Journal Drop #5

Oct. 25,

Last week I was contacted by one of the special education directors asking if would be interested in taking a new job this year.  My new position would be in the Career Transition Program. This program is for students 18-21 to learn job skills and independent living skills. All of the students come from special education programs in the district. My questions are not an action research questions, but I have found myself at an interesting crossroads. Where will I go with my career? Will I stay with what I know? or do I want to try something new that is both interesting to me and a new challenge? Stepping out of my comfort zone and into a new challenge is appealing but this will also be my first year as a case manager and teacher of record.

Oct. 28

As I move towards the completion of the action research project I am noticing related questions rising up in my mind. We are looking at partially filled notes for SPED students but I could see research in this area being interesting for general ed students as well. I am also wondering how students will behave in the classroom when they are able to follow along, stay engaged and learn the material. I suspect that behavior will improve. Most behavioral researchers will say that behaviors have one of two functions, to get something or get away from something. Since I have taken on this mindset I have begun to look for the function of the behaviors  that I see. My suspicion is that if a student can access the information and engage that their behaviors will decrease. This is an action research question that interests me.

They Say, I Say Ch 1 & 2

They Say, I Say Ch 1 & 2

Chapter 1 highlights the importance of stating a clear thesis. Again the authors urge us to start with their basic framework and master it before departing from it. I feel like this is good advice and follows the way that I generally learn new skills. Specifically the goal outlined in this chapter is to start a conversation that will be clear to the reader what has been said on a given topic and then introduce what we think, see or have researched on the same or similar topic. Recently I heard about an argumentative tactic called “steel manning” which is the reverse of the common fallacy of “Straw manning” someone's argument. To Steel Man, one restates the strongest points of another person's position on an issue and then attacks it at its strongest. I understand that in research we are not always disagreeing with other researchers but I do see how using the strongest and clearest positions will improve the introduction of my own paper.  

The sentence framework examples given will be very helpful to forming a conversation in my papers. I appreciate the variety given by the authors. I am however having a little bit of trouble understanding the concept of the return sentences. On the face of it I can see why it is important to link back to past research and the thoughts of others on the topic in introducing the ideas. The authors urge us to make a genuine response to others views (this makes sense) but I feel like we are trying to find our own viewpoints, or own research, for our context…. Perhaps I am reading too much into this last portion of the chapter…

Chapter 2 urges an economy of words when summarizing the arguments that others have made. This summary should still be true and accurate to the original author while at the same time highlighting where their research meets our own. I really appreciate the idea of “temporary suspension of disbelief” when summarizing the arguments of others. This is a difficult yet important skill when getting into any conversation whether it be on education research, politics or religion, temporarily taking the other side and inhabiting their way of thinking is as the book suggests, “the hallmark of good actors.”

The authors urge us to find a balance between giving an accurate yet concise portrayal of the others work while at the same time “spinning” their arguments or work in the direction of our own. I initially found the “spin” suggestion and the satirical summary to be slightly disingenuous ways of “conversing” but I think I get the author's points here. I do not see myself using these tactics in any kind of formal research paper however. Finally, as someone who does not consider himself to be a good writer, I really appreciate all of the example sentence frames and word banks given throughout this book. I know I will refer back to them often.

Journal Drop #4

10-10-16

Classroom Management

I am currently working on a Functional Behavior Assessment assignment for one of my SPED classes. This project makes  me wonder about how we can teach students with such a variety of behaviors in the same room and in the same way. I am lucky enough to work with a variety of teachers and I get to observe their strategies for addressing students with difficult behaviors. Often I wonder how I will manage my classroom. Seeing the “tricks of the trade” employed by my coworkers is highly informative. I wonder about research in the area of classroom management? What works best? How do we know? In what context? Regular Ed vs. Self Contained vs. Inclusion? This is an area that I have a variety practical experience in however I do not know what expert teachers do.

10-12-16

Common Core Alignment

In the push for inclusion I feel like we are forcing common core goals and standards onto our special education students who may not be ready for grade level work. This makes for particularly difficult situations that can result in students shutting down, refusing to work, getting frustrated, sad and or acting out with undesirable behaviors. General ed teachers are attempting to do their jobs and they are teaching to the majority in the classroom but in inclusion classes there can be as many as 10 or 12 students who are significantly below grade level. How do we expect students to complete 7th grade level math when they have 4th grade abilities? How do we expect them to sit and not become frustrated, confused or upset when nearly everything they are being told and asked to do is over their heads?

