Reflection
_
In order to begin my research process, I had to design a
research question with accompanying goals. This was more difficult then it
sounds. I had all these ideas swirling in my head, each taking me to a
different place. How would I be able to begin my research process when I wasn’t
even sure what I wanted to research? I knew I wanted to increase student
engagement, motivation, and collaboration. I knew I wanted to move away from
focusing on standardized testing in my classroom. I saw how my students were
losing the ability to have meaningful conversations with other students,
adults, and community members. I have always had a passion for service oriented
learning and have always wanted my students to understand their impact on the
world. There was also the idea of increasing parent involvement. How was I ever
going to get at the heart of my research when I had all these ideas bouncing
around? More importantly, how could I roll all of these ideas into one?
I began to weigh the pros and cons of each possible research idea. I thought about which ideas could be put aside for now. I began asking myself what I really wanted to accomplish. Undoubtedly, I wanted to become a better teacher. I also wanted my students to become better people. I wanted them to care about each other, help each other, and work with others. I wanted my students to be excited about learning. As I thought about all of these goals, I knew I needed to focus my research around community service learning. With community service learning, not only would my students be learning, they would be helping other people and in turn becoming better people themselves. Or so I hoped.
With goals and techniques in mind, I set out to finally design my question. I yearned to do everything right the first time. If I didn’t do as such, it would be more work in the future and time spent changing it. Time I didn’t have. The hardest thing for me to realize was that I didn’t need to end world hunger with one research question/study. I realized that this process was just the tip of the iceberg for my growing and learning as an educator. I needed to keep it simple and manageable. I needed to let go a little and truly focus on my core goals. Once I understood this, I was able to form a research question: How do students experience community service learning in second grade? With the focus on my students’ experience, I wouldn’t have to necessarily prove anything right or wrong. My study would be more about the growing, learning, and changing process rather than finding the solution to a problem.
With an established question, I began delving into community service learning resources. I needed some background knowledge. I needed to decide on what my structure for implementation would look like. As I looked through the works of those before me, I hit a wall. Community service learning is common in high school and college, but rarely seen at the elementary school level. How was I going to implement community service learning in my second grade classroom when there was no precedence, no guidance, and no structure to follow? I needed to start collecting data in my classroom and here I was still trying to decide how to structure it. I felt that it was too late to turn back. This resulted in a stand still pattern, not moving forward and refusing to move back.
Was this something that I really wanted to do? With a mind full of doubt, I decided to have a few meaningful conversations with my professors and surrounding colleagues. Their positive encouragement and helpful suggestions pushed me into the right direction. They reminded me that I didn’t have to structure my research in any set way or manner. I found the aspects of community service learning structures in high school and college that I liked, and applied them to my own classroom. Sure, there were aspects that I needed to tweak and modify to accommodate a younger clientele. I learned that level of differentiation is part of any effective teaching strategy. You need to know when it works for your students and when it doesn’t.
With a research question, research goals, and structure of implementation, I felt that I was ready to get this process moving. This moment of clarity was short lived. As it was when trying to design my research question, my mind began filling with numerous possible community service learning project ideas. My students were going to work with the elderly. They were going to lead a school wide recycling campaign. They were going to reduce waste and create a compost bin. Maybe they could start a school garden! How about tutoring for younger students? The ideas were endless. I noticed that I was trying to end world hunger again, with the sweep of one research study. I was going overboard and I was trapped in the stand still again, not moving forward and determined not to move back. If anything, this research process has taught me to rein it in a bit. At times I get a tad excited and consume myself with all the possibilities. Meanwhile, nothing is actually accomplished, I become discouraged, and I feel like abandoning ship. I have learned the several small steps are usually better than one giant step. The pressure of perfecting your one giant step usually prevents you from actually moving at all.
I decided to start small and see where it took me. I chose a project idea, the fire safety project, and tossed it out to my students. I wanted my students to have ownership in the research process and feel like they had a say in what they were doing. That being said, I initially failed to provide much guidance or structure. I was so conscientious about not controlling my students every move in the community service learning experience that I failed to recognize where my input and leadership was needed. I didn’t create a prototype nor model the process; something that I needed considering many, if not all, of my students had never experienced community service learning before. Students were excited and happy, but looked for significant clarification. I was so worried about the community service learning structure I was going to implement that I didn’t realize that my students weren’t ready for the complete independence I was offering them. This helped me improve my delivery of our second project, the Children’s Hospital project. I saw they my students needed a nice balance between choice and teacher management. I set main parameters and let students chose their roles and responsibilities. As a result, students were far more productive and independent. They didn’t need to spend so much time asking for additional explanation. Looking forward, I will be more aware of the balance I strike between teacher and student control in all classroom activities. Ultimately, it wasn’t even the structure that ended up mattering most. With key components built in, such as a designated audience, opportunities for student collaboration, and time to reflect, community service learning was a successful and useful experience no matter what proven and previously studied structure I put in place.
