We chatted and decided to merge our efforts into one research question. Sahara was having a hard time figuring out how to effectively research her topic and collect data without it getting in the way with her teaching but really wanted to do her inquiry project on a social justice issue, so we're both going to dive into Restorative Justice! We wanted to create a question that would allow us to compare the data collected, as we are teaching at very different schools and in different school districts. We're still in the process of potentially tweaking the Critical Question so it can serve both of us best in this research, as we work within different situations.

2. What did you learn? 

We learned that we still have a lot of research to conduct to meet the requirement for article analysis. Our plan is to compare what our different districts are doing with RJ as well as compare those findings with data we collect from reading literature about RJ. We'd also love to find a school within the Portland area that has effectively implemented RJ and see if we can find people to interview to ask about what went well and what didn't go well within the process to implement RJ into their school communities.

3. What questions did you ask? 

How can we apply our research question to both schools and also within the larger community? How can we word our research question so it is clear but applicable to different schools or districts? What is the difference between restorative justice and restorative practices, and which will work better for the purposes of this research project?

4. What questions do and/or your group you still have? 

How many research articles are needed? Can we compare our findings as a source of evidence for the research project? What is the final output for this research project? What will this look like working together?

5. What are your next steps and your group’s next steps? 

We're both going to look at RJ and how it is currently being implemented at our specific schools and districts. We're going to research if there are any school within the Portland area that currently use RJ on a wide-spread level and see if we can find anyone who would be available for an interview. We're also going to start reading up on some RJ literature.

6. What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?

We want to be able to come together and compare our findings and help each other whittle all the information that we'll be gathering down into the most important concepts and data. We're hoping that comparing different sources of data that we collect will be beneficial to the overall understanding of RJ and the overall ability to present our findings in an organized fashion that clearly answers our Critical Question and furthers the work towards successful RJ implementation. We'd love clear, concise, guidance from our instructor as to what we should be doing. We are feeling a bit confused as to what our goals and outcomes are this far in the research project and what the intended result expectations are, especially now that we're working together. 

We met on a Google Meet last week to discuss the plans for our project. Griff discussed a really interesting book that he is reading regarding student engagement and encouragement in low-income schools, and what our roles as educators are in communicating with our kids and their families.  We talked about what we have been doing in our own classrooms and school in order to try and support our kids, some of which are mutual - so that was really lovely to check in on that. 

 

2. What did you learn? 

We examined this great text of Griff’s and discussed some methods for supporting engagement in the digital classroom, and in asynchronous activities.  We learned that a focus on community building and positive communication with family / support system is essential to influencing engagement and supporting student learning.  We must be intentional and understanding when engaging with our school community.  

 

3. What questions did you ask? 

How can we apply our research to support our students in particular?  What data do we have now, and what correlative data can we examine before and after making family connections? What do we mean by ‘engagement’? What does engagement look like in a digital platform, and how can we bring this to the classroom in an authentic way when we do eventually return to the classroom?  What are the best practices for communication? 

 

4. What questions do and/or your group you still have? 

How many research articles are needed? What does this research look like in application?  Are we to be conducting our own research and data analysis, or is it suggested that we focus more heavily on literature review? 

 

5. What are your next steps and your group’s next steps? 

We are going to be collecting data on a select group of focal students that we feel like can represent our student population.  We are going to meet after collecting data that reflects different aspects of engagement - Attending class, turning in assignments, following rubrics, communication with family, above and beyond, participation in class, etc.  We are going to examine the extent to which our direct communication with these students and their families helps elevate student engagement in these distinct (and perhaps more/different) aspects of virtual learning. 

 

6. What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?

We would like to have time and space to meet and compare notes with each other regarding the data we are collecting on students.  It would be interesting to learn in class about different methods for engaging students, especially actual, practical and applicable actions that are focused towards communities like ours. 

We got up to speed and familiar with each other's concepts surrounding our projects. We also threw around ideas for next steps or directions to explore.

2. What did we learn:

We learned about different ways that creativity enters the classroom, and clarified different points about each other's topics.

3. What questions did we ask:

We asked about our backgrounds we are bringing into this study, and about each other's projects. We asked about the type of data we plan to collect, and how that data might be solicited and synthesized. 

4. What questions do we still have:

We are still a bit curious about proper data collection techniques. Specifically Elijah is interested in exploring maybe surveys or other research methods for his topic. Kate is curious about how to engage with other educators, and how to construct an assessment to solicit the right type of data. 

5. What are our next steps:

Elijah's next steps include solidifying the research question, and seeing about what type of video formats and data collection to use. Kate's next steps include reaching out to other independent schools to collaborate. 

6. What are our group's next steps: 

Setting up some regular meetings, seeing about possible crossover between our subjects. 

7. What do we need from her:

Just a correction if we have done anything wrong, or are heading in the wrong direction

2. What did you learn?
We talked about Mario’s experiences with OWL and we discussed the positives and negatives that we have seen in the classroom. Eddie learned more about OWL and the rationale for using it.

3. What questions did you ask?
We were wondering if this methodology would work with all levels of language learners. Will it only work with intermediate/advanced? Can beginning learners benefit from this method? Will shyness be an issue with this type of language teaching?

4. What questions do you and/or your group still have?
How much research will we find on this methodology? How much data will we need to have a significant answer? How many students do we need to try this with?
5. What are your next steps and your group’s next steps?
Our next steps are to gather more information about OWL and find data regarding its effectiveness or use.

