Research to Practice

Throughout the course, I have significantly improved in all areas of the research to practice process. Through every new post, I improved my ability to detail my observations, questions, research, and reflections. In my first blog post, I separated each section in the post according to the areas. In doing this, I was unable to form a cohesive story. Instead, my post read as boring, textbook information, which was not my goal at all. I made strong improvements in each individual section as well. In addition, my first blog post had a very informational title, while my second, third, and fourth blog posts had titles that captured the reader much more.

To start, my observations have drastically improved, probably more than any other area of the process. My first observation simply stated what I saw, and I did not elaborate on my observation in the form of a story. I did not try to delve deeper into the implications that could have come with the observation. As I mentioned previously, it simply reads as way too textbook-like and not like a narrative. In my second blog post, I started to create a story within my post. I started my observation with asking the audience if they have ever felt frustration after not being able to accomplish something, and then I went into my observation that revolved around this same subject. I also brought in my own past experiences about this topic and how I felt about it. Then, in my fourth blog post, I continued with creating a story out of my post and I introduced the topic of the post through my observation. I explained what I saw while also beginning a cohesive storyline in my observation. I was also able to better connect my observation to the questions and research at this point. Overall, from my first blog post to my fourth blog post, I was able to strongly connect my observations to the other aspects of the research to practice process (question, research, reflection). In addition, I was able to create a cohesive narrative introduced through my observations, as well as describe my observations in much more reader friendly language.

I vastly improved in the question area of the research to practice process as well. In my first blog post, I simply stated many of the questions that I came up with from my observation. It was a very logical process, and I separated the questions I made from the rest of the post and I did not integrate them well throughout the blog post. In my second blog post, I combined my questioning with the observation in order to create more cohesiveness and to connect my questions more thoroughly to my observations, so they directly intertwined. I also spoke to the reader more through my questions. I did not just simply state my questions, instead I connected them to real life and asked the reader the same questions pertaining to real life situations. In my fourth blog post, I really pushed the narrative and storytelling with my questioning. Once again, I connected my question to the observation and to real life situations. My question was about how we raise the confidence of children, so I connected that to many situations in real life where people perform better when they are confident. For example, I talked about the heavily popular phrase “fake it until you make it” because it resonates with many people. My questioning and how I integrated it within my blog post greatly improved from my first post to my last post.

For the research portion of the research to practice process, I started off in my first blog post by going through how I found my article, step by step. In reading this over, after I learned how to create a story out of the posts, it is very boring to read. I even described how I broke down my question into key terms to search for the article. This is not reader friendly at all. However, I was able to move past that in my second blog post and skip discussing how I searched for my article and went straight into the content of my research. I talked about how the research could be applied in the classroom and how motivating students (the topic of my post and research) benefits everyone involved. In my third blog post (I did the research portion of this group post), I was able to more comfortably mention the author’s name and elaborate on their research in a casual way. I was able to successfully integrate my research findings into the blog post and keep the flow of the narrative, which was about our science center at Eshleman Elementary School. My fourth blog post was basically perfecting the research process and seamlessly weaving it into my post. Throughout this process, I feel like finding an appropriate article and including that research into my blog post became easier with each new post. I think, by the fourth post, my research really helped to tie all of the content together and form a strong argument.

The reflection aspect of the research to practice process is where I think I improved the least. I do think that by my fourth blog post my reflections became more well thought-out, however I still struggled with integrating it into the rest of the post. In each of my blog posts, I have the reflection separated from the rest of my post. I could not figure out how to include it with the rest of my sections while still maintaining cohesiveness. I did not think I could authentically include it and I did not want it to feel forced to the reader. One aspect I improved upon with my reflection is reflecting about the process of research to practice, and how I think I grew from each process. I do think that this process has allowed me to think more intrinsically about my work.

When it comes to technology, I am a bit regretful that I never used a different form of technology for my blog posts besides written text. I used written text for all four blog posts, simply transferring the text to my blog and posting it there. I would have liked to try doing a podcast, however the opportunity just did not end up working out time-wise. I think it would have been fun to do a video post as well, but I would have definitely been nervous showing my face. On the bright side, using written text for my blog every time was good practice for when I will have to write to parents and administrators in the future.

