Action Research Update

Just wanted to write a short update on the results I've discovered while compiling my data. It seems that while Classical music did bore the students, the writing scores were on par with the scores taken the days that no music was played. Piano music made the students appear sleepy and unmotivated, but the writing scores were once again on par with the Classical and no music scores. Pop music, while it did get the students moving and motivated, did produce noticeably lower scores (a little over a full point). Keeping this all in mind, it appears to me as if Pop music is great for informal writing assignments, such as journal prompts. This genre of music might be a little to upbeat for formal writing assignments, though, so I would avoid this in the future. Piano music, however, seems perfect for formal assignments. Students are on-task and working, and produce results that are similar to results taken when no music is played.

Action Research Music Day 6

This was the second day of Pop music and the final day that music will be played in the classroom. Once again, listening to their own music got students ready and motivated for the assignment; students started quickly and there was no complaining. I did see the same behavior from the previous day (hopping along with the music), as well.
This time I played a song that many students were very familiar with, but I cut out the lyrics to see how they might react to this. Students immediately perked up when they heard the beginning, but were upset when they discovered there were no lyrics to be included. I was interested to see what would happen if I did this since I included this question in my action research.

Action Research Music Day 5

Students LOVED the Pop music! Something that would seem obvious, of course, but it was great to see with my own eyes. Students took about a minute to get on-task, but this was mostly due to their excitement over getting to listen to their own music. Once started, students were on-task with their writing. However, I did notice that some students got a little too "into it," by mouthing the lyrics quietly and bopping/ hopping along to the music. While this did show that they were motivated, they were NOT writing at this time. Also, whenever a new song would begin to play, students would stop writing and try to listen to what new song was playing.
Something new I noticed and found very interesting, was the fact that some students who finished early with their writing actually picked it pack up after listening to the music. This was contrary to the other music genres, where students would finish and sit quietly, uninterested in continuing the assignment.

Action Research Music Day 4

The second day of Piano music. Today was MUCH easier to get started, and I believe it was thanks to the music. The music seems to have a calming effect on the students, causing them to work quietly and quickly. However, I did notice the same things from the previous session; some students wrote very little and it seemed as if they had trouble coming up with ideas. Many finished around the 5 minute mark and stopped writing. Again, a few students looked off-task, but not in a rowdy way. They look more like they are very relaxed and day-dreaming. Almost as if they are just unmotivated to complete the task. I look forward to seeing if this is because they are bored with writing or if they are bored with the music when I implement Pop music next week.

Action Research Music Day 3

Today was the first day incorporating Piano music into the classroom. At the beginning, I noticed similar results from the Classical music days; students still complained that they were not listening to their own music, and it took 1 or 2 minutes to get them back on track. Contrary to last week, though, was the behavior and mood of the students as they wrote. While students may have shown distaste with the music last week, they still worked diligently throughout the writing period. This time they seemed more tired as they wrote. Many looked almost out of it and lethargic, something I believe was caused by the calming nature of the music. I'll have to wait and see how it looks the next time, but it's interesting to see this change in behavior.

Action Research (so far)

Just wanted to give a short update on my action research so far. The music/ writing prompts have been going perfectly so far. The only hiccup was the first day I tried implementing music. For some reason the speakers just didn't want to play. But eventually everything got under way. I'm really enjoying this research so far, and I'm learning a lot about how teachers can use music in the classroom. I've also thought of a few other ideas I'd like to test out involving music. I also think the students have been enjoying the music. Although they complain that it isn't modern enough when I start it, they work quietly the entire time they write. Their surveys also show that many do indeed believe they work better with the music.
I'll keep posting here (not even sure if anyone can read this) to keep others updated, including myself. Hopefully once I begin closely analyzing my data, I can find even more surprises evolving from this research.

