Kristen Jackson Field Seminar Artifact 8: Survey 3 Analysis The third survey was administered to students on March 5, 2013.

This survey took a different approach and asked students to evaluate respect and their understanding of what it means to be respectful. They were also asked to establish what a safe space means and if they contribute to the safety of our space. Finally, I asked students to assess their effort in the recent project. I allowed students to design their own final project during the Crusades unit, which gave them freedom to design a project that showcased their interests and understanding of the unit. First, I was pleased that although there were less students in class when the survey was administered, all students attempted to answer all questions completely. Of the answers received, however, many of them were incomplete in that they only answered a portion of the question. For example, Kemonnie, a student I have continued to use as an example because she often gives very complete answers, only answered a portion of the questions completely.

Instead of explaining how shes respectful in history class, she simply rates her level of respect, and does the same for her behavior in class. Another student, Nia also only half answered the question, but her answer was extremely informative once analyzed. When asked if she is respectful, she responds, most of the time, just dont disrespect me. I show respect them only if

they respect me. She also goes on to say that listening makes you a good student. These answers fundamentally show the distinction in what a teacher believes respect to be in a classroom versus a student, especially in an urban environment. I have to acknowledge the environmental effects that shape my students understanding of appropriate behavior. They have mostly been taught that respect is a two-way street, that its to be shown only if received. Additionally, Nia displays something I realized is relevant to my understanding of ownership from this survey. Students often believe theyre doing fine as long as they listen to the teacher, an effort can be shown by simply being present. This expresses the fundamental difference between my expectations of them as students and their understanding of their role as students. Simply showing up to school is seen as adequate effort toward being a good student. Students have to be pushed to think deeper about their actual effort within the classroom in order to display strong academic progress.

Most students responded that respect, especially in the classroom, is not speaking over each other or the teacher. As noted above, Nia responds that she is respectful because she is quiet and listening is respecting. 9 out of 10 students answered that respect and good behavior in class is listening to the teacher. They did not, however, take into account how they show respect to each

other. This brings full circle the discussion I had in the first few artifacts I analyzed: that in order for students to successfully self-assess themselves in my eyes, they first have to buy into my definitions of success. To me, successful participation in class goes beyond listening and being present and delves into putting 100% effort into every class, or at least trying to. I realized my students do not share the same understanding of academic success (aside from grades) which makes it difficult to continue to analyze their responses because to them, their input is already adequate. Another very quiet student had interesting answers to the same questions. She expresses that respect is coming at someone in a positive way but shes respectful because she dont talk and do work. This student in particular did not measure herself based on the standard she set forward; she did not tell me if she feels like she comes at her peers or her teachers in a positive way. Unfortunately this wasnt scaffolded as well as it could have been, but Im also acknowledging that this was distributed toward the end of my student teaching tenure so there was very little I could do to respond and perhaps elicit better results.

The final question that had interesting answers asked about the classroom being a safe space. Im firm in my belief that its a teachers job to make sure students feel safe, however my

students seemed to take this question literally. Every student who answered it, did so in a manner that talked about their physical safety. Although they acknowledge that they do not and have not done anything to make other students feel unsafe, they did not at all address the crux of the question, which surrounds emotional safety. The same female student I evaluated above, responded that she makes the classroom a safe space by being unviolent.

I found this answer comical but also a very surface level self-assessment. Although she did not delve into the emotional safety, she has done her part to not fight. I say this with certainty because she has come to me to express other students who were bothering her and allowed me to diffuse the situation. It is my own fault that I did not clarify that I wanted them to address emotional safety, which is something I would have changed about the survey. This survey was informative in that it expressed clearly where my students heads are as it pertains to respect and safety in the classroom. I also asked them to evaluate what it was like to create their own projects, which they did as a culmination to the Crusades unit (some student work has been included). In asking students to reflect on designing their own project, I was asking them what it felt like to have selfguided/self-directed assessments. Each student answered in their own way (if they did at all) that they enjoyed creating their own project. Nia said she felt like she worked harder on it because it was her own creation, and that she put in time and effort. She also says that she would like to do more projects where they can decide on their own what they want to do.

Another student, Kia, expressed a similar sentiment. She said it was fun, she was more comfortable designing her own project, and that because she wrote a play which is hard she felt like she worked harder. It was great to see them express enjoyment, but more so express ownership over an academic task. Through this reflection, they realized that I was asking them how it was to influence their academics, and in a way, I allowed them to take ownership over their learning. The fact that students said they enjoyed this was illuminating; I wish I had done more self-directed projects.

This final survey allowed me to analyze my students through yet another lens looking for ownership. I asked them to own up to their level of respect in the classroom, and had them evaluate what it was like to direct their final project. The only thing I did not do was to have

them grade their own projects or grade each others. Several theorists cited in the analysis section favor peer grading, but this is something I have been continually discouraged from doing at the high school. Unfortunately, teachers and administrators alike do not think our students are capable of such higher order thinking, but I wish I had tried it to prove them wrong. Alas, this can be added to the list of things I would do differently but that I will try to implement in my future practice.