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Reflection on Research
Reading is one of the most important components to a childs education. In my
classroom, I wanted to show my students that reading is the key to knowledge and
understanding. However, I realized very early on that my students reading abilities and interests
varied widely. The majority expressed enthusiasm with reading, yet many students struggled to
fully understand the information being read. However, as a first time teacher, I was uncertain
about how to properly instruct my students in this area. With little background in vocabulary
instructional strategies, I felt that my approach to reading workshop could use improvement.
The overall goal I set out to achieve with my research was for students to demonstrate
self-awareness while reading as a way to increase overall textual comprehension. Meanwhile, I
hoped to encourage students to develop a genuine love for reading as they were better able to
understand different storylines. By doing this, I was hopeful that students would be better suited
to dive deeper into books as they analyzed the authors purpose. Consequently, I reflected and
began implementing vocabulary strategies into my daily guided reading lessons.
With this new teaching approach in mind, I implemented unique strategies suggested by
my schools ELL teacher and countless researchers. During the second semester of this school
year, I recall one lesson in particular that was eye-opening for me as an educator. In this activity,
students were asked to pair up with another student and share strategies readers can use when
they are stuck on a tricky word. While not every student was able to contribute ideas, this lesson
was successful because it allowed me to realize that many of my low students benefited from
small group work. Upon reflection, I also began to understand that my higher-leveled students
could be used as a resource for supporting their peers thinking. Based on this observation, I was

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able to incorporate partner and small group work into reading workshop throughout the
remainder of the school year. This allowed students to work together to form more thoughtful,
deeper-leveled thinking and helped me realized that students respond better when they have
opportunities to collaborate with others.
Even though I witnessed bright moments of progress like the one above, I encountered
many setbacks as well. As I reflected upon my research, I recalled that there were periods of
time in which my lower focus students were not progressing with their reading. Looking to
support student learning, I implemented a strategy in which students recorded any challenging
words found while reading on a blank strip of paper. However, I noticed very little success rate
with this approach as very few students recorded any words, yet I continued to promote this
strategy. Reflecting on this teaching method, I noticed the fault: it seemed tedious and not
authentic. This led me to my ideas of providing students with opportunities to relate their
learning to the real-world as a way to make it more engaging. From this research challenge and
reflection, I came to realize that as a teacher, there is a point where you have to shift gears, be
flexible, and admit that a different teaching approach may be more effective.
From my research experiences as a whole, I learned a great deal. For example, I learned
that comprehension is a crucial component to reading a text. In addition, as a teacher, I learned
that my students benefited from learning experiences that incorporated authenticity and high
levels of engagement. When these components were missing from my instruction, student
growth remained at a standstill. On the other hand, as I related my teaching to the real-world
and made it more engaging, I noticed student success rate increase. As student engagement
increased, I was noticed confidence increase in some of my most reserved readers. More

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importantly, my reflecting on my research gave me the opportunity to understand that every
student in my classroom is different and demonstrates unique learning needs. With the support
of differentiation, I was able to find different approaches to guide vocabulary knowledge. While
it was challenging and frustrating at times, I learned the importance of continuing to provide
each student the support they need to be successful.
As a researcher, I began to understand the importance of collecting student data in
multiple forms. By collecting and analyzing data, I was able to better analyze student progress
and intervene when necessary. In addition, reflecting on my data allowed me to guide my future
instruction and make educated decisions. My data showed the power of partner work, hands-on
activities, and technology usage. This, combined with real-world examples, will serve as a basis
for my future reading instruction.
Going forward with my teaching career, I know I will continue using vocabulary
instruction in my reading workshop. However, it is my goal to add this component to guided
reading groups in first semester as I believe that it will increase effectiveness and allow for even
more growth. Next year, I also plan to implement vocabulary instruction into different subjects. I
believe that vocabulary awareness will help my students become deeper thinkers in all subject
areas as they begin to gain knowledge about various concepts.
Overall, I feel that performing this research enhanced my education. I was required to
thoughtfully analyze the data collected using research-based methods. Using this process, I
experienced many successes and some challenges. With the help of my mentor, I realized that all
researchers face challenges at some point throughout the process, but it is how educators
reflect and respond that makes the difference. While some things were out of my control, I

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realized that it is my job to use available resources to make data-driven decisions and implement
strategies that address the needs of each student. As I continue my teaching in the future, I am
eager to see how my new students will respond to vocabulary instruction in reading workshop. It
will be important for me to continue implementing reflective thinking into my daily teaching as it
promotes student growth: my number one goal as a teacher.