Reflection and Next Steps
As I began Phase 2, I had already felt like I had taken a large amount of wind out of my sails from my Phase 1 ship. I went from an expansive, grandiose idea to a smaller, more fine-tuned process. My original interest has been that my students be able to understand and solve different types of problem solving equations in mathematics. I realized that in order to tackle a larger issue with my students I would have to help them fine-tune the smaller ones first.
I have viewed my journey in this Action Research project thus far like a set of stairs. This particular set of stairs would represent my students’ learning regarding multi-step mathematical problems. Initially I wanted my students to find their way to the top of the stairs, and this is what I asked of my students in Phase 1. After my first findings, however, I realized that some of the students knew some of the steps and some of them didn’t. As a teacher, I discovered that it is important to make sure I am providing instruction along the stairwell. For my students, I realized that I had to address one of the first steps, and for my Phase 2 I decided that would be Multiplication concepts and procedures.
As I look towards the next steps of my project, I am trying to focus on which parts of mathematical problem solving my students have trouble with. Since I decided to take a much narrower and more focused approach during Phase 2, I believe the same tactic would be successful for my Phase 3. I would like to address multiplication again for Phase 3 and continue to build upon that first step in their stairwell of mathematical problem solving. While I do feel that my students have been successful in gaining a better foundation of multiplication, there is still a need for them to continue to build upon both their procedural and conceptual ability.
To stay in line with the core tenants of my research, I would like to evaluate my question and sub questions:
· How can I use both procedural and conceptual instruction to enhance my 5th grade students learning in math?
· How can I ensure I am improving their ability to execute a multi-step mathematical inquiry?
· How can I make sure that students are problem solving instead of simply working on word problems?
I will continue to help my students climb their problem solving stairs by continuing to address multiplication concepts in some way during Phase 3. I feel that by addressing multiplication and not continuing onto another subject is something that I might not have initially planned for in Phase 1, but after seeing the benefit of focusing my instruction on one area in Phase 2 I realized how much of an affect it can have. In Phase 3 I would like to have my student use multiplication concepts to create problems to solve using real world examples.
I have viewed my journey in this Action Research project thus far like a set of stairs. This particular set of stairs would represent my students’ learning regarding multi-step mathematical problems. Initially I wanted my students to find their way to the top of the stairs, and this is what I asked of my students in Phase 1. After my first findings, however, I realized that some of the students knew some of the steps and some of them didn’t. As a teacher, I discovered that it is important to make sure I am providing instruction along the stairwell. For my students, I realized that I had to address one of the first steps, and for my Phase 2 I decided that would be Multiplication concepts and procedures.
As I look towards the next steps of my project, I am trying to focus on which parts of mathematical problem solving my students have trouble with. Since I decided to take a much narrower and more focused approach during Phase 2, I believe the same tactic would be successful for my Phase 3. I would like to address multiplication again for Phase 3 and continue to build upon that first step in their stairwell of mathematical problem solving. While I do feel that my students have been successful in gaining a better foundation of multiplication, there is still a need for them to continue to build upon both their procedural and conceptual ability.
To stay in line with the core tenants of my research, I would like to evaluate my question and sub questions:
· How can I use both procedural and conceptual instruction to enhance my 5th grade students learning in math?
· How can I ensure I am improving their ability to execute a multi-step mathematical inquiry?
· How can I make sure that students are problem solving instead of simply working on word problems?
I will continue to help my students climb their problem solving stairs by continuing to address multiplication concepts in some way during Phase 3. I feel that by addressing multiplication and not continuing onto another subject is something that I might not have initially planned for in Phase 1, but after seeing the benefit of focusing my instruction on one area in Phase 2 I realized how much of an affect it can have. In Phase 3 I would like to have my student use multiplication concepts to create problems to solve using real world examples.