This week has been productive and I have learned a lot from data collection so far. What I have learned most from is my observations and exit tickets. I thought the best way to discuss them would be to list them.
1. My low preforming student seems to work the best in small group activities. However, the activity has to be something that is understandable to them and that I model/pre-teach the expectations of the activity. When I did small group activities that were not scaffold then he struggled and easily lost focus because I believe he felt overwhelmed. On the other hand, my small group activity did not work the best for my high performing student because she became distracted and social. There is also a chance that I did not have high enough expectations for the high-level student, or possibly, I provided her with too much time. I know that I am still working out the kinks with small group activities.
2. Using the exit tickets has been holding my students accountable and seeing their feedback the next class has helped them understand their mistake and not make them again. On several occasions, students have written questions and/or comments that I have used to guide the instruction the next day, and the majority of the students appreciate that. By giving students two different levels of exit tickets, I have also been able to see what my different students are able to do. My lower students appreciate that they are still learning material, but that I understand what their skill level and not asking them to do things that might be unattainable for them.
3. The most affective differentiation has to do with me. I have to continuously provide them support and reminders to stay on task. I am moving around the classroom more often and working on my relationships with my lower students that have been shut down earlier in the year. It is working and I am getting work from students that I have been unable to reach before now. This is always something that I have known was important, but sometimes it is easy to lose track of because of the many things going on at the same time. Sometimes I forget that quantity is not as important as quality, especially in terms of the number of activities and learning experiences I want to provide. This project has helped me refocus and remember that it is important to provide my students with learning opportunities, even if that means things take a little longer than I want them to.
Overall, I am feeling happy with my research. I have one more week to collect the data, and I am sure a lot of it will be the same. I am going to try to focus on my average student because he is the one that I have not seen much change with throughout this process. He has been absent a couple of days, so I have not had all of the opportunities to observe him.