Action Research Music Day 2

I struggled again today with trying to get the students to begin the assignment. Once more, students seemed more interested in expressing their desire to listen to their own music rather than begin the assignment. Like last time, though, students worked quietly and diligently after getting started. A few students did finish up around the 6-7 minute mark, and I did not prompt them to write more. I still would like to see if the music can affect this behavior in students.

Next week I will be trying Piano music, so we'll see how students take the change of pace. 

Action Research Music Day 1

Today was the first day I implemented music into my 6th grade English Language Arts classroom. As part of my action research, I will be playing music at least twice a week over a 5 week period. Today I am starting with classical music. The students seemed a bit taken aback by it at first. They complained about it, and it took a couple of minutes until everyone got settled down and began working. However, after getting started, the students were very quiet and worked diligently.
I've decided to shorten the time that the students have to write to 10 minutes. 15 minutes seems a bit too long, and most students end up finishing in the first 6 minutes. I've also decided to stop prompting students to write more, as I would like to see how the music affects this behavior in students. Overall, this first day went well, and I look forward to future music sessions with this class.

Inquiry Celebration Reflections

Attending the inquiry celebration, I had the opportunity to see and hear from a number of interns who each studied interesting topics that I would love to address in the future. I do find it very beneficial to see the work of others more experienced in the field than I am, and it's also great to see how much all of us have grown as educators and researchers. I also find action research to be a valuable aspect of any teacher's work, so it was great to see and learn about different types of wonderings, different ways to collect data, different ways to implement studies, and many other practices. Attending this celebration makes me feel much more confident for when I conduct my own action research in the future.

Characteristics of the Novice teacher, Part 2

In my effort to meet all of the characteristics of a novice teacher, I will continue to look at past artifacts that I have completed throughout my professional education.

The 6th characteristic says that a novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. I have taken numerous English courses during my time here at WVU, and have completed a number of assignments that have tested my knowledge of the content. Just recently I had to compile a Content Area Portfolio for my C&I class, which required me to look back all of the work I have completed so far and rationalize how I meet certain characteristics. In doing this activity, I was allowed to see how much I have grown over these past couple years. Any number of these pieces would work to show my knowledge of English content in order to successfully teach it to my future students.

The 10th characteristic states that the novice teacher should be liberally educated. Just this past week I taught the graphic novel American Born Chinese to my 10th grade Honors students. I like the idea of introducing new types of literature and storytelling to my students, and the class reacted very positively to this genre of text. Although they were skeptical at first, I had students genuinely showing interest in the novel and showing excitement when we would read together in class. I want to keep an open mind when it comes to the types of materials I use in the classroom so that my students can have the ability to explore interests when they leave my class.

I am by no means proficient in any of the characteristics of a novice teacher, but these artifacts show specific areas in which I am improving in. I will continue to meet and improve upon these characteristics as I enter the intern year and beyond.

Characteristics of a Novice Teacher

Throughout my practicum experience, it's my job to ensure that I strive to uphold the characteristics that make up a novice teacher. While I'm still far from achieving my goal, it is a constant practice of mine to look for ways to improve my professional education in order to be an effective educator.

The 8th characteristic of a novice teacher says that the novice teacher should be a reflective practitioner. I try to model this trait everyday by keeping a researcher's journal and keeping up with regular blog postings. Oftentimes if I see something interesting in class, I will journal about it as soon as I get the chance. Afterwards, if I get the chance, I will talk with my mentor teacher about the experience and see if they have any comments on the matter.

The 9th characteristic of a novice teacher claims that the novice teacher should have a respect for human diversity. Recently I created a Character Education lesson plan focused on the value of respect for others' dialects. I did a good bit of research last semester on the topic of dialect awareness and I found that the common theme was that one should not stereotype someone because of the way they talk. I want all of my students to feel comfortable in the classroom, and I believe a basic level of respect for other human beings is necessary to achieve this.

As I mentioned above, I still have a long ways to go to fulfill these characteristics, but I believe with the help of my peers and mentor teacher I will be prepared to enter the professional world of education in the coming years.