If I were to experience this research to practice project again, I would do several things differently. Firstly, I would use a different technology for each of my blog posts. I would try out the podcast and vlog, because I think it would be fun to use those technologies. Another thing I would do differently is record my observations in more detail as I am seeing them in the field. I would do this because it would provide more information to write about in my blog and I would not have trouble remembering things from the field. In addition, I would make sure to write my blog posts as a cohesive story in the first place.

There are many things I learned throughout this research to practice project that I will take away for my future teaching practice. First, I now know the importance of the research I have conducted for these posts. For example, my first blog post was about the developmental significance of free play. I now know how incredibly important free play is for all children and I will be sure to always include free play in my classroom. Then, in my fourth blog post I discussed the importance of confidence in children. The research I conducted for the post showed me how confidence in children actually raises their performance in the classroom. This is another thing I can take with me in the future. I will always make sure my students feel confident. In addition, this process has prepared me for the future research and write-ups that I will need to conduct for my professional development.

There are a few pieces of advice I would give to the next ERCH 496 students pertaining to the research to practice project. Firstly, I would advise them to explore different technological choices for their blog posts. I would suggest not just doing the written text like I, and many of my peers, did. It is a good experience to become familiar with other methods of technology. Secondly, I would advise them to plan their blog post as a cohesive story from the start. I think separating the observation, question, research, and reflection parts of the post is a mistake even when just gathering information and writing down your thoughts. Plan it as a story from the beginning and it will be easier to write it as a story when the post is made. Lastly, I would suggest to all the students to write down their observations extensively as they are in the field. This will ensure that they have more content to research and write about later. Overall, I would explain the value of the research to practice project to us, as future educators.

(parenting.com)

            During my past few weeks observing a preschool classroom and seeing a multitude of different work ethics, behavioral situations, and more, there is one aspect of the preschoolers that has come to my full attention. I have noticed that children who are more confident in their academic abilities and do not seem to question their own work and thoughts seem to perform better academically. Adversely, I have noticed that children who are unconfident in their abilities and have the mindset that they cannot achieve something, will often times fall short of the goal and not perform to the best of their ability. These observations have shown me that confidence greatly contributes to the quality of the work that these children will put out, even at their extremely young age.

What is it about this confidence that results in children performing better academically? As we all know, as adults, sometimes we question our own ability to do things and perform tasks, and often we find ourselves underperforming as we expected. Is this underperforming due to our preconditioned negative attitude? I would say yes. There is a reason that the phrase “fake it until you make it” resonates deeply within many people. If you display confidence in what you are doing, you will eventually perform proficiently. So, it is imperative to raise the confidence of our young students, because, in the end, all we want is for them to succeed and know that they will succeed. In order to do this, we need to create a strong sense of morale within our classrooms and the students themselves. To boost our students’ morale, one thing we can do is offer constant feedback. In a study performed by Scott Cottrell and others, it was found that the confidence of students increased dramatically when they received feedback. Feedback lets our students know how they are doing and what they can improve upon. In addition, it lets students know what they are already excelling at. Due to this, students can feel confident in the information they already know, and they can improve upon their weak areas, which would then increase their confidence in areas they previously were not confident in. So, as classroom teachers we should be giving feedback to every student about their strengths and weaknesses. If we can bring these areas of need to the attention of our students through feedback, they can increase their skills in those areas, thus becoming more confident in their own abilities.

Reflection

I found this topic extremely interesting, so when I was thinking about my observations in the field, I chose to work around this topic and talk about the influence of confidence that I have seen myself. However, I did have difficulty finding adequate research. I do not know if it was due to the search terms I used, but I did eventually find useful information. I think that this topic is extremely important, because if we build up the confidence of our students as this young age, they will maintain that sense of self-competency throughout their school careers.

 

References

Cottrell, S., Thammasitiboon, S., Cannarella, R., Jacques, M., & Shumway, J. (2008). The relationship between the educational process and students’ confidence. Clinical Teacher, 5(4), 226–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-498X.2008.00244.x

Don’t Blink – You Might Miss It

By: Brandi Fair, Casey Stratton, Reba Towles

When teaching a ten minute, hands-on lesson at Eshelman, my group noticed that the kids were involved for the entire period. There were not any behavior issues during this time, and the students appeared to be genuinely interested. These ideas were confirmed when their teachers pointed out how the students were intrigued by our lessons and therefore listening more than they normally would in class. This brought us to the question, “How can we keep elementary students engaged throughout the school day?” Were they simply behaving because it was an event and they knew they would not be able to attend if they acted out? Is it possible to keep children entertained for a full day with academic content?

