This week has been a challenging one with data collection. My students did complete their pre-surveys and we have began working on a project that will be one of the entries to the portfolio. However, many students have been absent due to illness, as the flu is making its rounds through the school population. Since my class only has ten members, collecting data becomes tricky when even three people are absent. Also, Friday we had a Student-Faculty basketball game to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes. It is a great cause and everyone had a wonderful time, but it did take away from instructional time and time collecting data.
The students are very excited about participating in this study. This surprised me a bit since they have been videoed about fifteen times as I have been preparing my National Board portfolio, not to mention the focus groups and the rounds of reflection we have done as a class. Karen mentioned that she is "getting to be really good at all of this reflecting business." That is a great thing! Not all students are as keen as Karen, though. Andrés, with his typical dry humor, stated that if he "never reflected on his progress again, it would be too soon". Andrés is otherwise, however, very cooperative. He honestly just likes to voice his opinion, no matter what.
One unexpected turn of events is that Andrés has started to come out of his shell a bit with the rest of the class. Normally, he sits alone and tries to have a little contact with others as possible. However, since this study began and the class has done more structured reflection and goal setting, Andrés has started helping others, voluntarily sitting with the class, and generally being more of a valuable part of the class. I am not exactly sure at this time why this has occurred, but I am certainly not complaining. One reason could be that he wants others to see what he can already do with the language, since everyone is setting their goals and sharing what they are with their groups. Another possibility is Andrés feels that he has a lot to offer to share with his classmates. I will continue to observe as the study continues to try to determine the reason for Andrés' new-found social behavior.
Next week, we will continue to work on our project, one of several that will be included in our portfolios. Also, I will be conducting several one-on-one interviews with my students. Finally, my students will be continuing to set language goals and reflect on each person's progress.
Tina Mallén
Comments (11)
It is hard to collect data when your students are absent. My data collection has gone the same way. I think that it is good that the students are so cooperative and as it looks excited to help you out. After a while, they come out of their shell and there isn't any telling what they might say.
Posted by Heather Greene | March 21, 2009 9:47 PM
Posted on March 21, 2009 21:47
Tina, that is interesting to hear that one of your students is beginning to come out of his shell. Maybe he is very interested in what is going on and he feels important so he wants to share with his classmates. I too have found that my students that are participating feel very important and are very excited about participating. They are constantly asking what is coming up next. Good luck to you and I hope the rest of your data collection goes smoothly.
Posted by Kristen Clark | March 22, 2009 12:42 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 12:42
First of all, I hope your students are feeling better. Whew, the flu is evil.
I apprecitate you description on Andres. The way you explain his attitude and demeanor throughout the progression of you data collection is really insightful. It reminds me of some of the studies we've read for class. I would encourage you to do more of that in your study (i'm sure you're already planning to). I think really telling a story for each of you participants will make for not just an informative, but an entertaining study.
Good job.
Posted by Lyme | March 22, 2009 5:06 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 17:06
Tina, it sounds like you've managed to come up with some bright spots in all of this, despite all those setbacks. Regardless of what else happens, I think you've had a really positive thing happen with Andres and that alone would make the project worthwhile in my eyes. I can only hope that you have even more positive reactions of this sort as you move through the study. Here's hoping things get easier as you go along.
Posted by Kate Whyte | March 23, 2009 10:06 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 22:06
Tina,
You just might have a really good case study in Andres alone! Of course, you may have equally good data with your other participants, but it's always interesting to be able to write about the most dramatic data. If you want, you can hone in on him a bit more in the last couple of weeks of data collection, to deepen and enrich what you find.
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Posted on March 24, 2009 22:09
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Posted on December 6, 2011 03:38
I agree with you and will be definately looking forward to your future updates. Thank you and keep the great work up. Good luck!
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Posted on December 6, 2011 11:19
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Posted on December 7, 2011 03:34
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