This term to give my research some structure I have planned my term as you can see above. I didn't want to add to many variables at once otherwise it will be harder to tell what influences writing and why. It also makes it more manageable in the classroom environment.
My key variables that I am planning to compare this term are the noise of the environment the boys write in, and how having choice influence on the quality of writing. So as you can see above each week I will change a variable and see what happens. I will also latter in the term compare writing samples for five boys across the term.
Next term or maybe latter this term I am going to also focus on collaboration, competition, feedback/feedforward and sharing medium to see how these variables impact on their writing.
The past two weeks I have been enforcing a very strict silent time for 20 minutes at the beginning of writing time. This is not the easiest thing to do considering our class is an open learning environment with 90 kids and three teachers. It can get quite noisy!
We normally have quiet time but this has been more test conditions. I didn't feel that good enforcing it at the beginning because I value collaboration but after seeing how productive the kids are I started to feel less uncomfortable. The kids were all very engaged and in their own writing worlds.
After twenty minutes two kids said they were finished and others started to stir so I called them back to the mat and asked them what they thought of the silent time. Of the 26 kids only two said they didn't like it, one because he wanted to talk to his mates and the other because 20 minutes wasn't long enough. The rest said they really liked it because they could focus on their work without any distractions.
I sent them off after this to carry on or to start editing their work with a buddy and most of them went back to their spot and ignored the others around them. I am waiting for them to publish their work now so that I can see how well they have done.
Next week I am not going to enforce the silent time as I want to see how productive they are without my help. I will post some of their work to compare productivity and quality in each environment shortly.
Last week I observed a funny situation in the class. One of my boys who doesn't necessarily engage with writing and struggles to stay motivated in class for long periods was acting in his usual manner. It was Monday and we had begun our writing of a narrative which was going to take two lessons to complete. He was sitting there day dreaming with hands on his chin and chatting happily with his friends from time to time, doing very little work. In fact very little is an understatement.
Onto day two, Tuesday. The lesson begins as normal but this time he has fingers on his keyboard and I can hear the occasional tap. His friends are talking away like usual and then suddenly he gets up and moves to a quiet spot by himself without a word being said to his buddies. Now his head is down and there are a lot of fast little taps coming from his direction.
Five minutes later one of his friends comes wandering over and starts talking and mucking around. He tries to look interested in what his friend is saying but he then notices me watching and stands up and moves again to another quiet spot. Five minutes later his friends turn up again and he looks at me and says to them leave me alone you guys are annoying me.
From then on the same steps in the dance kept happening except I decided to keep cutting in. His friends are very active and as soon as my back was turned would try and sneak over. Basically I spent an hour running interference for him. His friends were for the most part on task, but they just like to talk about it a lot.
So this all made me think about the difference between kids who need support and the comfort of their friends and those that just need some space and time to create on their own. How do I cater for both parties? Something for me to ponder.
This is a presentation that shares some early findings regarding writing in my class. The purpose of this survey was to get some initial ideas about how the kids feel about writing and what interests them in writing. It is a work in progress so the presentation will change or be added to at times.
I am a typical Kiwi bloke who loves his rugby and sport in general, so although I am to old and lazy to play rugby any more I can coach it.
Our school has modified the size of our fields and purchased new rugby goal posts this year, so I had the idea that I could get my rugby boys and girls to mark out the field and goal post locations. I hope it will be interesting for them and that they will be motivated to do a good job because in the end they will be the users of their outcome. I will keep you posted how this goes over the next few weeks.
Last week we had our school camp which is always a blast for all. Its a great chance for the kids to get outside of the classroom and outside of their comfort zone. I always enjoy seeing those kids that struggle in class suddenly shining in activities you wouldn't expect them to shine in. In terms of the boys, it's always great to see them becoming more vocal and confident in physical activities and activities that require problem solving.
One of the boys favourite activities was eeling. Not surprising right? Well I can tell you there really was very little eeling involved. Firstly they had to talk about how the maori people would have caught eels before fishing lines could be bought from Rebel sports. They then had to make their own fishing line by weaving strands of Harakeke (flax) together. My group loved sitting down using their hands and challenging each other to see who could make the longest line. Give the boys something to make with their hands and the quiet descends as they work away.
While making there lines the boys were able to experience great treat of eating some smoked fish. For some it was their first time trying smoked fish and judging by the amount of time it took to devour the fish right down to the bone, I would say it was a hit. I am thinking I might need to go fishing every weekend so I have a good supply of fish to motivate the boys in their work. I'm sure they would all work really hard to earn the reward of smoked fish each Friday.
The activity concluded with some fishing off of the bridge across the creek. The boys were so well behaved and so into it even though we forgot the meat for bait. The boys were absolutely buzzing when two catfish surface to see what all the noise was that woke them.
So I really need to get them using their hands and keep them well feed if I want the best out of them. Smoked fish anyone?
I have recently seen an advertisement for how not to get kids writing and how not to get the best out of boys and their writing. The solution for the above is simple. TEST THEM. Sit them down and tell them they have 40 minutes to write to the best of their ability about a topic I have chosen.
I wish I had filmed the first 10 minutes of this test. Kids sitting at their desks staring at their blank screens trying to come up with some ideas, others nervously looking at how much the person next to them has written.
Of course some kids are fine and produce some pieces of quality but for the most part it is not the case. Anyway I don't mean this to be a negative post about assessment. Assessment has its place and I do value it. My reason for writing this is more about the fact that the boys, 90% of my class anyway, really aren't suited to this type of environment and struggle to write anything of great value.
So my observation is - pressurized teacher chosen topics and environments of this extreme nature don't suit boys!
