What My Research Suggests

From looking at my data and reflecting on the overall process, I have learned that providing specific feedback to students on their behavior increases to positive classroom culture of a classroom.  Some changes were greater than others but in all areas of the survey given to my students, there was an increase in a positive direction in relation to how they felt about classroom expectations, bullying, and how they were treated by their peers.  There was obviously a few bumps in the road.  I have a very large class and it made collecting data a little more challenging.  I think that if I had a smaller class I may have made my data collection even more specific. At this point it was broad classroom data collection (number of students that clipped up or down, overall survey responses).  I also think that it would have been interesting to collect data from specific students.  At this point I gave an anonymous survey.  I do think it would have been interesting to see which students had what perceptions and if their behavior truly reflected the answers they provided about their perception of their own behavior.  Overall this was a great learning experiences and I know I have information that will help me as I plan for next year.  Hopefully it will help others as well!

Looking ahead...

As the school year begins to wrap up, everyone is thinking about and planning for next year.  Our principal has announced which teachers are switching grade level and classrooms (thank goodness my grade level gets to stick together!) and now it seems most of us are looking to next year.  My assistant and I were discussing some of things about PBIS that we thought had worked this year (including parts of my action research) as well as things that we felt may need to be different for next year.  A huge part of my project was providing students with positive feedback to help guide their behavior choices.  One point my assistant made that stuck out to me was that students only get an incentive at the end of every nine weeks.  She mentioned thinking that this was a long time to wait to receive the ultimate feedback on your behavior.  This got me thinking about next year! I wonder if combined with what I am learning about the effects of positive feedback, plus this great observation from the assistant, should we increase the number of incentives?  I like that at the end of every nine weeks we have a large celebration, but what about every couple weeks having something small, like extra recess or a homework pass for the students that have earned it?  I wonder if this would have a similar effect to the feedback I have been providing.  Obliviously it would not be as immediate but it would a short term goal for the students to work towards.  Just something to think about!

The Future of My Research

I chose the focus on my project because PBIS was something new to my school this year.  At the beginning of the school year our meetings and discussions related to this topic were filled with tension.  As the school year continued, many teachers mentioned that they felt this was just "one more thing," no difference was noticed in their classroom or their students, etc.  After becoming interested in this program through my readings and feeling that it could be a great way to improve our school culture if we just figured out a way to implement it more consistently and with a more positive outlook, I thought it would an appropriate topic for my action research.

As I am finishing my project and looking over the data, one thing I am looking towards is next year.  We have already begun discussion at leadership meeting and staff meetings related to next school year.  Who will be in what grade level?  Who is moving where? etc.  Next year is now in our sights.  So now that we are talking about and thinking about next year, I am thinking about what is next?  As I am looking through my data and my conclusions from my project, as well as the readings that I did related to this topic, I am thinking about, how can this be helpful next year?  What have I learned that could possibly be helpful to the school as a whole?  I am hoping that my data, notes, observations, and readings will provide me with valuable information that I can bring to my leadership team as we begin to plan and figure out how PBIS will look next year.  The great thing is, everyone at the school has been in some way implementing this program.  Although it may not have been formal, there was a lot of action research occurring informally around the school.  While it was new, many of the teachers were trying to follow the school's plan and also make it work in their own classroom.  I am looking forward to seeing what others have been trying and seeing how my data and research can help with planning for next year.  It is exciting to feel like my project was helpful to me but also could be in some way helpful to my school community as well.

Challenges of Data Collection

One thing has been a challenge in my class of 33 is making sure that I am collecting data and providing feedback as often as possible and providing consistency for all of my students.  I feel overall that in the classroom I have been most successful during whole group and while monitoring students.  I created coupons to help giving specific feedback and I have a checklist for when students "clip up" that I keep on a clipboard.  The times when it has been most difficult (and where I have seen the least amount of change in student behavior) is during small group and recess.  There are two times where it is difficult stop and provide feedback to students.  I found an article awhile back that I recently was reading over again, that gave me a few ideas on ways to improve this process.  The article is called Effects of Classwide Positive Peer ‘‘Tootling’’ to Reduce the Disruptive Classroom Behaviors of Elementary Students with and without Disabilities by D. Cihak, E. Kirk, and R. Boon.  The article refers to something they call "tootling."  Tootling is similar to tattling, however, rather than students bringing negative behaviors to light, they are focusing on and sharing positive behaviors.  What this article helped me to see is that in the future, if I find positive feedback to be helpful, it may be possible to help teach the students to help give the positive feedback.  The purpose of PBIS is to help improve the school climate and students "tootling" or complementing each other, I would imagine would help to increase this positive culture.  I also think that students looking for and commenting on others' positive behaviors may help them to reflect on their own behavior.  This article just provided me with a little food for thought as I look forward to next year and how to use my data.  This may also be another possible future action research project!

Cihak, D., Kirk, E., & Boon, R. (2009). Effects of classwide positive peer “tootling” to reduce the disruptive classroom behaviors of elementary students with and without disabilities. Journal of Behavioral Education, 18, 267-278.

Questioning my questions

As I am working through my action research, making observations, collecting data, I have been asking myself a lot of questions.  One of my main methods of data collection related to changing the culture of my classroom was through a survey I gave the students at the beginning and the end of the research period.  Although I know that the survey collected very important information for me and has been valuable to my research question, I am wondering if my questions were specific enough to help my students express how they felt about the classroom culture.  I tried to focus my questions on overall feelings in the classroom but also focus on the three main rules that our school uses for PBIS.  The questions focused on being respectful, responsible, and safe.   I know that we have had mini lessons on these concepts but I wonder if my survey questions should have been more specific to gather even more accurate information for the various aspects of the classroom culture related to PBIS.  It is definitely something to think about in further projects and surveys.

