BLog 27

• I added more data/Analysis

What Could Go Wrong?

It’s funny how when you start doing something, you picture the way it will turn out. You don’t really think about the things that will go wrong, right? You usually see that thing ending in a certain way, for example, when you write a research paper. You usually get a topic, find all the research that is out there, make your  own observations by gathering data, compare the research you found with what is out there with what you have found, and then come to some sort of conclusion.  Well, when I tried this approach with my research project I never considered the things that could go wrong, and that’s exactly what happened to me; everything went wrong.  So instead of having a research project, what I have ended up with is a lesson in how to carefully plan out a research project. In this paper I will talk about the process I took in conducting my research and all the things that went wrong; in doing so I will attempt to help others prepare themselves in writing a research paper while being aware of the possible things that can go wrong.

Research Question/Why?       

What I did first was pick a topic. I tried to pick something that would be useful to me and relates to my career choice. Since I have been observing a kindergarten class for my junior field experience, I decided I would choose a topic about an English Language Learner (ELL) in my class. So my research question became, what kind of social interactions with native speaking students help ELL students fit-in in the classroom? This research question is one that educators, students, parents, basically everyone could benefit from. Many people from other countries who come to America are affected by this. I believe that finding out what influences ELL students socially and academically could determine how they learn. We have so many students who are ELL students and they have a difficult time adapting to the social and academic environment. They have a difficult time and transitioning into an academic environment because of their language barrier. It’s important to know the current methods we are using today, and to see if they are effective, helpful, and whether or not we need better methods? Eventually students will grow up and be effective citizens since they will be part of our community. Educators need to make sure that students will overcome those barriers. This is why this topic is important to writing research studies. What I didn’t consider is that instead of making it about just one student in the class, I could have focused on other ELL students in the classroom. In the class I was observing, there was one other ELL student. Expanding the research to more than one student would have given me more feedback and more less opportunities for things to go wrong.

The Research Out There

In looking for research to support what I was looking for, I found two articles that came close. The first article was An English-Speaking Pre-kindergarten Teacher for Young Latino Children: Implications of the Teacher-Child Relationship on Second Language Learning by Christina Gillanders. When I looked at this article I noticed that it was stressing the need for Bilingual teachers in teaching ELL students. When it came to the part of the article that would actually help me out, the findings of the data, I realized I had to purchase the article to look at it. The price was a bit much so I decided not to purchase it. It figures that the most important part of the paper that I needed was not free. So I looked at my second article, Contemporary Perspectives on Social Learning in Early Childhood Education by Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek. This article is focused on the need to develop a positive relationship with the students in order to allow access for opportunities for learning English. However like the first article, when it got to the par that I would really help me out, Of course I had to pay for it and it was not cheap. I tried looking on other websites, to see if I could find the article(s) for free somewhere else. It just wasn’t happening for me. By this time, I started to get worried about my paper because I didn’t even have the research to support why I was doing my own research project. But after speaking with my professor, I realized I could gather my own data first and then find the research to support it, so that is what I decided to do.

What I Did

For starters, I decided to conduct an interview with a kindergarten teacher whom I only meet with once a week. Mind you, I meet with her the day after I have the class that I am doing this project. I can tell you right now that this could have been a place where I put into consideration my timing since it is very limited. I also planned on observing a child from whose first language is Portuguese.  He transferred into the class at the beginning of the year and not at the beginning of the school year; when he transferred he didn’t speak any English. I asked his mother if it would be alright to observe him for this research and she kindly agreed. At the time I asked her permission I didn’t have the consent form to give her. I decided I would have the two consent forms ready, one for the teacher and one for the parent, the following week. When I had my interview with the teacher the following, I realized she didn’t open up as much; she didn’t give me enough feedback to complete my data. I also realized that it’s difficult to ask questions based off of the interviewee’s answers. Even with practice, I must admit it is a tough skill. The end result was that the interview didn’t give sufficient information to put my research paper together. I didn’t lose hope though; in fact, I was relying on the observation I would conduct on the ELL student. I made sure I had my extra consent form in hand at the end of the day. When the student’s parent came to pick him up, you can imagine my surprise when it was his aunt who picked him up and not his mother. I couldn’t obtain a consent form. My teacher suggested I give the paper to the boy’s aunt to have his mother sign in at home and bring it back the following day. The aunt agreed to do so and once again my hope was raised.

