Yesterday afternoon,
Melrose teachers presented the second annual Teacher Action Research Mini-Conference
at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, facilitated by 8th Grade ELA Teacher Ms. Means and
Roosevelt Kindergarten Teacher Ms. Tully, and supported by Asst. Supt. of
Teaching and Learning Dr. Adams and Director of Global Language Dr. Talbot.
About 80 Melrose teachers and colleagues from surrounding communities attended.
Presenters took on this work in addition to their regular teaching duties, and
with an interest in improving student learning in the Melrose schools while
earning PDP’s that support maintaining their state licenses.
What is Teacher Action
Research (TAR)?
TAR is teacher-directed
professional development, in other words, teachers studying teaching practices
in a systematic way. (Here is an explanatory blog post with brief video: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/10/improving_teaching_101_collabo.html.)
To do this, they identify a “problem,” develop a research question around that
problem, develop an action plan (learn about the process, engage in monthly
meetings and a mid-way consultation to sustain progress), collect data using
different methods like online research/student assessments/surveys/observations,
reflect on the process and change instruction or implement new practices to
support students, and present findings to other teachers for mutual
understanding and potential improvement for all. Nine sessions were featured in
the 2½ hour conference and almost all Melrose schools were represented. Here
are a couple presentation samples:
Making Music Matter
Mr. Repucci, Band Director
for Grades 3-12, presented his research around 2nd year elementary
music student instrument practice, beginning with the belief that playing music
(vs. just listening to music) reflects all four “c” skills (critical thinking,
communication, collaboration, and creativity), improves memory functioning, and
allows students to experience the beauty in music. (Here is the video he showed
to explain “How Playing an Instrument Benefits your Brain”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng.)
In order to engage in music in this way, he wanted students to increase
instrumental practice and wondered about the environment he needed to support
that would help realize that intention. His basic idea was that students need
to be persistent in their instrumental practice to improve. He studied the
psychology of practicing, provided the students practice logs, had them set
goals, and created ways they could showcase their music. After his study was
complete, he found students practiced more by setting goals and that his encouragement
to meet those goals was useful. He also learned that the “group mentality” was
supportive (there was more practice leading up to performances, especially when
those performances were with others and to their peers), and that enthusiasm
was a key factor in getting students motivated. Ultimately, he found that practicing
should be self-directed, enjoyable, goal-oriented, process-oriented, and
regular. One of the biggest successes was an impromptu performance in a school
hallway – a way to present the results of student practice in a way that
energized students and makes music fun – and motivating them to continue to
practice.
What’s the Problem? Dissecting and Persevering
through Math and Chemistry Word Problems
Lincoln School 4th
grade teacher Ms. Iuliano and MHS Chemistry teacher Ms. Martin teamed up to
reveal their exploration around “experiences implementing bar models and the
think-aloud strategy for solving word problems.” Ms. Iuliano focused on
developing the parts of solving this type of problem, along with teaching the
vocabulary necessary for its solution. She set achievement goals for students
to measure how well her new teaching method was working, and found some
successes combined with areas in which she wants to improve her teaching to
improve student outcomes. In her reflection, she thought about how she might
tailor problems to a student’s interest, how collaborating with colleagues
might improve outcomes, and the fact that she gained many insights that would
positively impact her general teaching.
Ms. Martin had noticed
that many of her AP Chemistry students struggled with multi-part free response
questions (some with six sections). Students would “freeze,” and she wanted to
find strategies that would help. On-line research revealed the Think Aloud
Paired Problem Solving (TAPPS) approach and she decided to make it her research
model. (It involves forming student pairs, designating a problem solver to read
the problem and talk through the reasoning process in an attempt to solve it,
and a listener to encourage out-loud thinking, asking clarifying questions and
offering suggestions without actually solving for the partner.) TAPPS steps
include understanding the problem, devising a plan to solve the problem,
implementing a solution, and reflecting on the problem. (More at Classroom cognitive and metacognitive
strategies for teachers: Research-based strategies for problem-solving in
mathematics K-12 from the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student
Services at the Florida Dept. of Education (2010).) To help students define
questions and help with strategies, Ms. Martin developed a sheet reflecting
“Common Free Response Issues and Techniques to Fix Them,” defining an issue
(like “Not understanding what the question is asking”) and then providing
techniques (like “Look at keywords and break down the question”). Upon
reflection, she found that students benefitted from TAPPS and that building
individual study plans for students based on their strengths and weaknesses
would be helpful as a next step.
In sum, data shows that teacher
professional development is a key factor in improving student learning. Melrose
teachers are not only taking advantage of the many professional development
offerings provided by the district, they are creating and sharing them
independently and supported by Melrose administrators and other teachers.
Applause to all educators who
continue their own learning while working hard to improve learning for students!
