REFLECTION
Impact on Student Learning:
This study had an overall positive impact with my four focus students. Not all of the strategies were successful or motivating for all of my students, however each student was able to benefit from at least one or two of them. After implementing these strategies, I observed students being more engaged in independent reading, vocabulary, and whole group reading. I observed growth in MAPS scores, vocabulary quiz scores, and personal achievements. Students' attitudes had a noticeable positive shift after having goal setting conversations and recognizing that they were capable of achieving the goals they had set. Overall, based on my data and observations I would say that my students were positively impacted by the strategies that were implemented.
Forward Thinking:
Looking ahead, I will continue to prioritize building relationships with my students in order to get to know them as learners and individuals. This study showed me the true impact getting to know your students has on their motivation, engagement, and achievement. I will continue to use what I have learned to modify strategies to fit specific students' needs and to meet them where they are. I want to continue expanding my strategies for reading engagement and motivation by doing more research and working with a different group of learners. I think I would like to challenge myself further by working with High Ability Learners (HAL) and see if I can observe growth with them. All in all, I realize that teaching is a profession where I will continue to learn from my students, where I will be challenged by my students and their academic and behavioral needs, but most importantly where I will be rewarded by the success and growth I see in my students.
The biggest challenge I faced throughout my research was finding the most effective strategy for each student. This is something I want to acknowledge and remember for future years because it is something that will always be a challenge. All students are different and it takes time to get to know them as individuals and learners. Even though the process is time consuming and sometimes discouraging, I will remind myself that it is worth it in the end.
Professional Growth:
I learned a lot from this study, to say the least. I learned a lot about my students, elements of teaching, and about myself. My biggest take away with this study was the true impact that building an authentic relationship with students can have on their overall attitude and growth. When I had one on one conversations with my students, I learned an incredible amount about them as individuals. In my opinion, me taking the time to have intentional conversations with them allowed them to be vulnerable and put forth effort toward a subject they did not particularly enjoy.
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Aside from relationship building, it became very apparent to me during this study that teachers cannot have a "one strategy fits all" mentality with teaching. My four students all responded differently to the strategies that were implemented and it was an ongoing process to figure out what my students would be motivated by. When one strategy did not work for one student, I moved onto the next. Teaching is all about meeting students where they are and giving them tools to succeed. This does not happen on first try and this study showed me the importance of utilizing multiple strategies for students.