Stacia Miller and Suzanne Lindt discuss how one of the biggest methods of teaching that has led to greater student learning, long-term knowledge acquisition, and high student engagement is movement integration. When movement is integrated into the teaching and the lessons that are taught to students, they are much more likely to stay engaged and retain knowledge. A higher rate of student interest, engagement, and learning were all recorded during lessons that integrated movement. This makes complete sense when we look back on our rainbow science activity we conducted. The activity was hands on and the children were are to move the discs around in the water, working on both their gross motor skills (by moving their whole arms) and their fine motor skills (moving their fingers in the water and to color). Hands on learning generally incorporates movement and absolutely engages students more than learning that is strictly paper and pencil. Movement integration and hands on learning are the optimal ways of teaching when it comes to keeping children engaged throughout the lesson and school day.

Reflection

In conclusion, incorporating movement and hands on activities is a great way to keep students actively engaged. All students love to move around or touch thins,so finding away to incorporate that into a lease will increase the likelihood of the students understanding the lesson. It will also increase the likelihood of them wanting to learn the lesson. Hands on activities have no restrictions so any student can participate in such a lesson. As mentioned with the rainbow activity we had no behavior issues or incidents, everyone was engaged and had fun. As future educators it is important to know what methods will work with students and which ones won’t. No matter what the lesson may be involving movement or a hands on activity is definitely a good choice to see full engagement.

References

Miller, S. C., & Lindt, S. F. (2018). Chapter 3: Engaging Elementary Students through Movement Integration in Mathematics and Reading. Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue, 20(1/2/2018), 31–43. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=131343472&authtype=sso&custid=s3915890&site=ehost-live.

Children in a New Jersey preschool. (cred. nsnj.org)

Have you ever become extremely frustrated after you couldn’t do something you thought you should be able to do? I’ve had this experience many times as a child. I remember days where I would lock up in school because I didn’t understand or couldn’t complete the same activity that I saw all of my peers completing with ease. I remember feeling dumb and like all of my energy was just drained out of me. I didn’t want to continue working anymore. Many children experience this all of the time. When I saw a young boy who was concentrating hard and really working on a math activity, I could tell that he was determined to see it through. However, when he became stumped, and understanding became increasingly difficult, he shut out anyone trying to help him and completely closed himself off. He basically became a statue. If statues could cry, that is. This child refused to participate in anything else for the duration of the centers because he was so upset with himself.

How do we teach our children and students that it’s okay to not be amazing at something right away? That it’s okay to fail time and time again, as long as you get back up and try again? That never giving up is what it’s really about? I thought about these things and I asked myself, especially pertaining to the specific situation I observed, how do we, as teachers, motivate a child to continue with a task after they have already shut down? How do we get them back up to a place where they can mentally and physically become engaged again? I set out to find the answers and research related to this topic.

While attempting to conduct research surrounding the motivation of children, especially for children who have shut down, I found an interesting article that discusses the value of intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation. As teachers, most of us already know that extrinsic motivation often does not work and that it is indeed best to motivate children intrinsically. So, we need to motivate these children intrinsically and encourage them to carry on even after they’ve struggled so that they can satisfy their own desire to learn and achieve. While children may not automatically seek to accomplish school activities for the sake of enjoyment, it is true that children are more excited for school when they are younger. Teachers need to maintain this excitement in the classroom, and in order to do that, we must create a positive and safe learning environment. We must support children when they fail and teach them that it’s okay to fail, and they simply just try again. We must foster a learning environment in which children feel empowered by their own learning and seek that learning for their own personal achievement and self-satisfaction. In creating this environment, we can establish intrinsic motivation in our students. This intrinsic motivation will allow children to continue even when they feel frustrated and overwhelmed with a task.

