Reflection

IMPACT ON STUDENTS

As I observed my students during classroom activities and kitchen labs, students were consistently seen on task, communicating with their group members, and demonstrating strong team work skills. With the addition of emphasized communication and collaboration, development of active projects where students moved around throughout the class, and choice board activities where students selected methods of demonstrating knowledge, I saw that my students had fun during class, enjoyed being around their peers, engaged in the content with enthusiasm. Therefore, each student grew exceptionally in their ability to work productively as a group, which in the end had a tremendous impact on their academic achievement.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE TEACHING & LEARNING

I was able to take the methods of data collection to influence my teaching for the future. I was able to analyze my class in a way that I had never seen them in before. I felt as though I took a deeper look into my classroom and what my students were doing on a daily basis. I could identify where to make changes, keep things the same, or ask students for feedback. I provided opportunities for my students to build strong relationships with their group members, in addition to an openness and strong sense of community. I could not imagine teaching this class again without utilizing lab roles, lab reflections, and classroom collaborative activities that students enjoyed.

SUCCESSES

Looking back to my first semester class, on many occasions students walked into the classroom with low expectations. Students felt as though they would not have to do much work, complete an assignment independently, and then distract themselves with their phone or laptop to pass the time until the bell rang. On the occasion that I tried a new activity they were uninterested, disengaged, and not communicating. With the implementation of the Productive Group Work model, my students communicated on a daily basis, looked forward to working with their group on projects, and built friendships with those around them.

CHALLENGES

Due to the nature of my school and the timing of action research, I received a new group of students in January, prior to my research implementation. At first, I was concerned that the ideas I had for the class and strategies would not fit the needs of the students in my classroom. Instead of this being a disadvantage, it turned out that I was able to take my observations of the previous semester class, and start over with new expectations, new ideas, and new lessons. Due to this, it was evident that my students were very receptive to it. This is something I would need to keep in mind though for future implementation. All classes of students are different, so I will need to make adjustments for each class as I continue to utilize the Productive Group Work model.

WHAT WAS LEARNED & QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN

I learned how to find a need in my classroom, research potential strategies, and implement changes in my classroom to support my students. I also learned that students need to engage in both structured collaboration and independent activities to succeed in the classroom setting. Lastly, I learned that utilizing support inside and outside of my district is important to being able to identify the needs of my students, and working as a team to create activities that in the best interest of the students.

WHAT WILL NEED TO BE MODIFIED FOR THE FUTURE

Each class contains a diverse set of students, and with that, each of their needs should be met throughout the use of the model. For better use of reflections from students, I would need to use reflections on a weekly basis instead of bi-weekly, so that students are consistently reflecting. I also want students to identify specifically what improvements are and are not being made from these reflections. Intentional conversations will be structured into the reflection process for students to determine what successes they have had, and what improvements still need to be made.

Many students can agree that they have engaged in group work before, but many of them agree that it was not useful, or fell flat. With the implementation of Productive Group Work in the classroom, my students were able to be fully engaged with the content and with each other, which led to enhanced social interactions, improved relationships, and extended knowledge for all of them.

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