6th+Grade+Focus+Groups

=Focus Area One: Respect=

Statements from the My Voice Survey:

 * 1) 43% of students feel bullying is a problem
 * 2) 39% of students say they respect each other
 * 3) 52% of students respect teachers
 * 4) 50% of students feel that they are supportive of each other
 * 5) 21% have difficulty fitting in

Central Question

 * 1) What does the word respect mean to you?
 * 2) Where does respect begin in a relationship?
 * 3) What do you do to show respect to other students and your teachers?
 * 4) Describe what it looks like when students don't respect each other.
 * 5) Students have said that bullying is a problem. Tell me what you think.
 * 6) How could students and teachers address bullying?
 * 7) Do you have any ideas about what action we could take to improve respect between students?

Understanding the Issue:

 * 1) What does the word respect mean to you? //Don't make fun of others, be nice, don't take things from them, think highly of the person, that the person is important, care about them, honesty// When someone asks you to do something you do it without back talking, don't be rude, don't bully, don't be smart alike to others and be polite
 * 2) Where does respect begin in a relationship? //at the beginning of a relationship, show respect to get respect, respect begins when you care about the person// Show respect at the beginning of a relationship because if you don't then others won't want to be friends with you, treat others the way you want to be treated
 * 3) What do you do to show respect to other students and your teachers? //be nice, don't call out, pick things up for those who drop them, sit with someone without a friend, help teachers out, offering to to help, treat them the way you want to be treated, stand up to bullies with them, tell a teacher if friends are being bullied// Follow directions, take them seriously, don't make fun of them, if they tell you something important take it seriously and help them out
 * 4) Describe what it looks like when students don't respect each other. //fights, don't get along, causes problems, sometimes disrespect interferes with learning, distracting and then we talk about the fight, fighting gets you no where in life and causes emotional problems, depression,// Pushing, calling each other names, fighting, shoving them, mean words, left out, like you aren't good enough, looking somewhere else when others are talking to you, looking at a book, etc...
 * 5) Students have said that bullying is a problem. Tell me what you think. //bullying is a problem,// Bullying is a problem, mostly in hallways and unsupervised areas, art, music--where teachers don't know your classes as well as with core teachers
 * 6) How could students and teachers address bullying? //teachers could get kids to talk about it, teachers can address the situation and try to fix it, teachers have to know to help with the problem--tell someone that you trust in the school so they can help, don't feel like they can trust adults sometimes to handle the situation// Every teacher needs to be in the hallway and pay attention when students are at their lockers, students have to tell an adult, stand up for each other, be a true friend
 * 7) Do you have any ideas about what action we could take to improve respect between students? //posters about anti bullying, adults paying attention in the hallways, lunch, etc, (unsupervised areas), talk to the student who is bullying(students can talk to them), most kids who bully don't respect others, so help them have self respect;// Make harsher punishment for students who bully and disrupt class, students HAVE to tell, talk to students who are being disrespectful and find out WHY, find the root of the problem--could be an outside of school problem, try to make up for the problem, try to make it better, try to talk to the disrespectful student and ask WHY, remove the continual bully and disrespectful person from the room when it is constant

Ideas for improvement:
//Do you blurt out if the teacher is talking or asks you to raise your hand? No, you should listen so everyone can say what they need to say.//

Differences between boys and girls:
=Focus Area Two: Fun and Excitement/Risk Taking=

Statements from the My Voice Survey:

 * 1) 54% of students enjoy being at school
 * 2) 48% of students feel that teachers make school an exciting place to learn
 * 3) 31% of students are afraid to try something if "I think I might fail"
 * 4) 72% enjoy participating in class, 77% enjoy working on projects with other students, 42% of students say school is boring
 * 5) 59% of students feel teachers have fun at school

Central Question:

 * 1) How do you know teachers are having fun at school?
 * 2) What does it look like when a teacher is having fun?
 * 3) High % of students enjoy participating in class, high % enjoy working on projects, but high % say school is boring. What do you think about this?
 * 4) What makes you want to take risks in class?
 * 5) What makes you not want to take risks in class?
 * 6) Describe a challenging assignment that you've enjoyed.
 * 7) Describe a challenging assignment that you did not enjoy.
 * 8) What does fun learning look like?
 * 9) What ideas do you have for students and teachers to make learning more fun?