6. What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?
From each other we will need to be able to keep ourselves up to date on our materials and resources. We will need to keep finding resources that are appropriate and relevant to our research. From the professor, we will likely need guidance on how we can hit our points in the research and how we can keep on track.

We don't have many questions so far, but would like to connect once something is up.
(5) What are your next steps and your group’s next steps?

We decided to dig in more and find useful resources. For me personally, I would like to wait for the feedback of my survey and send out to colleagues.
(6) What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?

We need some feedback from survey formats and wordings.

This week, Rachel and I solidified our research topics (whew). While our focuses are not the same, we have found our path to the action research project after meeting with Karen.

We learned that we can still lean on each other for support, even if we aren't researching similar topics. We also learned that we have some overlap, and potential to share insight with one another to further our research. The how is what we have yet to configure.

Does my research topic have validity in the teacher-research realm?
How can I narrow my scope to reduce the amount of variables?

I cannot think of any at this time!

1. Continue conducting research for articles that support our claims for the research collected in our classroom.
2. Collaborate on findings and seek out ways to support each other.
3. Meet via WhatApp video chat to keep in touch with our progress.

Perhaps another meeting once we have our ducks in a row?

-different ways of presenting the content (lecture, video, nearpod, etc) 

-formative assessments using different tools (padlet, flipgrid, jamboard, formative, nearpod, book creator, kahoot, handwrite a journal entry, compose an essay, draw a posterboard or build a diorama) 

-how can students access the content in a way that is authentic to them (or how can they explore the content in a way that relates to their specific and unique perspectives)?

7. Finally, David and Cassie completed their Literature and Asset Review Project, and examined three different texts in depth together (which was really informative and helpful)!

2. What did you learn?
We learned that Mario has conducted an interview with the teacher who previously held his position and used this method. Since we last met, we've also both spoken with our WL Methods professors and they both gave us some good insight on the strategy.

3. What questions did you ask?
We asked each other about new developments that we've made since the last time we met. We are actually working on OWL in a different assignment for WL Methods as well, so we have met and discussed this strategy in a different context as well.

4. What questions do you and/or your group still have?
We are still wondering how we will be able to test our strategy in the classroom. This strategy is really designed to work best for in-person interaction, so the online component may prove to be very troublesome for our research.

5. What are your next steps and your group’s next steps?
Our next steps are to create a plan for how we will be answering our critical/research questions. This will be a particularly challenging task considering that we are teaching online.

6. What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?
We think that we both need to keep talking to people who are experienced with this strategy and get information from them. It is a relatively new strategy that was started in Oregon, so it can be helpful to talk to them about its effectiveness. They may have some ideas for how to implement this in the online world. We can also ask our colleagues if they have used this successfully online. From the professor, I think we can also use ideas for implementation.

-exit tickets

-formative and summative assessments 

-surveys (what are some ways that you like to learn and like to express yourself)? 

-pre-assessment / post-assessment analysis

-use a journal as a data collection tool (this is gathering qualitative data)

What is the timing of the implementation of gathering this data?  (Let’s try and do this at the beginning of January) (prob over a period of a week or two weeks of data collection) — get this done before EdTPA which is mostly a February thing.

Will I be able to look into UDL if my classroom does not have students with specific “disabilities” (will it give me clear data sets if that is not the case)?

What approaches might there be to investigating the efficacy and role of different EdTech/low tech platforms for creating a UDL framed lesson plan? 

Two Products we will end up with is: An inquiry plan 

We don’t have to completely implement the research .. you can do things like exit tickets in the place of data collection

Final Product is a presentation… 

 

2. What did you learn?
We learned that we may be able to meet with one of the members of the OWL organization and realized that he would have insight on how to implement OWL online.

3. What questions did you ask?
We wondered whether we could find a way to actually use OWL now while online and possibly be able to use it to the full extent if we switched to the hybrid model later in the school year.

4. What questions do you and/or your group still have?
We still have not set up a meeting with this person from OWL, so we are still wondering whether he will be able to give us information about implementing our research while teaching online.

5. What are your next steps and your group’s next steps?
Our immediate next step is to have the conversation with the member from OWL. We have already asked Bernd to introduce us, so I hope that we will be able to talk to him soon.

6. What support do you and your group need from each other and/or your instructor?
I think we are on the right track with this research, but it will still depend on what information we'll be able to get from people we know. We appreciate the feedback from you, as well. It helps us to stay on the right path.

This week, Rachel and I  talked over video chat about our concerns and questions with our research topic. Rachel narrowed down the scope of her research, and Sahara edited her research question to refrain from yes/no formatting.

We learned that this research project does not have to be as difficult as we made it. We both have very large ideas in our heads, but in order to do this project successfully, we needed to simplify the concept. This way we can do effective research while still being able to work on edTPA and our other courses in Winter.

How can I reframe my research question?
Who am I looking to interview to inform my research?
Am I looking at student motivation, or student performance?

When do we start conducting research?
When do we need to have our research completed?

1. Keep checking in with each other to make sure we are staying on track with the process.
2. Review each others research tools (surveys, documents, ect .) to make sure there are not typo's or other errors to ensure clarity.
3. Lean on each other for support as things begin to ramp up in the program.

Right now, I think we both feel solid with our work. Getting the check off on our proposals will give us a gauge as to where we will need assistance.