Teaching Process - Research Paper Example

Introduction Teacher Jeanne is about to read to her preparatory a story on the Banaue Rice Terraces, but before starting she asks them a question to get them interested. She asks her class if they have ever seen stairs made of rice. This gets her students excited and the class begins to buzz with stories. The noise goes beyond a tolerable level and Teacher Jeanne must then interfere and remind her class to raise their hand if they want to recite. Her students apologize and quiet down as Teacher Jeanne proceeds on with introducing her story. This is a typical scene in the Raya School preparatory classroom, as it is in many classrooms. Classroom management is a difficult part of a teacher’s job; with the need to make sure that there is consistency with all students and that the consequences that follow are actually effective. Furthermore, the established discipline system must meet the needs of the both the students and teachers. Disruptive behavior in the classroom can be alleviated before they become serious discipline problems if the teacher is able to employ effective strategies in maintaining classroom behavior. Statement of the Problem The researchers seek to create a behavior intervention plan based on Curwin and Mendler’s three-dimensional model to address the difficulty of the class to raise their hand. Questions that the researchers seek to explore are: 1. What are the behaviors of Prep Bathala students in Raya School during storytelling time before introducing the clip system? 2. What are the attitudes of the students towards the clip system? 3. What progress did the clip system bring in developing self-monitoring skills in the students? Rationale The researchers chose this problem because they have observed that the constant reminding and disruptions caused by talking out of turn interrupts and often deviates the flow of the lesson. It is time consuming on the part of the teacher as s/he must focus on discipline rather than teaching the class. This constant reminding also depletes the energy levels of the teacher, which could be used for teaching instead. The researchers’ observations are reinforced by research from Fred Jones (2006) who found that 80% of the misbehavior in the classroom is comprised of talking out of turn. This proves that this particular behavior is a problem in the classroom and that there is a need to address it. Using the clip system created by the researchers will enable the teacher to remind and praise the student for raising his or her hand without disrupting the class or deviating from the lesson, thus encouraging decorous behavior and reducing out of turn talking. Significance of the study The study is significant because it provides teachers with a tool to teach students better classroom behavior through self-regulation without the need for constant reminders from teachers or older peers. Scope and limitation The respondents of the study are the morning students of the preparatory class of the Raya School. For the scope of the study, the students will only be given clips during storytelling time. Storytelling time includes Genuine Love for Reading (GLR) and Critical Thinking (CT) time. GLR is the introduction of the book, the storytelling proper, and questions asked by the students before, during and after storytelling. CT is the engagement activity after storytelling, which aims to measure student comprehension of the story read. GLR and CT are the first two prongs in Dr. Manhits Four-Pronged Approach. The practicum school of the researchers follows this approach and heavily constructs its curriculum around it. Review of Related Literature (still in process) Methodology Research Design The researchers designed this action research as single group pre-post test. The researchers chose this design because they will only use one section, Prep bathala, for this study and it will need three parts: before implementing the clip system, during the three-week implementation period, and after implementing the clip system. Population and Sampling The sample population of the study is the preparatory morning class, Prep Bathala, of the Raya School, Quezon City. The class is comprised of 10 students, 1 lead teacher and 1 shadow teacher. Two of the students in the class are special learners with hearing impediments; they have a shadow teacher at all times during class hours. The sample population was determined by purposive sampling. The researchers felt that this group of children would benefit from the study primarily due to the reinforcement brought about by the clip system and the self-monitoring skills they can gain. The researchers chose the morning class because this class is more participative and energetic during classroom discussions than their afternoon counterpart, thus pose the teacher with a greater management challenge. Instrumentation The following instruments will be utilized for the study: tally sheets, video documentation, and observation reports of each student. The tally sheets will have a table with the student’s name and dates of the storytelling sessions. The researchers will document the first and last storytelling session through video documentation. Lastly, written observation reports will also be made by the researchers regarding student behavior during storytelling time. Data Analysis To analyze the collected data, the researchers will examine the progression of the clip giving, i.e. if there is a decrease or increase in the number of clips collected by the students as the system progresses, to determine its effectiveness. An observation and tally of both the class and per student collections will be recorded and analyzed. The two storytelling