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MY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC:  Improving Mathematical Achievement through collaborative homework checking

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MY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC:  Improving Mathematical Achievement through collaborative homework checking

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Go Figure: Common Core Mathematical Practices

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Go Figure: Common Core Mathematical Practices

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3. Working Together: How Teachers Teach and Students Learn in Collaborative Learning Environments

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3. Working Together: How Teachers Teach and Students Learn in Collaborative Learning Environments

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The Role of Math Homework in Achievement

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The Role of Math Homework in Achievement

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1. Shifting Mathematical Authority from Teacher to Community

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1. Shifting Mathematical Authority from Teacher to Community

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8. Going Over Homework: An Unexamined Activity

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8. Going Over Homework: An Unexamined Activity

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https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/engaging-students/collaborative-learning.html

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Does Active Learning Work? A review of the research

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Does Active Learning Work? A review of the research

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http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Prince_AL.pdf

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http://blog.chalkup.co/feedback-on-homework-through-small-group-collaboration

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https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2010/08/07/homework-plan-for-teachers-part-2/

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Meaningful Homework review

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QUESTION: How can measure the effectiveness of my new routine? 

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QUESTION: How can measure the effectiveness of my new routine? 

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QUESTION: What do I do with students who do not complete homework?

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QUESTION: What do I do with students who do not complete homework?

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QUESTION: Will this make my homework checking routine too long?

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QUESTION: Will this make my homework checking routine too long?

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Second phase of research into improving homework routines

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Second phase of research into improving homework routines

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Initial Research into barriers to mathematic achievement

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Initial Research into barriers to mathematic achievement

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9. Making the Most out of Checking Homework

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9. Making the Most out of Checking Homework

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http://www.nctm.org/Publications/Mathematics-Teaching-in-Middle-School/2015/Vol21/Issue2/Making-the-Most-of-Going-over-Homework/

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Advantages and Disadvantages to Team Checking

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Advantages and Disadvantages to Team Checking

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https://books.google.com/books?id=T4aPCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA353&lpg=PA353&dq=team+homework+checking&source=bl&ots=r8ZFQPca8F&sig=M6q0rt_Ip4pcfJPwH4hPk1eo_j8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNr4qW0-DRAhUh74MKHcRzBZU4ChDoAQgoMAM#v=onepage&q=team%20homework%20checking&f=false

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http://www.tefl.net/elt/articles/teacher-technique/checking-answers/

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http://www.onestopenglish.com/methodology/methodology/teaching-approaches/teaching-approaches-checking-homework-challenge/146494.article

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https://prezi.com/abpgpyd1zjhx/the-effect-of-homework-checking-groups-on-student-acheivemen/

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Reflections on narrowing the focus of my action research project

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Reflections on narrowing the focus of my action research project

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I spent some time researching barriers to mathematic achievement.  I thought about problems areas in my classroom and compared them to the problems I was reading.  One that stuck out to me was lack of engagement during class.  I feel like I have structured my daily routine to address this issue.  After whole class instruction, students complete independent practice and get immediate feedback from me.  Then they are given a partner to work with on application or problem solving tasks before playing math games or another anchor activity.  My students are very engaged as they move around the room, working with partners, engaging in math talk for 60-70% of the lesson.  I have noticed, however, that engagement is lower in the beginning portion of my lesson.  We begin by checking homework and then I introduce the days objective with an "I can" statement before direct instruction on the new concept.  It is typically 15 to 20 minutes before students begin independent practice.  I notice many students get lethargic or tune out.  I have tried to counter this with having students come up to the board to write homework problems and use individual white boards, but it doesn't seem to be enough.  I was struck by what Donna Walker-Tileston said about a 10 year old's attention span in the video "Improving Student Achievement in Math | Teaching Strategies".  She said middle school students "will listen actively for about 8 minutes".  The video highlights how one middle school math teacher breaks up instruction into brain-friendly chunks to keep kids engaged.  I thought I was doing a good job of keeping my students actively engaged.  After watching that video and hearing the 8 minute attention span fact, I realized I could do better and began to think about ways I could break up direct instruction at the start of my class.

Researching and reflecting on the variety of strategies and practices the research shows have the biggest impact on student achievement in math, I decided to improve my homework checking routine.  Knowing that a multitude of studies show cooperative learning is a dynamic and powerful tool in the classroom, I am going to focus on ways to add cooperative learning to the start of my class where we check the homework from the night before.  I would like students to be engaged with each other from the moment they come in the classroom.  This will set the tone for the day and allow me to walk around and check in homework while students are engaged, adding to the efficiency of my classroom routines.

C. (2010, July 19). Improving Student Achievement in Math | Teaching Strategies. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEtJR7WqGuw

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http://www.kappancommoncore.org/improve-math-teaching-with-incremental-improvements/

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Partial List of Best Practices for Improving Mathematics Achievement found in my initial research

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Partial List of Best Practices for Improving Mathematics Achievement found in my initial research

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1. Age appropriate time chunks
2. Cooperative Learning
3. Active participation - student engagement
4. Positive Self-beliefs
5. Daily teaching practices
6. Incremental Changes

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4. Best Evidence Encyclopedia: Educator’s Guide What Works in Teaching Math

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4. Best Evidence Encyclopedia: Educator’s Guide What Works in Teaching Math

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Daily Teaching Practices have biggest impact

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Position Paper: Improving Achievement by Promoting Positive Self-beliefs

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Breaking up instruction into age-appropriate chunks

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Improving Student Achievement in Math | Teaching Strategies

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Real classroom examples of how the brain learns math is demonstrated and discussed Real classroom examples of how the brain learns math is demonstrated and discussed by Donna Walker-Tileston and teachers at Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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Improving Math Performance
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/math.pdf