Analyzing Data

I sorted the data in pieces. First, I took all the data and classify it. I scored the test and compared the results for the pre and post test. Then after doing the mean I did the graphic in order to visualize the differences. I took each part of the pre-test and post test. I compared vocabulary preview, false and true, multiple choice,vocabulary extension and cloze. General statistics showed that students have done progress in all the sections except the first session, vocabulary preview. Now I will analize data through the lences of theory.

Making Sense of the Data

I have quantitative data (pre-test and post-test, attendance, students who follow all the process and the ones who missed some lessons )and some are qualitative (My journal, surveys, students works-guides-)
A need to follow a procedure. I will follow Burns(1999) recomendations. She points out that there are "two primary questions that should guide researchers when conducting data analysis:
-What is the story embedded in my data?
-What factors significantly influenced this story?
We can not rely on only one source, here is when triangualation becomes very important. Only when we consider the analysis of all instruments we have use can we arrive to some conclusions.
The first step I did was to organize all the data in a chart. second I follow student by student works and attendance in order to know how many students did all the process, after doing this I found that thirteen students out of thirty nine participated in all the process. While analyzing the why's I conclude that because my class was held on Mondays the first two hours, many students arrived late to school, and as a result they could not entered to the class until the second hour. Some others decided to not come on Mondays, some others were sick. There was one student who had an accident and had a sick leave for almost two months.

Classifying the raw data

Today I applied the post-test. Some students could not answer it complete because they have arrived very late to class. Now I need to take the raw data, I will use excell for put all the data together in order to classify it and see the scores, then to do the corresponding graphics with the results by session for the pre and post, first I will do general then student by student. I will follow Anne Burns coding procedures.

Time Constraints

On June I could not continue with my action research project due to different factors. Students travelled to Cali in order to know the process of making Wine, it was a project conducted by the chemistry teachers, the next class the coordinator ask all the homeroom teachers to apply a workshop about behaviour issues and he told us we will do it during the two first class, so I missed the English class again and finally the last week my mother was sick and I have to go with her to the doctor, lab, etc so I missed my last class. Since it was the last class for this semester we were asked to give the final grades, I had to send my grades by mail.
Now I need to end the process in July.
My aim is to use these coming weeks to read as much as possible, in order to have good ideas for data analysis.

Meeting with my Director

Today I met my director. The meeting was very importan because I received feedback from my director regarding the implementation and the tools for collecting data. My director recomended me to do an interview in order to collect more data from students in an spontaneous way, also she suggested me to video tape a class. Additionally she told me that I need to write about some positive results I obtained while implementing my project, for example to have my students participating with posters in English in June 4th when the school did an event for raising awareness about environmental issues. Another positive result I obtained was to work cooperatively with other teachers like science, language arts and computers ones. Although these were not my aims they were possitive results.
Another important issue my director explained to me was how to classify my data collection tools. This meeting was specially inspiring, my director make me feel more confident for facing all the challenging situation.

Class observation

Today my professor observed my class. I was a little nervous but at the same time happy for her visit. The lesson was based in a reading about the Thousand and one night,which is probably one of the most famous books in the world. It is a collection of stories first told by travellers from Persia, Arabia, India and China between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. In later years professional storytellers also told the stories in coffee houses in Turkey, Egypt and many other countries. The Thousand and One Nights contains well-known stories like Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, so people often think they are just for children but they were originally for adults. (This summary of the book was taken from Face to Face,intermediate,2005, Longman) In general terms the lesson went well however there were these reluctant students I always need to push to do things. After reading "Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Reading in the Content Areas" I have found some strategies I will implement. First I am going to work with them, then I am going to build opportunities for them to flavor success, I will give them specific praise and positive reinforcement, I will provide them with easy, enyoyable reading material for doing at home and I will ask them some easy question in order to help them to build confidence.
Something nice in my class was that at the end students had the opportunity to interchange information with my professor. They were very interested in asking questions about her country and personal information. They could feel they can communicate in English with other person different from their teacher and their peers.
After Class my professor gave me feedback which enriched my research. She recomended me to include some drawing in my reading guides for making them more attractive for my students, also to be more explicit in my class about the research component, and to wrap out activities among others.

Cross curricular conection with language arts.

In todays' class I applied a pre-test . I have finished with the implementation about environmental issues and today I began the connection with language arts. The test was about Asian Literature,after taking the test I show students some strategies for guessing from the context and inferring meaning, they found it very useful. Also I announced that for the next class we would have the visit of my professor from the master program.
In this class I focused my attention on students who were reluctant to do their activities in the previous class. I noticed they tried to skype the activity but then when I asked them to do the activity,they did it. I think I need to find a strategy for changing these students' attitude.