Information Behavior Observations

Madalyn Bradburn
ETEC 523
Summer 2016

Population: Incoming third graders attending summer school

Place: Lincoln Elementary School (Paramount, CA)
Time Frame: June 13-June 16th, 2016
Observation Day One: June 13th (8:00-8:30) 8 total students
With today being the first day of the next five weeks of summer school, students took a
few moments to get adjusted. We have computer lab at the very start of our day, so we
walked from our line to the lab. It was a little chaotic because I did not get a real
opportunity to meet the students and introduce myself to them. I did not get a chance to
go over standard classroom and computer lab rules. Some students automatically
understood common behaviors, while others needed multiple reminders. Luckily, students
are familiar with ST Math and know how to login. Students are familiar with some of the
math games, but occasionally they will need assistance from the computer lab aide or
myself.
Observation Day Two: June 14th (8:00-8:30) 9 total students
I am learning that summer school is a swinging door of students. I have one girl from
yesterday who is absent and today I have two new students. Students from yesterday
knew the routine of sitting down and logging into ST Math. For the two new students, I
went over this with them separately. I monitored student progress as I walked around the
computer lab. During the normal school year, teachers are able to log into their own
account and keep track of student ST Math progress. Summer school does not have this
feature, so I need to make observation annotation for progress reports. All students were
well behaved in the lab today, but some needed some motivation to complete their games.
Observation Day Three: June 15th (8:00-8:30) 12 total students
Again, today was a swinging door of students. I had my Monday student come back
today, one of my Tuesday students is absent, and I got three new students today!
Thankfully, my students who have coming can automatically come in and know what is
expected of them. My three new students are very well behaved and follow direction
well.
Observation Day Four: June 13th (8:00-8:30) 11 total students
Today, all of my Monday students, one Tuesday student, and two Wednesday students
came to class today. One of my students who has been causing disruptions in the
classroom every single day has progressed to misbehaving in the computer lab. Luckily,
there werent any new students today so my class knew what their expectations were as I
handled the misbehaving student. This took up majority of my time, so the computer lab
aide was able to help my struggling students on the computer and inform me what he
assisted them with.
Total Observed: 2 hours

Information Cycle Outline

The information cycle flows between: authors/creators, products, distributors,
disseminators, and users. The technology app that I focused on is ST Math. This source is
both a website as well as an application that many elementary schools utilize. Dr.
Matthew Peterson created ST Math and has paved the way for improved math
proficiency. The ST Math products are web pages and applications for tablets/phones.
The distributors are Internet providers and software providers (iOS, Android). The
disseminators for ST Math would be schools, mostly elementary grade levels. Finally,
the ST Math users are students, teachers, and administrators.
Who Uses/Doesnt Use Information?
These students are below grade level and are struggling to understand basic concepts.
These students are incoming third graders, but are being asked to work at third grade
level. We started summer school the Monday after the regular school tear ended. The
students as well as the teachers are burnt out and did not get any time off in between. Due
to this student mindset, students do not want to learn any new information. I am
struggling everyday just to keep students heads off their desks. If they are going to be
successful during summer school, they need to be open to this information. They are not
using any of the new information that I am teaching to them.
Physically/Intellectually Access Information?
Students have physical access to the computers and ST Math program every morning
from 8:00-8:30. Intellectually, the students struggle with information access. Majority of
students wait for me to come by and assist them. The computer lab aide and I try to
encourage students to try on their own first. By trying without help, students would be
experiencing trial-and-error, which would later help them access the information.
Unfortunately, many students will just sit and stare at the computer until I come along.
When I assist students, I try to clear a path for them to still access the information
independently.
Intervention Recommendations
ST Math is a valuable resource to encourage students to practice and master math
concepts through a game. I understand summer school is meant to focus on language
arts because that is where the students struggle the most. I feel that this web resource
would be better utilized if we were allowed to include encouraging lessons. During the
school year, I am able to login to my teacher account and login to a specific game that
would relate to a lesson that Im teaching. Since summer school is so short, there was not
enough time to create a class account with these students. It would be nice for future
summer schools that there is more focus on math as well.

App Selection Process/Experience

Due to lack of resources during summer school, the only available technology is during
computer lab. Also, summer school is half day and strictly focuses on Language Arts. ST
Math during computer lab time is non-negotiable. Since my students are exposed to this
application everyday for thirty minutes, it seemed like the perfect resource to observe.
I have a lot of experience using ST Math. I was first exposed to this application while I
was student teaching in kindergarten and third grade. Then, again over my last two years
of teaching. Students from K-5 in my school district are exposed to JiJi in ST Math.