As I work through my online master’s program, I’ll be posting my assignments here. Seems wrong to leave them locked in a walled garden.
The first official assignment outside of the make-up of the missed chat was to submit my proposed problem statement for the project I’ll be working on for the duration of the class. The assignment was described as such:
This week you will need to create a 1 sentence problem statement. Keep it simple. Something you can complete within the 4 weeks of implementation. The sentence must be in this format. My Problem is that __% of my ____grade students _________________. You will be working on this particular problem for this entire course. Please submit the problem statement to the Assignment Drop Box for approval.
AND…
PLANNING THE INQUIRY ASSIGNMENT ONE Notes: -Your One Sentence Problem Statement must be approved by the AS. This is a crucial step to ensure that the rest of your assignment is on track. You cannot proceed until this statement has been approved. Examples of One Sentence Problem Statements: -My problem is that 25% of my 8th grade students score below 75% on weekly math tests. -My problem is that 35% of my 9th grade students are not comprehending my science lectures. -My problem is that 40% of my 3rd grade inclusion class students cannot maintain focus for 15 minutes to complete independent written work. -My problem is that 55% of the elementary special education students on my caseload are not socially or academically successful in their regular education setting
I went back and forth over whether or not I’d write a problem statement that applies to the work I’m doing here in South Africa. Because we’re completing the course during the summer, we’re to design lesson plans as if we were really trying to change the problem rather than actually attempting to change a real problem.
In the end, I went with a problem that exists within our workshops here, but framed it within the context of a G11 classroom to avoid any confusion with my instructor.
The problem statement turned out as such:
My problem is that 40% of my eleventh grade students do not participate in whole-class discussion.
Thoughts?