In regards to data collection, I strived to do it all. I was the determined research armed with interviews, surveys, exit cards, observations, journals, videos, and anything else you could think of. Problem was second grade students require a lot of your time…time you won’t have to spend on your list of 20 data collection methods. In reality, I ended up relying on class discussions, surveys, a few exit cards, and student journals to fuel my research. I found my students’ journals to be incredibly useful. By frequently writing in their journals throughout the entire process, my students were able to see themselves grow as writers and thinkers. I was able to see how far they had come in their abilities to reflect and critically think about community service learning. As we progressed through our community service learning projects, my students became more enthused and excited, writing longer and more fluent sentences. My students’ journals helped me manage my data collection. At any moment, I could open up a student journal and see what they were thinking at a specific moment in the research process, even if it was two months past that moment. My students’ journals helped me catch many of those moments I might have otherwise missed. In the future, I know I want to continue the use of journaling and providing time for reflection.
When I set out to do this study, I had a secret agenda. I wanted to prove that young students are capable of doing complex activities, such as community service learning. I had become conscious of the fact the many people (educators, parents, administrators) had limited expectations of young students. Many believe the seven-year-old students are unable to develop meaningful relationships with community members, aren’t mature enough to develop empathetic feelings, and have difficulty engaging in reflective and critical thinking. I have always had high expectations of my students and wanted everyone else too as well. I wanted my colleagues to see that complex strategies such as community service learning and project-based learning were capable at any age. Ironically, as I began my action research I too wondered if my students would be able to succeed with my goals. I worried about failing. Maybe my students were too young. In my preoccupation and determination, I wasn’t listening to my students. Who knew better than the students themselves whether or not they could do something? Once I was able to focus my energy on telling a story, rather than proving or disproving a hypothesis, I was able to acknowledge the effective and non-effective strategies I needed to implement to make community service learning a success. With a research question focused around student experience, I was able to let my students’ voices guide me through the research process and this resulted in a far more compelling anecdote of my findings and conclusions.
Looking at the big picture, this research process impacted everyone involved, but most importantly, it impacted me. I have evolved as an educator. I have evolved as a person. I have learned to let go of perfection. This doesn’t mean I have stopped dreaming big dreams, I means I am ok with making little changes and taking smaller steps to make those dreams a reality. I’ve come to terms with finding happiness in the little accomplishments because when you add all the little accomplishments together you have one big accomplishment. I’ve learned to give my students more control, not complete control, but more control. My students have shown me that they need me to provide some support and structure, but they are more than willing to manage the majority of tasks. Most importantly, I have learned to listen. I used to spend a good amount of time telling my students how they should learn and what they should learn. Now I let my students’ thoughts, ideas, and voices guide my instruction. When my students know they are being listened too, they are more enthusiastic and motivated learners. What more could I ask for?
I began to weigh the pros and cons of each possible research idea. I thought about which ideas could be put aside for now. I began asking myself what I really wanted to accomplish. Undoubtedly, I wanted to become a better teacher. I also wanted my students to become better people. I wanted them to care about each other, help each other, and work with others. I wanted my students to be excited about learning. As I thought about all of these goals, I knew I needed to focus my research around community service learning. With community service learning, not only would my students be learning, they would be helping other people and in turn becoming better people themselves. Or so I hoped.
With goals and techniques in mind, I set out to finally design my question. I yearned to do everything right the first time. If I didn’t do as such, it would be more work in the future and time spent changing it. Time I didn’t have. The hardest thing for me to realize was that I didn’t need to end world hunger with one research question/study. I realized that this process was just the tip of the iceberg for my growing and learning as an educator. I needed to keep it simple and manageable. I needed to let go a little and truly focus on my core goals. Once I understood this, I was able to form a research question: How do students experience community service learning in second grade? With the focus on my students’ experience, I wouldn’t have to necessarily prove anything right or wrong. My study would be more about the growing, learning, and changing process rather than finding the solution to a problem.
With an established question, I began delving into community service learning resources. I needed some background knowledge. I needed to decide on what my structure for implementation would look like. As I looked through the works of those before me, I hit a wall. Community service learning is common in high school and college, but rarely seen at the elementary school level. How was I going to implement community service learning in my second grade classroom when there was no precedence, no guidance, and no structure to follow? I needed to start collecting data in my classroom and here I was still trying to decide how to structure it. I felt that it was too late to turn back. This resulted in a stand still pattern, not moving forward and refusing to move back.
Was this something that I really wanted to do? With a mind full of doubt, I decided to have a few meaningful conversations with my professors and surrounding colleagues. Their positive encouragement and helpful suggestions pushed me into the right direction. They reminded me that I didn’t have to structure my research in any set way or manner. I found the aspects of community service learning structures in high school and college that I liked, and applied them to my own classroom. Sure, there were aspects that I needed to tweak and modify to accommodate a younger clientele. I learned that level of differentiation is part of any effective teaching strategy. You need to know when it works for your students and when it doesn’t.
