think sheet 12.10.13

Mills Teacher Scholars Think sheet Name: Dina Moskowitz

December 2013

1. What is the focus of your inquiry and why is this important to you?

I am focusing on reading partnerships and students developing good conversations with their reading partners. This is important to me because I think that if students are pushed by a partner, their reading will get better.

2. At the end of the year what is the learning goal that you would like your focal students to reach?

I want them to ask each other questions and notice areas where they could have a deeper conversation.  I guess I’m not exactly sure, bc I’ve been looking for ways that partners ask each other questions, but in reality what I want to see is the reader thinking more deeply about their book.  Should I look at reading journals to see if partner conversations help to make the journal entry deeper?

I guess I just want them to have a good conversation about the deeper levels of a book?  Is that possible when reading separate books?  Ahh, all of a sudden I’m really confused!

I want them to ask each other questions so that they have to get clearer.  So I guess the role of being the partner is challenging, but maybe not impossible.

3. What classroom data are you planning to use for your routine data source to see how students are (or are not) progressing towards this goal?

   Recorded conversations and transcription of partnerships.

4. Take some time to look at the routine data source for 1-2 focal students.  What would indicate if a student was successful? What were you hoping to see?

Write 3-4 indicators of success to meet the learning goal.

Indicators of success:

More than surface level questions.

Staying on a topic long enough

Additional Notes (changes to teaching practice, etc):

I am going to give them a list of probing questions and see if that pushes them further. Maybe we could write them together as a group using a fish bowl?  

I am going to have them start reading a book together and see if they are able to have a real conversation on the book.

Maybe I need to rethink how partners are working togehter. I just read this: http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/tag/reading-partners/ and I think it might be an important way to go about choosing partners and books.

5. After talking to your colleague(s), please write any revisions of your learning goal for your inquiry and the indicators for success for your routine data source. Your indicators might change over time as you uncover your students’ thinking.