What Do You Mean You Don't Understand? :Using Strategies to Improve Mathematics Instruction
Inquiry Brief
Context I am a level II elementary education resident in a second grade class. My class is made up of 19 amazing students, eleven girls and eight boys. I have a diverse class; twelve of my nineteen students are African American, five are Hispanic, one is Asian Indian, and one is Caucasian. Three of my students qualify for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) services, with one of them having Asperger’s disorder, and the other two having behavioral issues. One of my students qualified as gifted. I have four students who are English Language Learners (ELLs), and two of them are at the almost proficient level, while the other two are close to being almost proficient. I intern at a Title 1 and Renaissance school. A title one school is where at least 75% of the school population qualifies for free or reduced lunch. A Renaissance school is a school that is ranked as one of the highest needing schools in the county, serving a high poverty level population. The majority of my students, if not all of them qualify for free and reduced lunch. Despite coming from a high poverty neighborhood, most of my students are on or above level for second grade. We only have a few students who are severely below level in academics. As relating to my inquiry, a majority of my students are above level or on level in mathematics. Six of my students are above level in math, and the frequently finish their work early. Seven of my students are on level with math, grasping the concepts somewhat quickly, needing guidance along the way, but understanding the content. Five of my students are below level or severely below level in mathematics. These students struggle to grasp the concepts because they have not yet mastered the skills to work on higher level problems. These students require much guidance while completing math problems. They also go to RTI for mathematics instruction. Main Wondering What strategies can I use to improve my math instruction? Rationale I have always had anxiety when it comes to math, and this anxiety has carried over into my teaching practices. I am worried that I will not be able to effetely deliver the math content in a way that is understandable to my students. In order to overcome this anxiety, I want to become exposed to different teaching strategies that I can use to improve my math instruction and make it comprehensible to my students, improving their achievement. Timeline March 17-21 – Gathering data, small group math (if I can), pictures, read articles, Wendy dialogue, teach lessons March 24-28 – Gathering data, small group math, pictures, video lessons, look at student data March 31 – April 4 – Gathering data, small group math, pictures, videos, read articles, find and try to incorporate other strategies April 7-11 – Gathering last bit of data, pictures, videos, last articles to read, last videos of lessons for data gathering, small group math April 14-18 – Claims and analysis, final claims analyzing April 21-25 - Putting poster together April 27 – POSTER HAS TO BE DONE AND READY!!!!!!!!!! April 28 – Inquiry Conference |
Poster
Context I am a level II elementary education resident in a second grade class. My class is made up of 19 amazing students, eleven girls and eight boys. I have a diverse class; twelve of my nineteen students are African American, five are Hispanic, one is Asian Indian, and one is Caucasian. Three of my students qualify for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) services, with one of them having Asperger’s disorder, and the other two having behavioral issues. One of my students qualified as gifted. I have four students who are English Language Learners (ELLs). I intern at a Title 1 and Renaissance school. The majority of my students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Despite coming from a high poverty neighborhood, most of my students are on or above level for second grade. As relating to my inquiry, a majority of my students are above level or on level in mathematics. Six of my students are above level in math, and the frequently finish their work early. Seven of my students are on level with math, grasping the concepts somewhat quickly, needing guidance along the way, but understanding the content. Five of my students are below level or severely below level in mathematics. These students struggle to grasp the concepts because they have not yet mastered the skills to work on higher level problems. These students require much guidance while completing math problems. For my inquiry, I chose five students who had low chapter 6 mid-point scores to focus my instruction on. Inquiry Question What strategies can I use to improve my math instruction? Rationale I have always had anxiety when it comes to math, and this anxiety has carried over into my teaching practices. I am worried that I will not be able to effectively deliver the math content in a way that is understandable to my students. In order to overcome this anxiety, I want to become exposed to different teaching strategies that I can use to improve my math instruction and make it comprehensible to my students, improving their achievement. Data Collection and Analysis The data I collected was the students test scores. The tests ranged from chapters 6 and 7, including their Show What You Know (prerequisite knowledge test), Mid-Chapter Check Point, and the Chapter Test. When I analyzed the data, I looked at the test scores for the class as a whole, comparing how the 5 students in my small group did to the rest of the class. I then took the data for my five students, and made a bar graph of their test data, comparing them to each other. I then looked at their scores individually; making graphs of their progression through the tests, looking for growth in their scores. |
Implications
Based on this research, I would incorporate small groups into my everyday instruction. Since my students’ scores improved about a letter grade from the pre-test to the chapter test, I would like this to happen to the entire class. I would differentiate my math instruction based on my student’s readiness, giving them the instruction they need and rotating around the groups, providing support. Further Wondering - How do the student’s test scores improve throughout the year? - How do the student’s test scores compare to the entire class? - What other strategies can I incorporate into my small group instruction? - What are the learning styles of the students in my small groups? |