Thinking+Data

Thinking data shows students' development in class. A lot of the thinking data I observed was oral, as students asked and answered questions in whole group or worked through ideas by discussing them with partners. Some thinking data was written and can be accessed through the work samples link. The oral observations are listed below.
 * Thinking Data **

Student A: It is often the practice of her teacher to ask students to discuss ideas and answers with a neighbor. When the teacher does so, student A often keeps to her self and does not share. Because the students can get in trouble her neighbor sometimes makes an effort to talk to he, however, it is usually the case that they will turn and talk to another neighbor. Sometimes the teacher or myself will go and ask her what she thinks and she will usually shrug her shoulders, but with more probing she can eventually come up with an answer. There is also mandatory participation for whole group instruction, where she must give a thumbs up or some other type of gesture to demonstrate comprehension. Student A participates well in this area, although she has only about %50 accuracy. She does raise her hand about %30 of the time to answer whole group questions and share experiences.

Student B: This student often engages in discussion whether its small of whole group. He poses higher level questions and often gets in trouble for shouting out of turn (usually he is excited about what the teacher is teaching and will do this in response, or because he wants to know more he will shout out questions.)

Student C: Due to her limited English ability, this student often relies on her classmates and teachers to translate for her. When her classmates do so, she seems to do very little thinking on her own, because she often ends up copying their work. When her teachers translate for her she does quite a bit of thinking because they often push for an English answer, even if it means them telling her and her repeating it.

__Work Samples__