With a research question, research goals, and structure of implementation, I felt that I was ready to get this process moving. This moment of clarity was short lived. As it was when trying to design my research question, my mind began filling with numerous possible community service learning project ideas. My students were going to work with the elderly. They were going to lead a school wide recycling campaign. They were going to reduce waste and create a compost bin. Maybe they could start a school garden! How about tutoring for younger students? The ideas were endless. I noticed that I was trying to end world hunger again, with the sweep of one research study. I was going overboard and I was trapped in the stand still again, not moving forward and determined not to move back. If anything, this research process has taught me to rein it in a bit. At times I get a tad excited and consume myself with all the possibilities. Meanwhile, nothing is actually accomplished, I become discouraged, and I feel like abandoning ship. I have learned the several small steps are usually better than one giant step. The pressure of perfecting your one giant step usually prevents you from actually moving at all.
I decided to start small and see where it took me. I chose a project idea, the fire safety project, and tossed it out to my students. I wanted my students to have ownership in the research process and feel like they had a say in what they were doing. That being said, I initially failed to provide much guidance or structure. I was so conscientious about not controlling my students every move in the community service learning experience that I failed to recognize where my input and leadership was needed. I didn’t create a prototype nor model the process; something that I needed considering many, if not all, of my students had never experienced community service learning before. Students were excited and happy, but looked for significant clarification. I was so worried about the community service learning structure I was going to implement that I didn’t realize that my students weren’t ready for the complete independence I was offering them. This helped me improve my delivery of our second project, the Children’s Hospital project. I saw they my students needed a nice balance between choice and teacher management. I set main parameters and let students chose their roles and responsibilities. As a result, students were far more productive and independent. They didn’t need to spend so much time asking for additional explanation. Looking forward, I will be more aware of the balance I strike between teacher and student control in all classroom activities. Ultimately, it wasn’t even the structure that ended up mattering most. With key components built in, such as a designated audience, opportunities for student collaboration, and time to reflect, community service learning was a successful and useful experience no matter what proven and previously studied structure I put in place.
In regards to data collection, I strived to do it all. I was the determined research armed with interviews, surveys, exit cards, observations, journals, videos, and anything else you could think of. Problem was second grade students require a lot of your time…time you won’t have to spend on your list of 20 data collection methods. In reality, I ended up relying on class discussions, surveys, a few exit cards, and student journals to fuel my research. I found my students’ journals to be incredibly useful. By frequently writing in their journals throughout the entire process, my students were able to see themselves grow as writers and thinkers. I was able to see how far they had come in their abilities to reflect and critically think about community service learning. As we progressed through our community service learning projects, my students became more enthused and excited, writing longer and more fluent sentences. My students’ journals helped me manage my data collection. At any moment, I could open up a student journal and see what they were thinking at a specific moment in the research process, even if it was two months past that moment. My students’ journals helped me catch many of those moments I might have otherwise missed. In the future, I know I want to continue the use of journaling and providing time for reflection.
When I set out to do this study, I had a secret agenda. I wanted to prove that young students are capable of doing complex activities, such as community service learning. I had become conscious of the fact the many people (educators, parents, administrators) had limited expectations of young students. Many believe the seven-year-old students are unable to develop meaningful relationships with community members, aren’t mature enough to develop empathetic feelings, and have difficulty engaging in reflective and critical thinking. I have always had high expectations of my students and wanted everyone else too as well. I wanted my colleagues to see that complex strategies such as community service learning and project-based learning were capable at any age. Ironically, as I began my action research I too wondered if my students would be able to succeed with my goals. I worried about failing. Maybe my students were too young. In my preoccupation and determination, I wasn’t listening to my students. Who knew better than the students themselves whether or not they could do something? Once I was able to focus my energy on telling a story, rather than proving or disproving a hypothesis, I was able to acknowledge the effective and non-effective strategies I needed to implement to make community service learning a success. With a research question focused around student experience, I was able to let my students’ voices guide me through the research process and this resulted in a far more compelling anecdote of my findings and conclusions.
Looking at the big picture, this research process impacted everyone involved, but most importantly, it impacted me. I have evolved as an educator. I have evolved as a person. I have learned to let go of perfection. This doesn’t mean I have stopped dreaming big dreams, I means I am ok with making little changes and taking smaller steps to make those dreams a reality. I’ve come to terms with finding happiness in the little accomplishments because when you add all the little accomplishments together you have one big accomplishment. I’ve learned to give my students more control, not complete control, but more control. My students have shown me that they need me to provide some support and structure, but they are more than willing to manage the majority of tasks. Most importantly, I have learned to listen. I used to spend a good amount of time telling my students how they should learn and what they should learn. Now I let my students’ thoughts, ideas, and voices guide my instruction. When my students know they are being listened too, they are more enthusiastic and motivated learners. What more could I ask for?