In Action: Journaling

Getting ready for my action research project I collected quite of bit of observational data up front.  I began keeping a very basic journal where I could record different behavioral observations in my classroom.  My project focus is improving the culture of my classroom through focusing on a variety of ways to improve upon our the PBIS system that we already have in place.  As I am working through my project right now, collecting data, and making observations, I am so glad that I wrote in my journal up front.  Looking back through my journal has really helped me to notice changes in classroom behaviors and cultures that I may not have noticed otherwise.  I think that when completing action research, a journal to capture both formal and informal observations is important.  There are many things that we see day to day but may forget over time when completing research.  For my baseline data, my students took a survey answering questions about our classroom culture.  This data is helpful, however, I think that my journal entries have helped me track other data related to students' positive and negative consequences as well as various interactions between the students. 

In Context

It is time to begin my action research!

My research is going to focus on my classroom culture.  We have a school-wide behavior plan in place.  Many teachers at our school have stated few observations that this plan has helped with student behavior and classroom management.  I can say I have noticed a few changes but they are few and far between.  I wondered if there could be a possible link to giving students specific feedback on their target/goal behaviors and improving our overall school culture.  Improving our school culture after all is part of the intention related to our positive behavior supports.  I am starting my researching on a small scale.  I am going to be looking at how feedback can effect the culture of my classroom. Students will take a survey to begin and give me a baseline for their current perceptions.  The questions are related to specific behaviors as well as overall feelings about our classroom environment.  Through out the research I will look at target behaviors and provide students will specific feedback.  I am hoping this feedback will increase these positive behaviors and therefore improve our overall classroom culture.

I am excited to get started and see what I can learn about behaviors in my own classroom.  We are looking at ways to improve the school-wide program for the upcoming school year.  I hope that this data may provide us with help in this area as well.

Beginning the Process

After completing the Action Research Proposal assignment, giving more serious reflection to my project and my plan, I am looking forward to trying action research in my classroom.  I think that as an educator I have always taken time to reflect on my practice but I know this will be intentional and provide me with with information that can be utilized in my classroom.  I have chosen to focus on providing feedback to my students on specific classroom behaviors and looking to see if this will help to improve the culture and community of my classroom.  I am looking forward to seeing what information I can gather from my students and the observations that I make. I know that another great aspect of completing this project will be that as my school further implements PBIS, I will possibly have valuable information from my classroom that may help us grow as a school community as well.

Literature

There have been various pieces of literature that I have found related to my topics of interest for my project.  I found that the questions provided by Hendricks (2013) for reflection were helpful while choosing the articles that I thought would be most helpful in my research.  I have really appreciated the chance to read research articles related to topics that interest me.  As mentioned in my previous post, my school has started to implement the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support program this year.  This has given me the chance to gather more information about this program.  I have not only gathered information for my project, but have gained valuable insights into this program and how it has been implemented in various places.  I have enjoyed reading about this process from other perspectives.  I would like to think that I would take the time to read this information regardless, but the reality, working towards this project has provided me with a chance to read and review literature that I would normally not have the time to seek out and read.  I have really appreciated the ability to choose something that I feel in relevant to my classroom and school and have the opportunity to really dive in and learn more about it.

Hendricks, C. (2013). Improving schools through action research: A reflective practice approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.

The Value of Action Research

Action research is a term I have often heard around school.  Colleagues may have mentioned it in passing or various reading materials may have used the phrase.  I will admit, however, that in the past I did not have a clear concept of what action research meant.  I was able to use context clues, as I have taught my students, and draw conclusions about its definition or purpose.  So far, this course has given me a much clearer picture of what action research is, the value that is has, and the purpose that can be found in using it.  

I have always felt that teaching was a profession where it's necessary to reflect on our practices and evolve throughout our careers.  What I am seeing now is that there is a process to guide teachers in this reflection and evolving process, especially when they are targeting a specific question or area of interest.  Hendricks stated that when collecting data through action research it is important to know that this information is continuous, flexible, and constantly evolving.  As I read, I compared this to how I feel about my job.  It is continuous, flexibility is necessary, and everything is constantly evolving.  From this I can see how action research naturally fits into education.  

As far as my own project, I want to make sure it something that is both meaningful to myself but also my students and possible colleagues.  Reflection is something that I naturally do in my process of trying to improve each lesson and plan for the next step in the classroom.  I am looking forward to improving this reflection process by making it more meaningful through action research.  I am still in the process of trying to narrow down an appropriate topic.  My school has faced many changes and challenges this year and I feel that one of these areas would be meaningful for an action research project.  I did my article review was related to the topic of Positive Behavior Interventions and Support.  This area interests me because it is new to my school and many of my colleagues are unsure of the process and how it can be helpful within their classroom.  I have many questions that could possibly get insight through an action research project.  Another area I am interested in is the process of providing feedback to students, whether that be through just a number or letter, a rubric, written feedback, etc.  I am curious which of these approaches would offer my students with the information necessary to be more successful.  I will continue to read about these areas to narrow my focus.

Hendricks, C. (2013). Improving schools through action research: A reflective practice approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.