Shelley’s Story: A Researcher’s Stress

My research took place at a west side Vancouver elementary school. There are approximately 280 students at this school, which is located on the west side of Vancouver. I taught a Grade Three/Four split class which was composed of twenty-four students­eight Grade Threes, and sixteen Grade Fours. In this class, sixteen students spoke another language other than English at home. Most of my students were of Chinese descent—speaking Cantonese and Mandarin. There were also students from Vietnam, Japan, and India.

The term during which I undertook my research project was fraught with tensions: I never realized how subtly a teacher’s mood affects how students learn. The teacher for whom I was substituting was returning soon and the reality of my leaving became a daily discussion with the students. I knew my employment was coming to an end, and my impending departure affected my students and me. I clung to my students almost as much as they clung to me. There was also pressure for the students to finish the research projects that they were working on because I needed to generate marks for their report cards. To top it off, I had asked my students to help me with my research project for my Master’s program!

I am not sure if it was just my nerves or my excitement that added confusion and some chaos to the research. Eventually, I found a rhythm in teaching someone else’s lessons (as set out in the ten lesson strategy). This experience of teaching from a structured set of lessons was confusing for me until I became comfortable with the expectations and reality of teaching the report writing strategy in a way that my students could understand. Happily, my students (and me) were successful in the end.

When the research began I felt excited and intimidated. Was I in over my head? I was not sure how the process would work with my students and I wanted them to succeed. There was some initial frustration and stress. Many of my students understood the value of the research, but it was tricky for others. A small group of boys had been acting up the entire week and remained silly through the first lesson. As a researcher-teacher, I worried that I would miss something in the instructions and/or in the research. I wondered how successful the technique was going to be, and pondered whether this handful of boys was going to somehow alter my results. I had no idea what to look for—perhaps I was looking too deeply in the wrong direction.

The students did the next couple of lessons mainly on their own. A few students immediately connected the writing strategy lessons to the previous work they had done on Power Structure and saw the benefit of organizing in this way when writing a report. However, it was immediately obvious that the majority of students did not see the connection. These children had initial concerns about the process. Many students were unsure of themselves, and worried about doing things the right way. I think initially the method was an abstract way of working for many students: terminology was confusing.

“This might be useful later on but now it is frustrating.” Mary Beth

“It’s frustrating. I need more practice.” Marrietta

“I think it was great even though I did not finish it.” Elizabeth

Our fourth lesson seemed to clear up some misconceptions, although many of my students were still frustrated. The students had time to think and work through some of what they did not understand. I reviewed again the organization and use of Power Structure.

“It is frustrating but I think I can do better and learn more.” Diana

We then began our research projects. We kept relating our work to powers.

“It is easier cause there is p1, p2, p3, p4.” Martin

“I like the taking note it helps me!” Mark

“I like the method because it help me organize notes.” Trevor

“I liked that we cut and pasted.” Cici

“I think it is more easy and fun than writing again.” Lily

The students were less frustrated and became extremely excited. The note taking and working through the steps was reasonably trouble-free—although the process was new to some. The next challenge we met was changing the notes back into sentences. The organization was a more straightforward step now that they had some experience in what was expected.

“I think this is helpful because its going to be helpful in the foche (future).” Sasha

“‘I love it cause it will maybe me much better.” Brianna

“I like this research because I learn the power and stuff.” Thomas

“It helped me sort stuff.” Markus

The excitement of the project was obvious. Students were excited to share their work. There was a feeling of accomplishment that many had not experienced before.

Our research question, Can a structured non-fiction writing structure help ELS students improve their writing? is important to me as a teacher because of the needs of my students, many of whom speak English as their second language. I also know that many of my other students, who require extra support in organization, will benefit from doing a research project that is laid out for them in a step by step process. What I learned from doing this research is that taking the time to understand my students’ perceptions and misconceptions encourages my students’ success as they work through their own understanding with other students and me. I learned that it is important to ask students what they have learned from my lessons to ensure that they understand the process that I am teaching them. To work through misconceptions and misunderstandings with students is a valuable process to experience.