Final+Project-Phillips

Schechly Center:

BELIEFS UNDERLYING WORKING ON THE WORK 1. Students are customers, volunteers, and knowledge workers; what they have to volunteer is their attention and commitment. 2. The primary role of teachers is that of designing engaging work for students and guiding them to those sources of instruction they need to successfully do this work. 3. Differences in the level and type of engagement affect directly the effort that students expend on school related tasks. 4. Effort affects learning outcomes at least as much as does intellectual ability. 5. The level and type of engagement will vary depending on the qualities teachers build into the work they provide students. 6. Therefore, teachers can directly affect student learning through the invention of work that has those qualities that are most engaging to students.

BELIEFS AND ECOSYSTEM:

In reviewing the above beliefs, #3 and #4 particularly speak to me when I reflect on them in relation to the work I do and the work I ask my students to complete. Current trends in data and reading research indicate that the more a student reads, the better their reading skills become. In an effort to improve reading fluency and comprehension, it is imperative that my students do daily fluency reading practice. Although some of this is done in school, my prior experiences and data collection reflect that additional home practice is also very beneficial. The need to increase student and parent effort and engagement falls under the ecosystem element of Interventions and Extensions. One of my beliefs is that through extending student practice beyond the school day with specific interventions, their rate of improvement in reading fluency and comprehension can increase significantly.

Another of my beliefs is that the first step in increasing effort and engagement involves building parent relationships and working with parents to find functional ways to implement interventions. In the past I have relied upon letters sent home, email, or phone calls to gather and disseminate information. Through my new learning I have identified several ways to build interactions with parent and to more clearly articulate my ideas to parents in the hopes of building understanding and investment in completing homework assignments with frequency and consistency.

ARTIFACTS:

1. The first step I have taken to build parent rapport is to develop a parent survey to gather basic contact information and to gain some background knowledge about student's learning styles and homework routines. Gaining this knowledge will assist me in approaching parents individually when petitioning them to complete reading fluency homework. Parents with previously established homework routines might be more capable of independently integrating a new homework assignment. However, in homes where homework completion is a challenge, I will need to devote more time to negotiating and brainstorming ideas on how the homework can be implemented, possibly in gradually increasing steps. Gathering information on student's learning styles and reinforcers will also allow me to individually tailor reinforcement programs to build student buy-in for homework completion. I chose to use Google Forms to complete this task. This format allows for the development of a variety of question types and allows me to easily sort the obtained data for analysis. Additionally, it provides an easily accessible technology tool for parents to use to help build their comfort level of communicating via the use of technology. I see this as a basic stepping stone to building the use of more technology as the school year progresses.

Parent Information Survey

2. My second artifact will integrate Edmodo to share information with parents and allow for a format where questions can be asked and answered. When requesting that parents work with their child to complete reading fluency homework, it is important that they follow a structured format. Explaining this format is difficult and cumbersome via email or a letter sent home. I have chosen to use Knowmia to create a video which will outline the importance of reading fluency practice and will also walk parents through the steps of doing the homework throughout the week. The resulting video will be shared with parents via a group developed on Edmodo.

Here is a screen shot of the Edmodo group page:

3. Lastly, I plan to use Knowmia to develop the videos that will be posted to the Edmodo site. I am planning to develop one video with basic information regarding the purpose of reading fluency practice. The second video will outline in a step-by-step format for doing the reading practice for homework.