Teacher recommedations for on and off-task behaviors

After observing and recording on-task behaviors, here are some of my initial adjustments or recommendations:

• Group projects
  
• Provide written instructions so all know expectations
• Give each student to a role to fulfill
• 1-1 or 1-2 computing is ideal for sharing work - more than that does not give adequate time for students to participate
• Have alternative tasks for those who finish early
• Direct Instruction
• Remove all distractions: headphones, open websites
• Consider purchasing lab management software so all can easily view screen
• Find out prior knowledge and do not demo skills already known
• Keep direct instruction short and provide written instructions
• Individual tasks
• Provide written instructions
• Remove all distractions: headphones, open websites
• Stop class work time and encourage interaction and sharing
• Intervene early with students who are stuck or off task
  

On task behavior documentation

For my ARP I have been documenting students behaviors during direct instruction time, during group project work and then during individual tasks. Here are some of my observations so far:

• Group
• initially there is a lot of discussion
• some students made the decisions, other members wait for instructions
• students confered with each other about progress during writing of article
  
• when students were formatting their newspaper page, students who were not actually controlling the computer were not as involved.
• groups that only had 1 or 2 members formatting per page were more on task than higher numbers
• Direct Instruction
• teacher can view 3/4 of screens from her vantage point and see if all are following along with instruction
• students are engaged when instruction is unfamiliar - opening word outline in PPT
• If students perceive they already know the material - they seem to "check out"
  
• Where students sit in room seems to have direct impact of how well they pay attention. Students in front right row and back row do not watch demonstrations on overhead screen.
• Off task behaviors include trying to use headphones to listen to music or websites, viewing own screen instead of demo, not looking at teacher, talking to neighbor
• Individual tasks
• some students work well on their own
• some students need interaction or clarification to understand the task
• if students have clear understanding of task, or written directions to refer to, they usually are more productive than those who have to stop and ask for clarifications
• the more confident the student is in their ability to complete the task at hand, the more on task behavior I observed
• personality & overall school achievement has a lot to do with on-task behaviors
  

chart of behaviors will be posted soon.

Observation - Review Assignments

Activity:

Today students are working on written review questions to prepare for a Unit Test in Excel. Students were given 12 questions to answer and a 3 page Excel Review packet to refer to. Students typed their answers to the questions in Word. Minimal instructions were given.

Observation:

• For the most part, students began on the assignment right away.
• There were two Korean students who needed more encouragement to get started and stay on task (and stop talking).
• There was minimal interaction between students, except for the occasional student who asked their friend for help with the answers. Towards the end of the period there was a few more students seeking assistance from classmates.
• Most of the answers to the questions were located on the review packet and involved basic recall and locating the answer.
• Only two of the questions required synthesis of understanding.
• Only two students asked for clarification of questions from the teacher (21 students present today). There was little interaction between students and the teacher.
• The first student finished in 17 minutes.
• When students finished the assignment, several surfed the Internet, some visited with each other, two went to the restroom, and one student worked on homework for another class.
• All but 7 students finished the assignment during the 45 minute period.

Results:

The average class score for the assignment was 91%.

19 out of 21 students turned in the assignment. (The 2 exchange students did not complete the assignment on time and when they eventually did show it to me - it was incomplete and did not show understanding of the concepts)