Place, Participants, and Practitioner

1.) Writing about your study context

Saint Raphael Academy is a Diocesan college preparatory school which teaches its students the Christian values of service and faith. Saint Raphael Academy offers a collegiate-style campus which is located in the historic Quality Hill neighborhood of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The school is comprised of seven primary buildings that are within walking distance from one another.  While driving down Walcott Street, visitors will notice that most of the buildings have a “antique” look on the outside. The majority of the buildings feature copper colored bricks. The structures of the buildings are mostly original, while the inside of the buildings have been renovated. The main buildings that students hold the majority of classes in are East and West. These buildings are located four blocks from each other on Walcott Street. Colorful flowers, large trees, and small gardens are scattered around the building to give it a “welcoming” feel. During passing time, students have six minutes to travel between buildings. The inside of these buildings have been improved to include up-to-date technology and improved appearances. Each room in West offers Smart Boards and new desks, while the rooms in East offer spacious classrooms with projectors and an overall “clean” appearance. The walls feature fresh paints and large windows to offer natural lightning.

I teach on the first floor of the East building. When entering room 14, you will notice the teacher saying “hello” to students as they enter the classroom. Once you are inside, you will notice that the room is spacious. There are high ceilings and two large windows at the front of the room. There are 30 desks that are facing the front of the room. Each row features three desks pushed closely together which creates an open path in the center of the room.  This allows the teacher to pace up and down the room between all the rows and it allows students to easily travel throughout the room. The desks are clean and smooth, and the chairs are not attached, which allows ultra comfort. There is a colorful bookshelf at the back of the room with includes a variety of texts for independent reading. There is hanging decor, including multi-colored paper flowers that hang from the doorways. A rainbow “welcome” sign hangs from the whiteboard. The letters are velvet and are soft to the touch.

 

The room is decorated with colorful backdrops and posters that are all related to English and life-advice. For example, there are several posters that state the different types of English genres and literary terms. There is a large blue poster that states, “Learn something new today” which hangs in the front of the room. The bright, vibrant colors throughout the room adds an energy to the room. Without these decorations, the room would just be gray with empty cork boards. The bulletin boards are plastered with student work. Hand-drawn footprints that feature life advice hang from the corners of the corkboard. Photos of former students are posted around the room.The teacher’s desk is located in the front of the room and there is a mounted projector which connects to the laptop on the desk. There is a Smartboard at the center of the room and a whiteboard on the right side of the room. The Do Now is posted on the whiteboard and the Smartboard is utilized during class activities.

 

Overall, the room encourages learning and discovery. The spaciousness, natural lightening, and bright colors offer a positive energy. The air freshener helps the room smell like fresh lilac. The radiator provides enough heat in the winter to allow everyone to feel comfortable and ready to learn.

 

2.) Describing the participants

Saint Raphael Academy currently consists of 450 students enrolled, with an average of 112 students per grade. I currently teach four sections of 10th grade and one section of 9th grade. For this research study, I will focus on one of my 10th grade classes that meets during F block. This class is “Advanced College Preparatory. The class consists of 22 students who are between the ages of 15 - 17. There are 12 females in this class and 10 males. The class is diverse and features students from Asian, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian backgrounds. Out of the 22 students, 16 of the students have made honor roll this year. Additionally, only one student is in danger of failing for the year. Compared to my other classes, this class is usually energetic and engaged throughout our time together. There are always students who are eager to share their work and to volunteer answers during discussion. Additionally, there is a sense of community within this classroom. The students are friendly with one another and many are good friends outside of school.

 

In this class, the majority of students are involved in an organization after school. Most of the students play sports and those who do not are in others clubs, such as the recycling club or art club. This class is unique to me because there are several “strong” personalities within the room. There are many students who are outgoing and enjoy voicing their opinions, so this can make it easy to have energy within the room during discussions or debates. The negative that comes along with this dynamic is that I find myself trying to quiet the class down since so many students within the class prefer to contribute during discussions. Sometimes they get so into the conversations that they will respond or shout out their opinions without waiting to be called on.

 

When we work in groups during class, I often carefully select the groups. I do not usually allow the students to pick their own partners because of the “friendliness” of the students within this class. There are several students who will get distracted easily if they are allowed to work with their friends. I have applied this same logic when creating assigned seats. I have found that certain students cannot sit near their friends or else they will try to spend more time socializing then working. Overall, even with these small issues, this class often features a positive learning environment.

3.) Describing your role as the teacher

As an educator, I realize that I have an obligation to protect my students. This includes protecting their identities during my research study. When I write about my students, I will use pseudonyms to avoid revealing a student’s real name. In preparation, I will take out my class roster and create a new name for each student. This will allow me to use the same assigned name each time I mention this student without revealing his / her identity. The pseudonyms will be random and they will not have any similarities to a student’s real name.

 I have developed relationships with my students, which might make it difficult for me to be unbiased when I conduct my research study. However, I will do everything in my power to ensure I am fairly assessing each scenario For example, when I grade, I will try to avoid looking at the name of the student to ensure that I am not assessing the work based on what I know about the individual. Secondly, I will not lead or prompt a student into responding correctly during a discussion or assignment. I will try to treat students fairly, but equally when I am conducting the research. I will try to make my expectations clear to students so that I will not need to aid them or help them complete a task that could interfere with the research data.

 

I see many opportunities ahead during my role as an observer. A focused observation can help me monitor specific responses from students, such as engagement level, peer interactions, critical-thinking skills, etc. By focusing on these observations, my data can help me improve my teaching. For example, if I were to notice that students responded well to a specific teaching strategy or task, this could positively influence my role as a teacher. The data can help influence my teaching to reach the needs of the students. As educators, it is difficult to focus on or analyze these everyday interactions since we have so many other responsibilities. This research opportunity is a great way for me to take the time to notice the small daily encounters which can lead me to great discoveries.