Understanding the issue:

 * 1) How do you know teachers are having fun at school? //joyful, happy, smiley and creative, pep talks, excited, sometimes they get happy about field trips and they can just relax and have fun, teachers seem less stressed when they are away from school// Smile and don't yell, when they joke around, excited to be here, less work or fun activities, fun and creative
 * 2) What does it look like when a teacher is having fun? //join in with teachers when they are having fun, sometimes it can turn into chaos, but usually we are having fun too.// everyone is happy, smiling, no one is in trouble, less stress, more fun hands-on projects, technology, up moving, experiencing learning instead of it being thrown at you
 * 3) High % of students enjoy participating in class, high % enjoy working on projects, but high % say school is boring. What do you think about this? //projects are fun, participating in class is fun, working together can be fun, work can be fun because of projects, hands on stuff is fun, school CAN be boring, teachers CAN make school fun with more projects and hands on work and groups, silent work isn't that fun, groups projects CAN be aggravating too.// Hands-on, technology is fun, but 8 page tests are boring, silent work or listening is boring. Active involvement is more fun, it's boring when you sit and listen or just go over work. More projects would be fun...and you are still learning.
 * 4) What makes you want to take risks in class? //paying attention so you know the answer, when other people are not answering, standing up to a bully is a risk and if I knew what was happening I would stand up to them// Need help, learn from it, think you know the answer, share your opinion
 * 5) What makes you not want to take risks in class? //getting embarrassed if you get it wrong, people may make fun of you// Shyness, it's bad to get the answer wrong--makes you feel embarrassed or like you are dumb, even sometimes when you know the answer someone makes fun of you
 * 6) Describe a challenging assignment that you've enjoyed. //spelling bee, last year when we made masks in art class, Odyssey, enjoy hands on, PowerPoints, etc..., technology, a Keynote would be fun and a PowerPoint is dull// Christmas Around the World, making the food was fun and challenging; PowerPoints--we had to research the information and put it in our own words--lots of time to work on it, personalize it
 * 7) Describe a challenging assignment that you did not enjoy. //Notebook projects, literature circles, too many details, writing, On-Demand// The Holocaust--lots of work, drawing, script, record voice, information, the subject matter, working together would have made it easier(it would be nice to discuss the topic with our group), people not doing their job each week made it difficult, grades reflect on each member in the group, CHOICE, don't pair us with someone who doesn't work--let us choose, pair me with someone who has my work ethic--put slackers together--CHOICE with teacher monitoring
 * 8) What does fun learning look like? //drawing pictures and graphs, physically moving around, projects, plays, feelings, experience the work instead of just hearing it or writing all day// Unusual experiments, active, hands-on, communicating, field trips, different--not the same thing every day, experience learning instead of being passive
 * 9) What ideas do you have for students and teachers to make learning more fun? //more group projects, not just one partner but larger groups, drawings, choosing books, or groups, CHOICE is important, "What if you don't make the right choice?"--teacher can break up a group if they are acting silly--show teachers that you CAN be trusted, show integrity, pass the tests, work harder, show you deserve to be able to do these types of projects.// KeyNote--MORE TECHNOLOGY(get the technology in our hands), MORE STUDENT CHOICE, MORE HANDS ON

Ideas for improvement:
//Show us what we need to work harder on, trust us to decide some things// //Actions for when you fail--remediation and take it seriously, work harder// //Don't be scared to ask questions// //Do you think it's ok to fail? NO--it's ok to fail if you learn a lesson from it--it's a life lesson--don't repeat the cycle, it shows you don't care if you continue to fail// //Should we have to retake the entire test or just the ones you failed? Just the ones we failed. Know the target and get right!//

//Everyone should be flexible...even when groups are established; teachers and students.//