So far, my data collection process has been going relatively smoothly. I started with a survey of students feelings about math, learning styles, preferred class activities, their interests, and questions about their personal use of technology (mainly phone, twitter, and e-mail). Below is the survey that I asked each student in my 6th period class to complete (which is the class that I am focusing on my differentiation research on).
1. How much do you like math? (circle one)
1 – I don’t like math
2 – I somewhat like math
3 – I don’t care about math either way
4 – I like math
5 – I love math!
2. What type of learner are you? (check all that apply)
- o Visual learner (like to see things)
- o Verbal learner (like to hear it being taught)
- o Hands-on Learner (like to use manipulatives)
3. How do you like to learn? (check all that apply)
o By doing practice problems
o By taking notes
o By watching videos
o Figuring it out with a partner or group by discovery
o Figuring out by myself by discovery
4. What type of classroom activities do you like to do? (check all that apply)
o Dominos
o Dry erase boards
o Group work
o Notes
o Online practice problems
o Puzzles
o Signs
o Other (please specify)
5. What are you interested in? (check all that apply)
o Camping
o Cars
o Drawing
o Fishing
o Gaming
o Hiking
o Hunting
o Music
o Reading
o Sports
o Writing
o Other (specify)
6. Do you have a cell phone that can access the internet?
1 – Yes
2 – No
If you answered No to #6, then you are done with the survey.
7. If you have a cell phone, do you have a twitter account?
1 – yes, I have a twitter account
2 – no, I do not have a twitter account
8. Can you access your e-mail by using your phone?
1 – yes
2 - no
I honestly have not time to look at the results yet, but I do plan to look at this weekend so that I am able to begin differentiating based on their interests, activities they like, and technology resources.
I have also begun keeping an observation log for 3 different students in the class. One student would be considered Low performing, the next is average, and the last is a high performing or gifted student. I haven’t been able to make any final observations, but so far, I have noticed that all the students have participated at a higher level there are more activities in the class period. If an activity takes too long, my high student is waiting and gets bored, while my low student loses concentration and interest in the activity. This makes sense to me, but I am curious to see if this patter will continue.
The third piece of data that I started collect was from the exit tickets. I only did one this week, so I was not able to look at data on it. I did use it as a tool the next day to have my students that didn’t do well on the ticket to redo it after practicing the same topic in class. I was pleasantly surprised that both of my low students that did not originally do the exit ticket problems were willing to redo them and submit them for a grade. Even better was that they got the questions right!
Therefore, I am just in the beginning stages of my data collection, and I feel that they are going well. I am a little concerned that a three-week period may not be long enough for me to determine if any specific activities or strategies work best for differentiation. I am also wondering how I am going to actually judge or decide if something works well and is beneficial to students. Another question is, should I keep my activities to the same type, or uses a variety of things from my toolbox like all the references say. I am sure I will figure these out, especially with the help of my peers and their feedback!