored because they were excited by the idea of finding more equations to solve for their number. Contrarily, my developing students were taking their time and using common knowledge they already knew rather than finding new ways to solve problems. The descriptions in the videos of my developing students were simple and it seemed as though some students were unclear of the focus of finding new ways to solve problems. At that point, I decided to allow these students to explain only two to three equations, and that is when they became less frustrated by the feelings of running out of time and giving up.
I allowed my students to be very independent with this project, and I think that came as both a strength and a weakness to my students. Some students were able to thrive off this independence and after checking their videos, some students completely grasped the concept while others needed more guidance. I needed to provide more modeling with the actual technology and guide my developing students more closely. I was finding that my developing students were still shy and not fully grasping the benefit of sharing their new ways of thinking out loud. They were relying on the technology as a source to talk to quietly rather than sharing their thoughts with others. That said, the biggest pro of using technology was enabling the students to use a tool they enjoyed. The technology enabled several of my students to share expression, and while they may have felt uncomfortable speaking in public, a large group of students showed a greater sense of confidence when speaking to an iPod. The students were aware that these videos would be shared with others at some point, but the personal recording time still provided the sense of confidence my students needed when having their first “public speaking” experience. Of course, the technology also granted the opportunity to save videos that could be viewed for future audiences.
The biggest weakness with using technology was how much modeling needed to be incorporated when developing this project. The modeling and follow-up questions took a good chunk of time out of the lessons and this could be seen as wasted time. That said, my students will continue to use technology in their futures so while the modeling and explanations for using the app did take awhile, it will benefit my students in the long-run and looking back, I would not have simplified the technology my students used.
I felt like this project was a success and Phase One went very well. While some students needed to go back and edit their videos by adding more narrations, there was never a lack of excitement or enthusiasm. After class discussions and follow-up interviews, my students were using similar strategies and seeing numbers in a way they did not see before, as they spent some time sharing and listening to other students about various ways to think about numbers. This project extended my students’ thinking by sharing their explanations with classmates, learning to understand others and note new strategies, and receiving feedback that could improve the students’ articulation in mathematics.
Technology is a supplemental tool for differentiation. This differentiation came when the students spent the time working to master their personal number by finding various equations and explaining the thinking behind these equations to other students. The technology is not what provided differentiation, but what documented the differentiation and added a sense of enthusiasm and motivation for the students.
Through the course of my Phase One project, I learned that my students have high potential to be academically independent when working toward a goal that is attainable. I discovered that my students enjoy math and the challenge of it, as long as it is not one that seems unsolvable. Differentiation is imperative in my classroom because it motivates and encourages my students at all levels, rather than catering to a majority. Technology-based differentiation affects student-to-student interaction, as each individual is able to take ownership of his/her completed project and gain peer feedback from other students in the class. The student-to-teacher interaction in the classroom is changed because I am now able to intricately view the work of each individual student in my class by viewing the narrations and illustrations my students created for their videos. On a day-to-day basis, I am able to work one-on-one with very few students, as there is not enough time during the math lessons. However, documenting and saving videos through various uses of technology enabled me to deeply review the work of each student, all in one day. Technology-based differentiation provides a sense of enthusiasm, passion, and engagement for my students as they build up from a basic mathematical foundation using tools they enjoy and benefit from.
Next Steps - Planning for Phase 2
While I noticed that some of my students needed more guidance, I am planning to make my Phase Two a project that involves partners. Unfortunately with Phase One, the students did not share their strategies enough to learn from colleagues and there was not a community of learning in the classroom that allowed the students to benefit from other ways of learning. I also noticed from Phase One that some students were still feeling uncomfortable talking to their iPods when making the videos and i wanted them to get used to not only sharing their thinking with a few classmates, but to share their thinking with a larger audience as well. Because of the lack of confidence I noticed in several students voice from their videos, I decided that for Phase Two, I will pair up students myself and have them work together to make videos that they will then share with the rest of the class in order to gain the experience of presenting to an audience. For Phase One, the students did not have the chance to share and present their videos; rather they were just uploaded to the classroom DropBox. This was a great weakness as my students were unable to share their new ways of thinking and listen to other thoughts that would help them to understand numbers in greater depth. For my Phase Two, not only will their have partners, but they will then have the chance to present their videos to either the class as a whole or in small groups, depending on available timing. This will allow the students to develop a sense of accountability and pride for their work. I will also send an email to the students’ parents informing them about a new project that has been uploaded to the classroom DropBox. I will encourage the parents to view the videos, therefore adding an extra audience in order to motivate my students to express their ideas clearly and explain their whole thinking process, as their parents would be viewing these videos and hoping to gain insight into what our students are learning. For Phase Two, my main goal is to enable my students to not only demonstrate what they know from their own numbers and explore their own information, but to also use that knowledge and understanding in various classroom collaboration and peer learning.
While I noticed that some of my students needed more guidance, I am planning to make my Phase Two a project that involves partners. Unfortunately with Phase One, the students did not share their strategies enough to learn from colleagues and there was not a community of learning in the classroom that allowed the students to benefit from other ways of learning. I also noticed from Phase One that some students were still feeling uncomfortable talking to their iPods when making the videos and i wanted them to get used to not only sharing their thinking with a few classmates, but to share their thinking with a larger audience as well. Because of the lack of confidence I noticed in several students voice from their videos, I decided that for Phase Two, I will pair up students myself and have them work together to make videos that they will then share with the rest of the class in order to gain the experience of presenting to an audience. For Phase One, the students did not have the chance to share and present their videos; rather they were just uploaded to the classroom DropBox. This was a great weakness as my students were unable to share their new ways of thinking and listen to other thoughts that would help them to understand numbers in greater depth. For my Phase Two, not only will their have partners, but they will then have the chance to present their videos to either the class as a whole or in small groups, depending on available timing. This will allow the students to develop a sense of accountability and pride for their work. I will also send an email to the students’ parents informing them about a new project that has been uploaded to the classroom DropBox. I will encourage the parents to view the videos, therefore adding an extra audience in order to motivate my students to express their ideas clearly and explain their whole thinking process, as their parents would be viewing these videos and hoping to gain insight into what our students are learning. For Phase Two, my main goal is to enable my students to not only demonstrate what they know from their own numbers and explore their own information, but to also use that knowledge and understanding in various classroom collaboration and peer learning.