Thursday, February 26, 2015

Acknowledging the Mess

"Hauling apart rhetoric and reframing and developing new ways forward is likely to be a variable, unstable, and messy process" (Cook, p. 281).

How comfortable are you with mess?  What might get messy in your research?  How will you handle this?

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Memo #5_Playing with Research Questions

What are some research questions you are contemplating?  Look at the models to notice the format of the overarching question and then 2-4 subquestions.

Be sure to provide supportive and helpful feedback to your classmates' questions as well.

Memo #4_Response to Campano

Which of the case study chapters resonated with you?  When did you recognize students, situations, or yourself?

In chapter 9, Campano writes about teacher researchers having multiple identities: activist, interested, vulnerable, and relational.  What do these mean to you?  In what ways do you feel valued and supported in these kinds of identities, or do you have others?

In this climate of standardized testing focusing on results rather than relationships or process, it is often difficult to sustain these identities, which is where the second classroom comes in.  How can you use your agency and community (whether it be your colleagues at school or other places, like this class!) to cultivate and sustain your teaching identities, however you name them?

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Memo #3

From your fieldnotes/teacher research journal, share some of the insights and questions that came from writing for 10 minutes every day about what has been happening in your classroom (or various classrooms, in Chris' case).  You can share excerpts from different days or choose one day's entry to copy and paste here. 

Something that has come to mind for me, in thinking about how/why some kids resist schooling practices, is the impact of the new generation.  I have heard that businesses and colleges are changing their expectations and practices to meet the unique needs of millenials, but as far as I can tell, K-12 schools aren't taking them into consideration, and are just operating in a business-as-usual mode.  We spend a lot of time talking about how different cultures don't know the "hidden transcripts" of schooling, but I wonder if it isn't broader than this.  Just something to throw into the mix as you consider your research questions :).