What Went Wrong

            What happened the following week is something I can only describe as a spiral downward hill. I had my second interview questions ready and I knew I would get the correct information I needed for my paper. But when I went to the school instead of seeing my teacher, there was a substitute in place. The teacher had gotten sick and didn’t make it to school that day. Disappointment filled my heart. I knew that time was running out for me to conduct my research and so I was worried. I still had a little bit of hope though because I could probably observe the ELL student. I asked the assistant teacher if the boy’s mother had returned my consent form the following day and she said no. I started to feel worse but not all hope was lost yet; I could still get the mother to sign the form if she picked up her son after school. So with my last glimmer of hope I waited with the students after school to get picked up. When it was the boy’s turn to get picked up his mother did not show. It was his aunt again.

Could it have been avoided?

With all hopes gone down the drain and feeling incredibly discouraged, I think back and wonder how can I have avoided this? Is there a way I could have known all these things would go wrong? Well of course not; but I could have taken proper precautions to assure it wouldn’t have gone that far. So how can my miserable experience help others avoid such a catastrophe? How does one take precaution and make sure they plan well in writing a research paper?

Time Management

First of all being aware of the time you have is of major importance. If I would have took into consideration the amount of time I had to implement the research I could have used my time better. Of Course I received the assignment at the beginning of the class; however I just knew I would have ample time to come up with a topic. After picking my topic I should have started using my time more wisely because I knew that I would only meet with the teacher/student once a week. Perhaps it might not be the same situation for others, but what students can do is use their time wisely. I have come to know that most college students procrastinate and end up doing their assignments close to the last minute. Since most students are taking more than one class, most of the time juggling multiple classes, I would say that students should try their very best to start gathering the data earlier on rather than later. Even if the writing part of the paper is left for a latter time, I definitely recommend starting the data collection earlier than later.

Planning before implementing

Another step that could have helped me get better results is to have made a strategic plan before I started collecting my data. I rarely plan out most of my assignments. I usually have an idea of how things are going to go, and then I go with the flow. I realize now that this research paper should not have taken this path. I needed a detailed outline or plan of how I was going to have everything done. Planning also goes hand-in-hand with time management. Had I made a plan of when I was going to have my topic ready, when I was going to have the consent forms signed, when I would conduct the interview and observation, and when I would write my paper, I would have known how much time I needed for each part. What I am trying to say is that students need a plan or outline of how they will implement the entire research. I suggest that students actually write down all the things they have to do for the paper so that they have an idea of what needs to get done, this way they will not be surprised when the due date is getting closer and there is still so much to do.

Rehearsing/ Practice

I also could have practiced my interview on how to give follow-up questions based on the answers I would receive. I did practice going over my questions but I didn’t anticipate all the possible answers my interviewee would give. I could have practiced a few times on other students, to get a feel of how to give come-back questions. This could have possibly given me better data and I might not have needed a second interview. With that said, if there is any part of a paper that requires interviewing, observing, or surveying, I suggest that you practice, practice, and practice! As the old going says, practice makes perfect. I might not have been able to avoid all the downfalls, but practicing my interview a few more times with a few more people could have saved me the hassle of trying to develop a secondary interview

Have a plan B and C... maybe even D

Finally, I suggest having a plan B and plan C, maybe even a plan D. If I have learned anything at all from conducting this research is that I have to always prepare for the worse. It’s actually a good thing that this happened to me because as an education major, I should know that I have to always have a back-up plan because things don’t usually go as planned. It’s great that I had a topic that I fell in love with and was so excited to research because I felt that it was such an important topic for research studies. However my enthusiasm for the topic shouldn’t have stopped me from having a back-up plan or two. Students need to always be prepared for the worst. Having a printer/ink malfunction, having people who you plan on having an impact in your paper disappoint you, and other things can possibly go wrong. So, students should plan to have a back-up plan.

What I learned and would have liked to publish