BTAR Chapter 2 Questions & They Say, I Say

BTAR Chapter 2 Questions

1. “We research our own issues, meaningful in our current life and practice. We pursue critical questions that resonate with our professional community and have potential to improve teaching, learning, and Life.” Rewrite this sentence demonstrating the concept and your personal meaning-making of it.
1. How can I positively affect the lives of my students in the near future and further into their lives? What do I see as important tools to give to my students? How will these tools help the individual? How will I know?  
2. What does it mean to “problematize” and why is this important to action research?
1. To problematize is to understand (in the educational context) the goals of all involved in the education process. What does the student want? What does the teacher want? And to look for barriers to achieving these goals. What biases do those involved have, what problems pop up, what is the source of these problems etc. And how do individuals view their own biases and problems?
3. How and why does context matter when conducting action research?
1. Understanding the context of where we are conducting research is crucial to gathering accurate and meaningful data. Conducting research on students with special needs in inclusion classes would not be very effective in a school that did not have an inclusion model or did not have student with special needs. The social, political, and philosophical context of the school and its teachers needs to be understood. Getting a sense of how teachers feel about the inclusion model and their role in supporting students with special needs is critical.  
4. What are characteristics of workable critical question? Why do critical questions change during action research?
1. Critical question needs to be rooted in an understanding of the school setting, classrooms setting, the students needs and who the teacher-researcher is themselves. Understanding these spheres of influence help to refine and focus a critical question over time.

Process Questions

1. What do you know about your school community where you will be conducting your action research project? How does context matter to your action research study?
1. I have full access to demographic data of our school. I am mostly concerned with students who receive IEP services and who are in inclusion classes. Understanding how many of our students fit this profile is vital to conducting accurate research. I also want to understand teacher thoughts and philosophy on the nw inclusion model. This information will have to be gathered in order to get a feel for the context in which our students work from period to period.
2. What have you discovered about your research topic from distant colleagues? How will their expertise guide your study? In what areas do you still need to find more information? Where will you look for this information?
1. Thus far I have discovered that just mere inclusion of Sped and regular ed students does not seem to show any improvement on individuals classroom behavior as many had thought it might in the past. My action research is now focusing in on making the lessons more understandable and note taking more accessible to students in the hope that this access to learning will improve both academic and behavioral outcomes. I am using a variety of web based resources and search engines to find more information in this specific area.
3. What does your choice of topic, draft question, and choice of distant colleagues say about your own values and beliefs about teaching?
1. I think that my current choices and focus of my action research shows that I am deeply concerned with the possible flaws in the inclusion model. I am looking to find and test academic strategies to allow students with learning disabilities, executive function disorders and behavior management issues to access the same or similar levels of education as their peers.

Introduction to They Say, I Say

Immediately the book's introduction creates an analogy that I can understand. As a basketball coach I often forget that not everyone knows that standard “moves” and I assume they will be able to figure them out. The reverse is also true for me and writing. I THINK that I will be able to just figure it (academic writing) out but deep down I know this isn't the case and I will need guidance.

For a long time I have enjoyed debating people about sports, politics and especially religion. Those debates usually do not go anywhere. However conversations that involve give and take can often lead to better understanding. The Socratic strategy of restating your opponent's position is very important to having a meaningful and clear conversation, the same appears to be true of quality academic writing.

Returning to the basketball analogy, I appreciate the authors responding to the concern that writers will become robots. Often basketball players can feel the same way when initially learning the “moves” but once the basics and mastered they eventually develop their own style for each move.

Journal Drop #3

10-3-16

Making an Impact

Where can I make the most impact in special education? Where will I feel fulfilled, challenged, and at the same time avoid the burnout that I have seen in many special education case managers? This last point has been on my mind lately. In conversation with other members of the Pacific Cohort, many of us have noticed that sped teachers (especially those in self contained classrooms) take on a tremendous amount of stress which often leads to burnout. I have seen it many times myself with teachers that I have worked with.

How will I avoid the stress and feelings of burnout?

• Staying Organized
• Using my staff efficiently to assist me in data collection, behavior tracking, etc.
• Using district resources to assist my needs (Autism and behavior specialists, program assistants, etc. )
• Leaving my work at work
• Making time for myself

This semester I am taking a class on Transition Services. I am enjoying the class very much and could see myself working with older students. Helping these students transition into adult life and teaching them job skills, life skills and to be independent members of society has me really inspired right now.

10-4-16

Special Education and Action Research

There are so many interesting areas of action research that are coming to me as I reflect on my current classroom (Learning Resource Center) and my former classrooms (Life Skills). Self contained classrooms seem to lend themselves to the action research philosophy. By having a small group of students who you work with nearly every period, every day, you basically have a laboratory and a study group. Data collection duties can be divided among instructional assistants. Specific behaviors or academic skills can be zeroed in on and explored. I am primarily interested in problem behaviors, how to identify them, how to identify why they occur, and how to teach replacement behaviors, all in the goal of helping students to better access their education. Since I began working in the district I have been interested in behavior. Special educators have a variety of forms that they fill out to address behavior but these plans do not seem to have any ability to change behaviors. These BSPs (Behavior support plans) and FBAs (Functional Behavior Assessment) have become legal documents that only serve to meet the requirements of IEP legality. Often they serve little to no functional support. These students need real instruction and practice at using replacement behaviors.

Journal Drop #2

9-26-16

Frustrations in Education

One of my many roles in our school is to support a mainstream teacher with our IEP students and any other students in need. I feel frustrated watching this particular class being taught. The teacher I work with is a friend and we have a good relationship, but the class does not run smoothly and by my estimations, learning is not occurring. When I get the chance to work with students after lecture time I find that I can help individuals but I can not help everyone.

