Hurdles
You are your greatest obstacle
The largest hurdle I faced in this overall project was myself. My focus during the project was on getting data and writing my action research paper when the focus should have been on the students’, their learning and experience, and my learning and experience.
I was also afraid to make big overhauls in the classroom despite my master teacher’s encouragement and support for my. Ideally I would have incorporated goal setting into the daily activities, lesson, and end of the day reflection.
If I had done this students would have had more opportunities to learn about and experience goal setting for themselves. I could have slowly taken away my control and allowed them to develop the skills necessary for setting goals on their own. Instead, I hate to admit it, but I was more focused on making sure I had enough data. I set the goals for the students in phase one, to make sure it fit their needs so their growth would be measurable. In my mind I figured that if students set goals that did not fit them they could not succeed at these goals. If they set goals that were not attainable in the short time period they had, then their goals would not be measurable. I wanted students to be able to measure their goals and I also wanted to have data.
My focus on data and fear of imposing too much came into play at the end of the day as well. I planned on talking with my student at the end of the day about how their goal setting went. By the time the end of the day came around we only had 5 minutes before the bell was going to ring, the students were quickly filling in their homework sheets and I would rush by to ask them how they thought they did. I knew that if I waited until tomorrow to have a rich discussion with them, they would not remember their behavior from the previous day. I also thought I had to have them reflect on their goal setting everyday. Looking back I ask myself, what’s the point of having them reflect if it does not hold any value?
I was also afraid to make big overhauls in the classroom despite my master teacher’s encouragement and support for my. Ideally I would have incorporated goal setting into the daily activities, lesson, and end of the day reflection.
If I had done this students would have had more opportunities to learn about and experience goal setting for themselves. I could have slowly taken away my control and allowed them to develop the skills necessary for setting goals on their own. Instead, I hate to admit it, but I was more focused on making sure I had enough data. I set the goals for the students in phase one, to make sure it fit their needs so their growth would be measurable. In my mind I figured that if students set goals that did not fit them they could not succeed at these goals. If they set goals that were not attainable in the short time period they had, then their goals would not be measurable. I wanted students to be able to measure their goals and I also wanted to have data.
My focus on data and fear of imposing too much came into play at the end of the day as well. I planned on talking with my student at the end of the day about how their goal setting went. By the time the end of the day came around we only had 5 minutes before the bell was going to ring, the students were quickly filling in their homework sheets and I would rush by to ask them how they thought they did. I knew that if I waited until tomorrow to have a rich discussion with them, they would not remember their behavior from the previous day. I also thought I had to have them reflect on their goal setting everyday. Looking back I ask myself, what’s the point of having them reflect if it does not hold any value?
Data Push
Because of this push for data I placed on myself, I am not as confident in my students’ responses from phase one. Having an 8 year old reflect on their behavior over the past 8 hours is too big of a task for them, however I would still have them pick an answer. I would quickly ask the students if they, “remembered your goal, forgot about it, or remembered it but did not do great.” Students probably picked an answer that they thought would make me happy or ran middle of the line to not over or undershoot their performance, making their reflections less accurate. I would have also liked to get more information on why my students rated their behavior as such. When asking them at the end of the day about how they thought they did I would ask them why and they would sometimes answer with one or two sentences but I never delved deeper in phase one.
For phase two I incorporated more discussions and teaching so students could work with me to learn about goals, while I learned about my students. The focus was more on the students understanding goal setting and less about getting a rating on their self-reflection.
For phase two I incorporated more discussions and teaching so students could work with me to learn about goals, while I learned about my students. The focus was more on the students understanding goal setting and less about getting a rating on their self-reflection.
Time? What's That?
I never made enough time for my project. As I have gotten older it is not so much about having time but making time. As mentioned previously even though my master teacher was more than willing to give me time in class, I never wanted to impose. So I would find the days that we had the least going on and ask for time there. Even then it was never enough time to get everything I wanted to accomplish.
At the end of the day my students fill in a smiley face on their weekly homework chart based on where their behavior was marked for the day. I figured in phase one that this would be the perfect time to reflect one-on-one with my students who were goal setting. Boy was I wrong. The last 10 minutes of the day are jam packed with announcements, passing out homework, getting everything cleaned up, getting backpacks, and much more. Instead of adjusting my original plan to reflect during this time, I would try to squeeze in a 30 second conversation with my students. This was not the right time to work on reflecting on goal setting with my students.
The truth of the mater is that if something is important enough, I need to make the time for it. I understand that with making time for this activities, other lesson have to be cut short or I need to tighten up transition times. A change will have to be made. But if I reach the concept of goal setting, understanding one's self and improvement deeply enough and encourage student ownership, it will become a part of student routine. Goal setting and monitoring will become natural for them. Eventually less time will be spent on figuring details out. Goal setting with my students is important to me, so I will make the time to include it in my routine.
At the end of the day my students fill in a smiley face on their weekly homework chart based on where their behavior was marked for the day. I figured in phase one that this would be the perfect time to reflect one-on-one with my students who were goal setting. Boy was I wrong. The last 10 minutes of the day are jam packed with announcements, passing out homework, getting everything cleaned up, getting backpacks, and much more. Instead of adjusting my original plan to reflect during this time, I would try to squeeze in a 30 second conversation with my students. This was not the right time to work on reflecting on goal setting with my students.
The truth of the mater is that if something is important enough, I need to make the time for it. I understand that with making time for this activities, other lesson have to be cut short or I need to tighten up transition times. A change will have to be made. But if I reach the concept of goal setting, understanding one's self and improvement deeply enough and encourage student ownership, it will become a part of student routine. Goal setting and monitoring will become natural for them. Eventually less time will be spent on figuring details out. Goal setting with my students is important to me, so I will make the time to include it in my routine.