Running head: INQUIRY DRAFT Stewart 1

Inquiry Draft

Rebecca Stewart

University of South Florida

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Background, Purpose, and Wondering

I am Rebecca Stewart, and I am currently interning at an elementary school with a

fifth grade class. Last year, I worked with a kindergarten class, so this year with fifth

grade is a completely different experience. Before ever starting internship, I thought that I

would enjoy teaching the primary grades like kindergarten and first grade more than

older grades, but this year is teaching me differently. I really enjoy the older grades and I

have had a great experience with fifth grade this year. What led me to my inquiry was the

fact that fifth graders handle more responsibility with their learning as opposed to

primary grades. I noticed this fact very quickly into the year, and it is very different from

primary grades where they do not have as much responsibility with their own learning.

This fact interested me, so I began my wondering around this idea. At first, I wanted to

do my inquiry around intrinsic motivation, but I realized that this topic has many

subtopics that I was discovering. Some of the ideas around intrinsic motivation have to

do with self-confidence, engagement, and responsibility/accountability. I was noticing

and learning a lot about all of these topics, so the topic of intrinsic motivation was too

broad for me to focus on since I was noticing all of those ideas within intrinsic

motivation. From here, I started to think of a main topic that very closely related to all of

these things. I came up with the topic of student autonomy. I was very interested in this

topic, because I believe that student autonomy is very important for fifth graders in

particular, because they will be going to middle school next year. I believe that teaching

fifth graders about autonomy with their learning is necessary for their schooling in the

years to come for them. Now, my new wondering is how I can address and build student

self-autonomy for their own learning.

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How can I address and build student self-autonomy for their own learning?

Methods

Literature Connections

Article citation Key quotes and ideas Ideas for taking action
related to your in your classroom
wondering
Elias, M. J. (2016, February 15). Student How much freedom? - do not revert to
Autonomy, Compliance, and Intrinsic How much order? control for short term
Motivation. Retrieved November 29, Excessive control issues, student
2017, from and extrinsic autonomy is an
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student- rewards yield short-ongoing and
autonomy-compliance-and-intrinsic- term results. developing skill from
motivation-maurice-elias day 1 in the class.
- Seek help from
colleagues
Ferlazzo, L. (2015, March 25). Strategies Freedom of choice - Provide students
for Helping Students Motivate builds autonomy. with choices
Themselves. Retrieved November 29, Cognitive choice - Problem based
2017, from leads to longer learning
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies- lasting student - Students publicly
helping-students-motivate-themselves- autonomy. Genuine share different
larry-ferlazzo relationship with thinking processes
students builds behind solving the
intrinsic motivation same problem
- Take genuine
interest in your
students and their
interests, goals, and
dreams.
- be flexible
Conklin, T. A. (2012). Making It Autonomy support - Give students
Personal. Journal of Management and millennials- opportunities to talk
Education, 37(4), 516-524. active learners who so we can hear their
doi:10.1177/1052562912456296 benefit from thoughts, ideas,
discussion, group opinions, and
projects, shared feelings.
problem solving, - Give praise as
contrastive feedback, feedback
clear but challenging - Offer
explanations that encouragement
require critical - Be responsive to
thinking, and diverse questions and
learning approaches. comments
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Data Collection

The first strategy that I implemented with my students was a strategy that could

tell me where my students were as learners in my lessons. Especially in a content area

like math, I would hate to move forward with a lesson if students are not understanding

the current content. I often used thumbs-up or a 5-finger hand scale of how they were

feeling about the content and if they were understanding it. This method allows the

students to reflect on and be responsible for their own learning. If they were really

confused and not understanding the content, it is their responsibility to signal that to me

when I ask them to, before we move on. I tell them to be honest with themselves and with

me so we dont move on and get even more confused in the future. This small strategy

can do so much within a lesson.

The next strategy that I implemented was a student self-assessment. I gave the

self-assessment to all of the students in my morning class. The questions were about their

learning and their responsibility regarding their learning. There were questions like I am

responsible for my learning and my teacher can count on me, I ask questions when I

dont understand, I complete my work on time. Students had to score their answers

from 1-4, with 4 being all the time and 1 being never. I put all of their scores into an

excel sheet and then created a chart out of their results. Almost all students scored a 4 for

the question I am in charge of my learning. The average score for I complete my work

on time was a 3. The average score for all questions was around a 3 and 3.5. This data

somewhat surprised me because I know my students as learners, and I know how they

should have actually answered the questions if they were being honest with themselves.

For the most part, I believe that the students were honest about their answers, but I know
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a few students were not. Other than that, I believe that this is really good data to have as a

teacher in order to make informed instructional decisions.

The third strategy that we implement as a class is class meetings and positive

teacher talk. Teacher relationships with students is very important for student autonomy,

so my CT and I feel that being able to have class meetings to talk about important issues

is very important for our class and our relationship with our students. We have class

meetings about twice a week, and in our meetings, we talk about important upcoming

events, issues that need to be addressed, and we open the meeting up for students to share

their ideas, thoughts, and feelings. We open up for questions or concerns, where it is

important as teachers to acknowledge these and strive to find a solution for the student so

their concerns do not go unheard. We also have a time where students can nominate other

students for quail bucks, which is a good time to talk about positive actions and positive

framing. We feel that it is important to recognize students who go above and beyond

what they are expected to do, and we acknowledge them in this class meeting.

Additionally, throughout the day, my CT and I make efforts to positively acknowledge

students if we see positive actions from students. We try to display positive teacher talk

like encouragement and praise.

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Artifacts
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Self-Assessment Data
4.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
I am I ask I complete I am in I am giving I follow I have a
responsible questions my work on charge of my my best directions positive
for my when I don't time. learning. effort all of the first time attitude.
learning and understand. the time. they are
my teacher given.
can count on
me.
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Assessment Reflection

The artifacts above help me to understand my students as learners. They relate to

my wondering because it allows students to reflect on and take ownership of their own

learning. From doing a thumb or hand scale, I will know how my students are doing with

the content and if we need to spend more time to go over it. It helps me identify students

who need additional support. It also allows students to be responsible for their learning

by telling me that they need help or not. Student autonomy is all about the students

ownership of their own learning. The student assessment allows the students to be aware

that they own their learning and they should be responsible for the outcome of their own

efforts. It shows them to be in charge of their own success, which is what student

autonomy ultimately is. The results of the assessment allow me to see which students

need more support, and basically where they are at in regard to their responsibility of

their learning. I can make instructional decisions based on the results of their assessment.

Data Collection Chart

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Self-Assessment Data
4.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
I am I ask I complete I am in I am giving I follow I have a
responsible questions my work on charge of my my best directions positive
for my when I don't time. learning. effort all of the first time attitude.
learning and understand. the time. they are
my teacher given.
can count on
me.

From this chart, I can see which area that I need to focus more on in the class. I

can tell that the questions I ask questions when I dont understand and I complete my

work on time need attention. From here, I would address these issues in my instruction.

Personally, I would have a class meeting about these two issues. I would just talk to the

students about these two issues, and we would come up with solutions as a class. I would

ask them ways that we could ensure that work is being handed in on time, and how I can

support them with this. I would tell students to ask questions when they dont understand,

but I would also iterate that our class is open and supportive, and everyone should feel

comfortable asking questions without judgment. I would open up the meeting for

questions or concerns, and provide a time for students to share their thinking and ideas.
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Reflection on Student Learning and Teaching Practice

Learning Statements

I learned that student autonomy takes time to build within students.