Reflection
Student Learning
My students’ learning was impacted as a result of my action research. They gained an understanding that writing is a process. In the beginning, some students wanted to skip over many of the strategies. They did not understand why they were being asked to do all of the in between work. Many of them just wanted to write their essay and turn it in. My students quickly realized that their first drafts were not the quality expected of them. Additionally, they learned that a quality essay is much more than simply writing about the subject matter and meeting a minimum page threshold. In learning the different writing process strategies, many students were able to apply those strategies to other forms of writing. This was evidenced in their post-tests. This transfer of strategies is likely the most important skill they learned as a result of the action research.
My action research has forced me to do a better job of using gradual release of instruction with my students. My current teaching has been impacted as a result of seeing that students need more structured instruction. I have become more aware of the necessity to break down tasks into digestible steps for my students. I was able to see the clear difference between students’ ability to complete a task depending on what was being asked of them. When I asked the class to complete a task along with me, they were likely to complete the task. When I asked students to complete a task on their own, the chances of them not completing the task went up. I now spend more time in class working along with my students to ensure they are doing the assignments asked of them. I have also learned to be more flexible as a result of this action research. There are times where I need to break from my plan to ensure quality instruction. I did not feel I could be as flexible with my plans throughout this research as I wanted to be and as a result I have a greater appreciation for flexibility in my schedule. Just because I have something planned a certain way, I now feel as though I can change it to improve my instruction.
Professional Growth
My professional growth has been impacted as a result of the action research. I had never taken on a project of this magnitude all by myself. The experience of developing a massive research project revealed many previously unknown factors involved with trying to teach a concept as involved as the writing process. There were certainly growing pains, but I believe that both my students and I gained enough from the project to try it again in the future. There are many things that I would do quite differently. Understanding this element of the project enabled me to grow professionally. In recognizing there were many positives that came from the project, but also many areas to improve upon, is indicative of a growing educator. I am better for having conducted this research project.
Current Teaching
What Has Been Learned and What Questions Remain?
There is a definitive balance between giving students enough time and too much time to complete a task. The question I still have yet to answer is what that perfect balance looks like. This goes along with the lesson of planning for the unexpected. I have learned that I need to better anticipate the intangibles that make it difficult to continue moving forward. Though I have been dealing with many absences all year long, I did not build this into my action plan. This created problems for me as I wanted to continue moving forward. I wonder how differently the results would have changed had I anticipated greater absences. Additionally, I learned that such a huge undertaking could not be properly implemented in the timeframe given. There needs to be a more flexible time table and one that does not run as great of a risk of being thrown off by unexpected cancelled school days. The element of snow days made the implementation that much more difficult. I have learned that such a project may be better suited at the beginning of the year, when the chances of school cancellation is much more rare. I wonder how differently this would have gone if I began the project in September and built in an additional two weeks for flexibility. My belief is that the results would have been more successful.
Modifications
Time Frame
As mentioned above, the time frame needs to be modified to truly implement the instruction to its fullest potential. The peer reviewed research indicated that a full eight weeks is ideal. I technically had six weeks, but when adding in scheduled days off and snow days, it equated to more like four weeks of true instruction. That ended up being half of what was ideally suggested. I imagine that a full eight weeks would have provided better results for all students.
Structured Work Time
I would also like to add in more structured work time. The data indicated that students were more likely to complete tasks if we completed strategies together. Due to a lack of time and the need for more individualized instruction with specific students, the ability to have that structured work time was not possible. There came a point where students were asked to work more independently and this did not work for some students. With more time built in, the structured work time for each strategy would be possible. This is an aspect of future planning that I would want to incorporate into the project.
The Future
The future of such a project will change as a result of this research in that I will be able to reveal other intricacies of teaching writing. My development as a writing instructor could only go so far. Many of the obstacles outline above stunted my growth. I believe that writing instruction is one of the most difficult aspects of my job and an area where I have plenty of room for growth. I learned a lot about what works and what does not work as a result of this project, but I still feel as though I have a long way to go in feeling comfortable with teaching writing. My thinking, behaving, and interacting have changed throughout this process. Exactly how these areas have changed still remains to be seen. As I think about trying this again next year, I imagine some of these changes will reveal themselves. I will not have to concern myself with as many of the basics that go along with this sort of project, and I can focus more on the details and how to best reach my students.
My hope is that I will continue to research ways to improve writing instruction. I now have a blueprint for how action research should be done. I am a better teacher as a result of this process. It has pushed me to grow in ways that I never would have imagined. I envision having the same mentality this time next year, only I will be that much wiser. The purpose of action research is to continually grow and understand that our growth never reaches a plateau. It is my goal to continue to get better at teaching writing. I will use my experiences from this action research as a foundation for future years. In doing so, I will continue that upward climb to success.