sessions recorded by the researchers will also be viewed and analyzed. The researchers will look for changes in the class behavior during storytelling session, if there is any. Data Gathering Procedure There are three phases that comprises the clip system. Each phase is of equal importance and must be done in succession; it is impossible to jump through the phases. For three weeks’ time a clip system will be implemented in class during their storytelling sessions, which is done every Monday and Thursday of the week. The study will go through three phases. The first phase will be the introduction of the clip system to the students, which includes thinking time and the stating of the clip system rules. This will be done on the first day of the study and is to be headed by the researchers. The next phase is the clip system proper, which will be executed for three weeks with a tallying of accumulated clips per student at the end of the class. After three weeks of the clip system, a closing ceremony will be held to acknowledge the participation of the class in the clip system and to formally end the use of the system in the classroom. The researchers will be attentive to the subject’s participation in the clip system through a tally sheet. The tally sheet has a table with the students’ names and the dates of when the storytelling sessions are conducted with space for the frequency record. The researchers will also video the first and last storytelling session in the second phase to see if there is an improvement in the ability of the class to raise their hands before speaking out. Data gathered will be based on frequency record and video recordings. The first phase will start on the first day back from the students’ Christmas break. After circle time, the researchers will introduce the clip system, providing thinking time and citing of the system rules. Thinking time is the classroom discussion of their behavior during storytelling time. Discuss how their behavior of not waiting for their turn to recite has become a problem for the class. Review the consequences of the behavior, such as a noisy classroom environment, interrupting the lesson and disrespecting one’s classmates and teachers. Let the students know that they can partake in solving the problem by following the new rule in class. The researchers will then state the new rule in class, that whenever a student waits for his or her turn to speak he or she will receive a high five clip. And at the end of the day, there will be a counting of the clips. As a form of motivation, the student with the most number of clips at the end of the system proper will receive a prize; this however will only be stated once during the first phase and will not be said again during the second phase. It is important in this stage to ensure that the students know what is expected from them concerning the problem. Harry Wong (2006) believes that having only three to five rules is best so that students will always be able to remember them. The researchers kept this in mind in formulating the rules of the clip system. The said rules are: when given a clip, keep it safe until you can clip it onto your mini me; take care of the clip, you can not play with it or lose it; you are not allowed to remove the clips from your mini me and you cannot give your clip to your classmates. A written copy of the rules will be posted in the classroom as a reminder so that students are clearly aware of the rules and procedures and the consequences for violating them. The clip system is immediately put into use as soon as the rules are discussed with the class. The second phase is the execution of the clip system, which will take place during a period of three weeks. Under the system, whenever the teacher asks a question during storytelling time, the student who is able to raise his or her hand, wait to be called upon for an answer and is then able to answer the question will receive a clip. Students hold onto their clips until they are allowed by their teacher to post it on the student chart. At the end of every school day the researchers will tally the clips collected by each student. The researchers will also document the first and last storytelling session (first and sixth) of the second phase through video recording and compare the two sessions during further study. At the end of the three weeks, the last phase will be in form of a closing ceremony. During this event, an award ceremony will take place wherein the student with the most number of clips as well as the most improved student will receive a prize. Each student will be given a happy face clip for a job well done and for his or her participation in the study. This ceremony formally ends the clip system proper in the classroom. Intervention Strategy The clip system is the practice of giving a “high five clip” to a student who waited for his or her turn. For this study “waiting for his or her turn” will pertain to a student who waits for his or her turn to recite by raising the hand and waiting for his or her name to be called before speaking. The high five clip is a small clip with a sticker of a hand gesturing with the ‘high five’ sign that will be clipped on the student’s “mini me”. The mini me is a student chart that is filled with human body figures. Each figure represents a student; each figure is labeled with the student’s name. Every figure has a necklace wherein the student’s earned high five clips will be placed. The instrument is deemed valid when the number of clips each student collects increases as the study progresses and video evidence illustrates that storytelling times have become more ordered and focused on instruction rather than discipline. Read More