Excitement

Hooray!  2 of the remaining 3 students in my study are really excited about the RRJs!  Everyday they come up to me during reading group, both Blue and Green come up and ask if they can go ahead and write in their RRJ.  Fridays are normally assessment days, therefore no reading groups/ instruction. 
2/22/13:
Green and Blue: Can we have our journals to write in?
Me: We do not have reading groups today so I will give you a free pass.  We will write in them again on Monday.
Green and Blue: NOOOO!!! We want to write in them now! 
Me: Okay, great!

I am beginning to notice the excitement/ motivation that these students have towards the journals.  They also like to go to the center of the complex and write to get away from some of the classroom noice (which I do not blame them at all). 

Yesterday (2/26/13) Blue and Green were working on their RRJs for an excessive amount of time (20 minutes).  I went to get them from the center and told them they needed to be concentrating and writing rather than talking because it should not take them this long to do an entry.  They were so excited to tell me they wanted to do an extra response because they liked the book they were reading so much.

Yellow, on the other hand, does the work and gets done quickly.  He does not show any emotion (positive or negative) toward the RRJ writing. 

Sad news

I ran into my first major bump in the road last week. Our special education team has been relooking at data from the winter assessments and adding minutes to students that were making progress but still performing two grade levels below.  Therefore, one of my focus students is no longer in my classroom for Reading.  I considered keeping her in my research project, but based on the first few weeks of data collection, I had to sit with her while writing and have her verbally tell me what she had written because it was difficult to read so I do not see this being beneficial.  I also had to give her a very specific prompt for the book we were reading in small group because she was not able to simply respond on her own.  She truly enjoyed the extra attention of being one of my special reading helpers and getting to write in the journals so I will be sad to let her know we will not be continuing.  Having her participate in the first four weeks of my study did allow me to make some observations about whom reading response journals work well with and who they do not.

Not enough time in the day

Well last week was quite a busy 4 day week and that was made clear with my lack of posting.  After going to our face to face class on Wednesday, I had a lot of questions answered about the difference between thick and thin descriptions, coding, and analyzing/ coming to conclusions.  At the same time, I am scared!  The research process is half way over and I feel as though I am very behind.  I have not started the coding process and honestly do not know when I am going to find time to do all of it.  Between the regular weekly assignments with responses, lesson plans for my job, etc... Help! 

Observing the Responding

Today I decided to try something different… Previously, due to time constraints, I have always given each of the 4 participants their RRJ immediately following the guided reading group meeting.  The participants completed them at their classroom seat (while I was meeting with another group) and placed them on my desk after finishing.  This is the best option because I am not able to leave my students for 10 minutes every day to sit and observe the students writing at one time.  Today I thought it would be worth a shot to do a detailed observation of all the students writing in their journals to see if it gave me any insight.  The conclusion I came to… WOW!  Why hadn’t I done this before?  For this particular post I am going to focus on only one student who I will refer to as Green.

At 9:47 I passed out the RRJ to the four participants.  The students were sitting in the middle area of the complex at an assistant’s kidney table.  All four 2^nd grade classes(103 students)  were transitioning from their Reading classes to Specials, therefore the noise level and amount of movement around the four students was very loud and distracting.  Upon handing the RRJ to Green, she immediately sat there staring off into space with her head resting on her fisted hand.  It looked as though she was in deep thought.  At 9:50, Green asked, “Can we write about something we are reading at home instead of the reading group book?”  I responded, “Of course.  Write about whatever comes to mind.”  She seemed happy to hear this, but began looking around at the chaos and gave a huffing and puffing sound.  It appeared she was very frustrated and was having difficulty gathering her thoughts due to the distractions around her.  At 9:52 Green wrote the title of the book at the top of her page.  She looked around at me and the other three students at the table to see what was on their paper.  At 9:53, all 2^nd grade classes were out of the classroom.  Only the three students, myself, and the assistant were left in the complex.  Green went to town writing and did not look up again until 10:06 when she said she had finished.  Green wrote an impressive full page and additional four lines on the back.  Her RRJ focus was on the genre of the book and an explanation of why she thought this was the case.  This was by far the most detailed, thorough response thus far.  It is what I have been hoping would eventually happen all along.  Here is what she responded:

(By the way... thanks Liz for explaining how to upload pictures correctly.  I think my school computer was just being difficult because it is easy to do at home = ))

 

 

This same pattern occurred with 2 of the other students.  Why, today?  I cannot come to any sure conclusions quite yet, but I am going to make some assumptions and see if they hold to be true as the research continues.  1) I was sitting at the table watching the participants. 2) The participants were all writing at the same time, therefore, they were able to see how much the others were writing.  They did not want to be the only ones to write a tiny amount.  3) Previously, students were writing in the RRJs quickly, just to get them completed, so they could get back to the other activities for Reading Workshop rotations.  4) Once other 2^nd graders were out of the complex, there were no distractions.



Interview 1 (Monday)

On Monday, I completed Interview 1 with my four participants.  Here are the interview questions which will be given three times throughout the research project:

I.          Do the reading response journals help you understand the stories that we read during small group reading time?