Now I am envisioning myself as a special education case manager. In that role I will have to suggest to teachers different teaching styles and modifications to better support our IEP students. This could be difficult. I do think I have an easy going personal manner but few teachers want to be told how to teach. I am wondering how I will walk this tricky and important line. Today I did approach my coworker and make a few suggestions. He runs a very strict class where he wants everyone doing the same thing but we did agree to try modifying and supplementing the note taking process for a few of our students. I have seen this approach used before to great success for students who worked slower than others or who were often off task. While supporting this particular class I want to try to continue to have conversations with the lead teacher in an effort to better serve the needs of our struggling students. My hope is that this class will serve as experimental grounds for working with not just students but also making recommendations (an important part of my future position) to teachers in my school.

9-28-16

Checking for Understanding

Every teacher (should) check for understanding daily. I have observed many techniques:

1. “Thumbs up, in the middle, or down” based on level
2. “Show me how you are feeling about this with 1-5 fingers”
3. Sticky notes for answering an exit slip question

And many more

Today I began wondering how effective these brief surveys of knowledge are? How do I know if I am getting honest answers? How can I encourage students to be honest about what they know AND what they DO NOT know?

I have also noticed that these methods of checking for understanding are often used initially and quickly fall off.  I wonder how a more disciplined and differentiated use of checking for understanding could benefit the teacher and students learning. This is an area of inquiry that could be interesting for action research.

Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research Ch 1

Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research Ch 1

The introduction and chapter 1 challenge us to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the ideas posed by the authors. They implore us to note our disagreements and to connect to our own definitions of teacher, researcher and student. I am noticing thoughts popping into my head. “This seems overwhelming” “Who has time for this in their job?” “The idea of being a teacher and a researcher seems to be contradictory at times.” and many other thoughts. I do consider myself as a lifetime learner and I am trying to attach myself to the idea of being a teacher-researcher.

The authors ask us to consider our own personal paradigms and how they influence our view of the world and in turn our view of education. This is certainly a worthy goal. I like to think that I am a rationalist, with a scientific outlook of the world, and a value for evidence and facts. For these reasons I find myself identifying and feeling more comfortable with the quantitative research. Conversely, qualitative research is more difficult for me to understand. Action Research is more associated with qualitative research and I hope that as this class progresses I will begin to appreciate qualitative research, how it works, and how I can use it in my professional career.

Ch.1 Content Questions:

1. Why is it important to consider our own views of “good” teaching and research in begining action research?
1. Establishing a point of view or opinion on what is “good” as a teacher/researcher gives us goals and standards to aim for. We can establish a framework that we want to find ourselves in as teacher-researchers.
2. Why does context matter to our work as teacher-action researchers?
1. The context in which we teach determines  what, how, and why we teach. I aspire to work in the behavioral areas of special education. This context presents me with students who have needs that often times will be different than those of their peers. Another example of context could be imagining the students one could work with in inner city public schools vs rural private schools.
3. What does it mean to “deconstruct”?
1. Deconstructing is the strategic use of contradictory ideas, looking outside the binary to see what other options may be available to a given problem or system.
4. What is the differences between quantitative and qualitative research?
1. As I understand them, quantitative research relies on measures that can be looked at mathematically. Qualitative research is much more difficult to describe as it can include a mix of multiple methods of looking at and answering a question. In general qualitative research assumes that the “data” will change from time to time, place to place and person to person and thus relies on a different type of inquiry and data collection methods.
5. How does “mixed methods” research differ from action research?
1. Mixed methods uses both quantitative measures as well as qualitative reports in the  same study. The book suggests that action research is often qualitative but then goes on to say that action research is inclusive of data. I am still having a hard time seeing the difference between the two.
6. Define:
1. Self-Study - Preservice teachers examine themselves during the process of becoming a teacher. Looking to find what their beliefs, values, biases etc. may be and how to recognize these and use them to become better teachers.
2. Ethnography-Studying a group of students to find out; who are they? What do they want? How do they learn? Etc.
3. Curriculum analysis-The study of educational curriculum to determine if it is effective at getting students to meet pre determined rubrics of success.
4. Integrated Action Research - This is described as “trying out” a system, plan, etc. on students. Identify an issue, form a plan, implement and analyze the results.

Ch. 1 Process Questions:

1. What contradictions are between your image of “good” teacher and “good” researcher? What do the images have in common? How will you resolve these images as you continue your work?
1. Teachers apply research driven methods and researchers develop those methods after analyzing teacher action, curriculum and students outcomes. My initial thought is that these two roles could be contradictory and difficult to perform both objectively. I am trying to wrap my head around how the roles can coexist in the same person.
2. On the four types of teacher action research discussed - self-study, ethnography, curriculum analysis and design research - which makes the most sense to you at this stage in your learning?  
1. I think I understand self study best right now. The basic concept makes sense to me although I do think it would be a difficult task for me at the present time.