Summary of Findings and Data
Differing Results Between Goals 1 and 2
After each class goal I asked the students how they thought they performed on their goal. I list the different voting options and they raise their hand for whichever they believe fitting. After the second goal I asked the class the first voting option, who thinks the class forgot their goal. Nine people raised their hands and I was really surprised. Then I realized that I forgot to review the options with students. I reminded them of their options and what they meant then had them revote. This time only three students thought the class forgot their goal.
As a teacher I can sometimes catch when a student starts to call out then raises their hand; a clear sign of remembering the goal even if the class or student does not achieve it. But it is still difficult to know whether a student was aware of their goal or not. I did not originally consider the fact that it would be difficult for students to be aware of their classmates behavior, let alone their thinking. I should have kept the original results instead of having students revote. Students original votes shows a high perception of student behavior. This indicates students are aware of their classmates, the class goal and what behaviors are expected during the lesson.
Results from student opinions of their goal performance, which is voted on after the lesson, differed greatly between the first and second goals. With the first goal, none of the students thought the class forgot their goal, ten students said they remembered it but did not achieve it and 12 students thought the class achieved their goal. With the second goal, three students thought the class forgot their goal, fourteen students said they thought the class remembered the goal but did not achieve it and only four students thought the class achieved their goal.
I believed this happened for two reasons. Firstly, during the second goal three students did call out answers quite frequently. I think the class was aware of this, which is why many students thought the class did not achieve their goal. Additionally, I think the students were more familiar with goal setting and being aware of their own behavior as well as the class since we had already fully discussed goal setting and worked on a goal as a class previously. Students most likely felt more comfortable with being honest and analyzing class behavior.
As a teacher I can sometimes catch when a student starts to call out then raises their hand; a clear sign of remembering the goal even if the class or student does not achieve it. But it is still difficult to know whether a student was aware of their goal or not. I did not originally consider the fact that it would be difficult for students to be aware of their classmates behavior, let alone their thinking. I should have kept the original results instead of having students revote. Students original votes shows a high perception of student behavior. This indicates students are aware of their classmates, the class goal and what behaviors are expected during the lesson.
Results from student opinions of their goal performance, which is voted on after the lesson, differed greatly between the first and second goals. With the first goal, none of the students thought the class forgot their goal, ten students said they remembered it but did not achieve it and 12 students thought the class achieved their goal. With the second goal, three students thought the class forgot their goal, fourteen students said they thought the class remembered the goal but did not achieve it and only four students thought the class achieved their goal.
I believed this happened for two reasons. Firstly, during the second goal three students did call out answers quite frequently. I think the class was aware of this, which is why many students thought the class did not achieve their goal. Additionally, I think the students were more familiar with goal setting and being aware of their own behavior as well as the class since we had already fully discussed goal setting and worked on a goal as a class previously. Students most likely felt more comfortable with being honest and analyzing class behavior.
Students are Capable of Setting Goals
After going further in depth with my students about goal setting, they showed a better understanding of what a goal is and how to set measurable goals. At the end of the first presentation/ discussion, students wrote down which out of the eight goals they thought they should work on. (Please see below for individual student choices) Many students chose goal that were appropriate to their learning needs. For example Angel thought that he should work on controlling his body. It is exciting and impressive to me that he was aware of his behaviors and knew that this was something he should focus on controlling. Jose is very smart but is often distracted or gets bored and chooses not to participate. He wrote down that he should work on sharing his ideas. I was intrigued by Edgar's choice to "THINK." Edgar is typically on task, participates, and never tells on other students. Recently he has become a bit more hyper and talks on the rug to friends, sometimes he looses focus does not participate as much. By choosing "THINK" as his goal, it shows me he is aware of his actions and would like to be more active in making appropriate decisions. I am really proud of my students.