 

II.       What do you like about reading response journals?

 

III.    What do you not like about reading response journals?

 

IV.    Should the rest of the class use reading response journals?  Why or why not?

Each interview with students proved to be a somewhat awkward experience.  I have a great relationship with each of the participants and they are all very social individuals.  During the interviews, all four were very nervous and to the point.  None wanted to give any further explanation other than the basic answer.  The following interview is with student ‘Blue.’ 

At 11:03, I invited Blue to join me in the center of the 2^nd grade complex at the assistant’s kidney table.  All classrooms were working independently on a writing assignment.  The complex was quiet and there was very little movement.  I explained I was going to ask him a few questions about RRJs; to tell me what came to mind; and there was no right or wrong answer.  I also explained that I would be recording the discussion as well as taking notes, but the recording would be deleted as soon as I listen to it and make sure I didn’t miss any of his important comments.  I then gave him the list of questions to read before we began to help ease his nerves because he had a terrified look on his face. 

Interview start time- 11:06

I.       Do the reading response journals help you understand the stories that we read during small group reading time?

Answer: Yes, they help me write with lots of detail.

II.    What do you like about reading response journals?

Answer: We got to choose the colors of the journals and they are a good way for us to learn.

III. What do you not like about reading response journals?

Answer: It cuts into some of my reading time because we have to do other questions too.

IV. Should the rest of the class use reading response journals?  Why or why not?

Answer: No- It is too much work for you to write in them and it cuts into reading time.

 

Interview end time- 11:08

Throughout the entire interview, Blue talked quietly, had a shaky voice, and did not make eye contact.  At the conclusion I asked him how he felt about me interviewing him and he quickly responded “I was very nervous because I didn’t know what to say.”  I am now thankful I am conducting these interviews three times throughout the process so by the time the end comes around, the participants will feel more comfortable.  I am also wondering if tape recording was the underlying reason as to why they were all so nervous.  What are your thoughts?  I know it is helpful to record the interviews so I can go back and re-listen to them, but should I try round two interview without the recording to see if the nerves disappear and the students feel more comfortable talking with me?

Change of Attitude

     Finally... we made it through a full 5 day week!  This week has had several positives points.  As mentioned before, I was able to sit down with my four students to brainstorm a list of possible topics to write about.  Two of the students were very involved in the process, while the other two students just sat and listened.  The students listed the topics in the back of their RRJ as a reference to use when they begin to write.  The following is the list we came up with (sorry it is sideways... it show up normal when I open it, but will not on here???):

     In terms of attitudes of writing about writing in the RRJs, I think we are getting somewhere.  I have brought in colorful pens for the students to choose from when writing.  They acted as though they had struck gold.  I guess it's the little things that make a difference to 2nd graders. 

     One struggle I am having is finding a separate time for the students to all write in the RRJs at the same time so I am able to better observe them.  As of now, they all write in them immediately after I meet when their particular guided reading group.  This seems to work well because the reading material is fresh in their mind, but now I am not able to see their facial expressions, how long they work, etc.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

     Another struggle I am having is not being able to correct the spelling and grammar mistakes.  According to Simpson (1986), having no pressure of the journals being graded for right or wrong is a major confidence booster. 

      There was no fear of writing because thoughts, perceptions, and insights were what mattered—

     not mechanics and spelling.  They were not burdened by the need for correctness.  The students

     became convinced that there were no right or wrong answers.  They learned that each comment

     was valuable because the person expressing an opinion was valuable” (p. 47).

My goal is to continue writing back and modeling correct writing mechanics. Hopefully this will stick with them and they will realize my expectations are a little higher.

Here are some examples of some student responses this week (again... sorry for the random angles.  does anyone know how to rotate them?).

 

Simpson, M. K. (1986). A teacher's gift: Oral reading and the reading response journal. Journal of Reading, 30(1), 45-50.

Little progress is better than nothing...

I am beginning to see a some progress with the responses students are giving.  I will happily take 2 sentences over 1 sentence anyday.  When responding to the students' daily responses, I have been trying to be very intentional in mentioning a specific model as to how I would have responded to the same prompt.  Hopefully this will begin to click once they are able to see several examples. 

In my original plan, I intended on week 2 being the point in which I allowed students to respond to the book without a given prompt, but based on the results from week one, I am not confident in letting them go completely.  After reviewing my research completed in EDU594, I was able to get a few ideas to possibly use.  Simpson (1986) says it is important to "Brainstorm the kinds of responses a listener might have: a prediction, a comment on character development, an insight into evolving theme, or an appreciation or critique of the author's technique" (p. 46).  Tomorrow, I plan on sitting down with my 4 students and brainstorming a list together of possible topics they can write about.  As we make out list, I will be sure to take the discussion deeper and talk about how we could answer each prompt in an exemplar manner.

Also, hopefully the snow days and delays will stop happening because not having a normal Reading Workshop schedule is making this process VERY difficult!