 

Reflection

It was much easier to find an article this time around and I think that is because my topic is much broader and common than my last topic was. Also, I enjoyed writing this blog post much more because of the story telling and narrative aspect. My last blog post was simply spewing my observations and the facts I found from research, so it was pretty dry and felt very boring. However, I was able to write with a much more conversational tone for this post and I was able to even bring in a little humor. Overall, this research to practice post went considerably well!

 

References

Landen, J. L., & Willems, A. L. (1979). Do you really know how to motivate children? Education, 99, 283–286. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=519794842&site=ehost-live.

Observation

This first blog post revolves around an observation I had at the preschool I am currently placed at. Two male preschool students, during free play time in the preschool classroom, were in the dramatic play kitchen. There was a tablecloth located at this center and the children used the tablecloth as a hiding spot, putting it over their heads. They were not disturbing any other students or hurting each other, but the teacher got very upset with them for playing with the tablecloth and said it “belongs on the table”. This happened about three times during this play time. This occurred around 11:00 AM until 11:30 AM. To the best of my ability using the information available, this occurred because the students were playing in a way that the teacher did not see appropriate. In response, the children put the tablecloth back on the table. What I do not know is how often these actions happen and if there has been a bigger incident in the past that has made the teacher react this strongly to the students playing with the tablecloth. One pattern is that the students seemed to leave the cloth alone for a few minutes after being reprimanded, until they would once again pick it up and play with it.

Question

My observation led me to brainstorm some questions that I could pose. I wanted to perform research revolving around dramatic and free play in the classroom. I know that some teachers and parents see free play as non-educational and simply just playing with no other benefits. However, as a pre-service teacher, I know that is more than wrong. I knew free play and dramatic play is educational and beneficial to children, but I was not sure exactly how and why. My first question, “What is a teacher’s role when facilitating free play in the preschool classroom?” had me thinking about the role of a teacher during all of this. I was wondering whether the teacher’s presence impacts free play. Another question I posed was “How can a teacher integrate lessons/learning into free play?” because I wondered if teachers ever try to integrate free play into their lessons. However, I decided that free play is best left as what it is called, free play, without any extra guidelines or teaching to interfere. Children need this time to explore different types of unstructured play. So, I decided to choose my final question, “What is the developmental significance of free play in the preschool classroom?” because I really wanted to focus on the impact of free play on child development.

Research

To properly search for an article to find research for my question, I needed to break down my question into key words to search throughout the Education Source Complete database. A few combinations I thought of that brought me fair results were ones such as “child development, free play,” “preschool, free play, child development,” and “free play, development, preschool.” All of these combinations did conjure adequate articles. However, I found my best article using the combination “preschool, free play, child development.” This combination is almost identical to one of my other combinations, however it did bring different search results. The article I picked to read and connect to my observation is Play: The Use of Play in Early Childhood Education written by Allision Emslie and Robert C. Mesle. In the article, Emslie and Mesle discuss the use of play in the early education setting, including preschool. They talk about the many benefits that free play has on children. Free play benefits the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children. The authors also mention how play is a part of NAEYC’s developmentally appropriate practice. Lastly, the authors talk about how play unites and integrates the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical aspects of learning and development. My question that I posed was definitely answered in this article.

Reflection

This first Research to Practice blog post has went considerably well. I was able to observe an event during my field observation that I thought was worthy of researching. I think the observing experience itself was extremely valuable because as practicing teachers we often want to interact and engage with our students every second of the day, however sometimes you notice different things when you simply observe them. Forming my question brought a little bit of difficult thinking. This was due to myself not being quite sure about what exactly I wanted to ask and ultimately research. Yet, when I started to think more about free play and my observation, the questions came easily to me and I was able to pick the question I deemed the worthiest. The research portion was absolutely the most difficult. I had no trouble breaking down my question into key words to search on the database, however I was not getting good results for after my few initial searches. I do not know if I was placing the key words correctly in the search bars, but I found many of my results not even relevant to my question. However, I must have searched the database correctly eventually, because my last search results brought a lot of good material, including the article I decided to choose for this blog post. I think I could use a lot more practice with the research database. Other than that, my first Research to Practice project was a success.

 

References

Emslie, A., & Mesle, C. R. (2009). Play: The Use of Play in Early Childhood Education. GYANODAYA: The Journal of Progressive Education, 2(2), 1–26. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=58623093&authtype=sso&custid=s3915890&site=ehost-live