According to Erikson, students are just starting to, “refine their conceptions of self in primary school, in part because they increasingly engage in social comparison.” Because of this my students are just beginning to understand themselves in light of other people and are newer to the idea of improving oneself. This is why I was initially nervous to have my students set their own goals. I wanted to students to pick measurable goals that they could achieve but was not sure they were capable of this. In phase two when I gave students my ownership over their goals I chose to have students set group goals. I did this because children of this age are very aware of others actions but just learning to become more realistically aware of their own action.
I was surprised and delighted by students' fitting individual goal choices and the classes' appropriate group goals. It showed me that my students are capable of setting appropriate goals for themselves. Students may have been better able to choose appropriate goals because we had just discussed the different reasons for setting these goals. Therefore with proper guidance and support student are capable of setting their own appropriate goals even while developing new self concepts.
According to Erikson, students are just starting to, “refine their conceptions of self in primary school, in part because they increasingly engage in social comparison.” Because of this my students are just beginning to understand themselves in light of other people and are newer to the idea of improving oneself. This is why I was initially nervous to have my students set their own goals. I wanted to students to pick measurable goals that they could achieve but was not sure they were capable of this. In phase two when I gave students my ownership over their goals I chose to have students set group goals. I did this because children of this age are very aware of others actions but just learning to become more realistically aware of their own action.
I was surprised and delighted by students' fitting individual goal choices and the classes' appropriate group goals. It showed me that my students are capable of setting appropriate goals for themselves. Students may have been better able to choose appropriate goals because we had just discussed the different reasons for setting these goals. Therefore with proper guidance and support student are capable of setting their own appropriate goals even while developing new self concepts.
Goal Setting Needs to be Developmentally Appropriate
I also saw that setting goals as a whole class in short term ranges worked well for the students. In phase one I discussed how although student claimed to be conscientious of their goal, their behavior did not reflect this. In phase two I had a completely different finding. As noted in the chart below, "students made an effort to raise their hands and choose the right times to talk." During phase two I tracked students who talked to friends, called out with their hand raised, raised their hands or, called out while having hand raised. As the graph clearly shows- there was a higher rate of students raising their hands than any other action. Students continued to demonstrate being aware of their goal through their behaviors during the second goal's time frame. Only six students called out the entire lesson.
Students were aware of the goals, encouraged classmates to follow along with desired objectives and we're cognizant of how the class performed as a whole, as demonstrated by the votes of class goal follow through. Most importantly they were able to actively reflect on the classes’ choices during the lesson.
In phase one students struggled to remember their overall effort and success with goal setting during the day. In phase two when goals time frames we cut down to only one, students were able to keep track of their behavior. According to Margaret Berry Wilson, author of What Every 2nd Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom, student can focus between five to ten minutes straight at the beginning of the year and ten to fifteen minutes straight towards the end. Therefore it was much more realistic to expect my students to be able to track their behavior during one lesson instead of the entire day.
Students were aware of the goals, encouraged classmates to follow along with desired objectives and we're cognizant of how the class performed as a whole, as demonstrated by the votes of class goal follow through. Most importantly they were able to actively reflect on the classes’ choices during the lesson.
In phase one students struggled to remember their overall effort and success with goal setting during the day. In phase two when goals time frames we cut down to only one, students were able to keep track of their behavior. According to Margaret Berry Wilson, author of What Every 2nd Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom, student can focus between five to ten minutes straight at the beginning of the year and ten to fifteen minutes straight towards the end. Therefore it was much more realistic to expect my students to be able to track their behavior during one lesson instead of the entire day.
Goal 1
Student Behaviors During Goal 1 Timeframe
As the graph clearly shows- there was a higher rate of students raising their hands than any other action. For Angel and Antonio, they have a high occurrence of talking with a friend (to each other) this is a common behavior for them and was at a lower rate than usual. 16, 20, and 23 have no results because:Tiffany was absent, Jeneese chooses not to speak and Alexi was new to the class and at the time spoke no English.
Goal 2
Student Behaviors During Goal 2 Timeframe
While tracking this goal I only noted if students called out and whether or not their comment was on topic. Only six students called out the entire lesson showing an improvement on student self control.