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Action Research Project Proposal

MIAA 310
Diana Chavez
Dr. Sylvia Turner
November 11, 2013























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Action Research Project Proposal

Research Purpose
During my third year of teaching and due to our states financial crisis I was offered the
chance to teach 1
st
grade. At that point I had only taught my first two years as a
kindergarten teacher. I thought piece of cake, how hard could it be? I spent the year
really struggling to effectively present the math curriculum in a clear and meaningful
way. Many of my students struggled to grasp an abstract understanding of numbers. I
had no clue how to teach the concepts in a clear way or how to effectively engage
students in math talk that would help deepen their understanding of math. I would have
had to rely less on the curriculum to guide me through the year if my own conceptual
understanding of math, how numbers relate and build upon each other were mastered. My
hope is that I can gain a deeper understanding of math at the higher levels in order to
better assist student understanding of math concepts in the primary grades.

Research Questions
How will my understanding and proficiency of math up to the Algebra level give me a
deeper understanding for critical math areas in the younger grades?
What mathematical strategies are most effective in the classroom setting for addressing
the vast needs of students?

Sub-questions
1. MIAA 320
What essential questions do I need to implement in order to get students to
be able to have effective math talk in the classroom?
2. MIAA 330
Which math assessments are most effective in targeting students learning
gaps? How will better monitoring of student progress effect achievement?


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3. MIAA 340
How will I implement an effective targeted instruction time that will
secure my students understanding of key concepts in math?
4. MIAA 350
How will I ensure to build in collaboration and team learning within my
classroom using all that I have learned about math and students progress?
5. MIAA 360/370
How will designing effective math lessons and implementing specific
content for my grade level increase student proficiency?

Data
MIAA 310
Through the Action Research Project I will be gathering evidence throughout that enables
me to deepen my understanding of higher level mathematics as well as student
achievement, progress and intervention. Working in the different grade spans will give
me the chance to see the natural progression of math. I will also be practicing various
levels of math, which will alleviate my fear of math.

MIAA 320
This course will help me build confidence in understanding effective practices as well as
maintaining meaningful discourse. It will also help me to naturally build into my
everyday math practice time for students to talk and teach each other with meaningful
math talk.

MIAA 330
Using collaboration this course will help me understand what assessments are critical in
driving the instruction and the path that I take with students. It will also make sure to
guide student input as to what their struggles are and why.



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MIAA 340
This course is the next step after assessing the students. It is the, what now? of the
assessments. With an improved understanding of mathematics I hope to be able to
effectively implement targeted instruction based on the results of assessments as well as
change my approach if need on how to deliver the math concepts.

MIAA 350
This course will provide a deeper knowledge of math using collaboration and effective
instruction. It will also tie together all that I have learned in the various courses. I hope to
have my research questions answered by this course.

MIAA 360/370
This course will take all that I have learned up to this point and help guide me on a path
of math success for both students and teacher. I hope that by this time I will have
answered all research questions and sub-questions.

Reflection
I hope that by the end of all courses I will have a deeper understanding of mathematics.
This will help give me the confidence to work with kids in various math levels. I also
hope to have various effective teaching strategies that will help build student mastery of
critical math skills. I believe that having effective strategies backed by assessment and
pedagogical discourse it will ensure student progress. I anticipate on having my students
talking more and being more engaged in their math learning.