Monday, May 18, 2015

Data Collection - Thick Description of Qualitative Data

I am still going through the two videos of my mini-lessons and using constant comparative coding. The first part of that means watching the videos and writing notes on what I observe. Below are two "thick" descriptions of my observations from the mini-lesson where I told the students the story of Caperucita Roja or Little Red Riding Hood.


Raw data:

Student 10 - repeats after me without being asked "Sr. Lobo!" Says "Yes!" when hunter is introduced. Raises hand and answer question ¿Cómo está el lobo? with "Tengo MUCHA hambre." Having fun.

Student 6 - does not maintain eye contact, instead picks and chews on nails. Shy ELL student. Looks bored.

Student 1 - acts out parts of the story - when Sr. Lobo gets an idea he pops up 2 fingers by face and opens mouth and eyes wide. Mimes large teeth and growls during discussion about how CP knows the Sr. Lobo is not her abuela. Doesn't smile much but still appears to be enjoying the story.

Thick description:

At almost 4 minutes into the lesson, I introduce Señor Lobo. Student 10, an African-American female who is a high performer in Spanish class as well as in other classes , repeats after me without being asked. Several students turn around and look at her. She smiles and does not seem embarrassed. Later, she exclaims, "Yes!" when I introduce the hunter to the story. She is quick to raise her hand and answer questions. She answers the question ¿Cómo está el lobo? with "Tengo MUCHA hambre." She is very engaged throughout the story and appears to be enjoying herself.
  
Student 6, an Asian student whose first language is Chinese, sits quietly throughout the lesson. he does not appear to be very engaged with the story. She does not raise her hand to answer questions. She is shy and speaks softly when she does speak. She does not maintain eye contact throughout the story, instead chewing on her nails. She looks up during the more exciting parts of the story and smiles but it's possible as an ELL student that she is accustomed to tuning out longer stretches where she has to listen for meaning. It's also possible she is not as familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood as her classmates. 

Student 1, a white male does not smile much but he sits up and looks at the teacher throughout the mini-lesson. At certain points he acts out parts of the story silently to himself. When Sr. Lobo says, "Tengo un idea!" he pops up his two index fingers on either side of his face and opens his mouth and eyes wide as though he has had an epiphany similar to the wolf in the story. Later when another student answers that Caperucita Roja knows the wolf is not her grandmother because of its big teeth he mimes having big and sharp teeth and growls quietly.

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