Action Research

Goal/Objective:  to research and find a motivator (incentive) or strategy that rewards a student for positive behavior and changing a negative behavior to positive. 

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Examining the work: Determine the topic of my action research plan.  Meet with my site supervisor and discuss what strategies would work best to incentives, rewards or solutions to behavior problems in the classroom.	Lisa Grote Dr. Arnoldo Barrera Anna Guizar	March	Internet searches School data	Data collected Interview with site supervisor
Analyzing Data: Create survey for teachers and students to determine incentives, rewards and strategies.  Collect the data from the surveys and decide on strategies.	Lisa Grote Dr. Arnoldo Barrera	March/May	Behavior incident reports information Teacher and student surveys	Data from incident reports Data and strategies collected from surveys
Developing a Deeper Understanding: Research internet for information on incentives and rewards for good behavior and how to improve negative behavior.	Lisa Grote	March/May	Internet	Personal Notes Strategies and incentives from internet
Engaging in Self-Reflection: Post information on my blog.  Meet with site supervisor for any issues or problems.	Lisa Grote	March/May	Internet Site Supervisor	Feedback from site supervisor, blog comments, and peer review of data
Exploring Programmatic Patterns:  Survey teachers to find what strategies or incentives, if successful or not, they used in their classroom.   Survey the students to see what things would motivate them toward good behavior in the classroom.  Identify the students with the most student behavior incidents from the office.	Lisa Grote	March/May	Teachers Students Office clerk	Personal Notes Survey data collected
Determining Direction: Work Collaboratively with site supervisor.  Survey teachers and students to determine their input on direction.  Research the internet for more ideas and strategies.  Create a realistic timeline to collect quality data.	Lisa Grote Dr. Arnoldo Barrera	March/May	Office Clerk	Percentage of students sent to office for behavior
Taking Action for School Improvement: Work collaboratively with teachers to help them use the information from my research to improve behavior in their classrooms and help cut down on the number of students sent to the office for disruptions.	Lisa Grote Anna Guizar	March/May	Behavior Data Action Plan	Personal Notes Data Collected
Sustaining Improvement: Share the results of my action research with my colleagues and the principal.  If it is very successful possibly other schools could benefit from this research.	Dr. Arnoldo Barrera or principal for 2012-2013 school year	2012-2013 School Year	Teachers Principal Asst. Principal	Share results Continue to monitor successful results

Week Two Reflection

I have learned a great deal about action research.  My current campus has always been very data driven.  So I guess I have been doing action research to a small degree and never really knew it. I thought I had my idea set for my action research and then reading Chapter 2:  The Passions That Drive Your Journey, from Nancy Fichtman Dana, Leading with Passion and Knowledge (2009) has opened my eyes to even more great ideas that would be practical applications for action research at my school.

Blog uses

Educators’ keeping up with a blog is a great idea.  I always believe that having input from others helps you come up with ideas that you would not normally think of yourself.  This is not unlike Facebook.  If anyone has a problem or they are looking for insight into a problem or situation they call on their friends for help or advice.  It is also great to keep daily comments about the research you are doing.  A blog can be a great learning and growing experience for any educator personally.  It is like principal blogger Glenn Moses said a blog can become a personal learning community.

Action Research

I have learned a great deal about action research.  I am first and foremost a science teacher so I know a lot about the scientific process.  Conducting action research is very similar.  To begin your research you must first come up with a topic or issue that needs improvement.  When you decide on the topic then you research other literature to gain more information about it.  Then you formulate strategies or plans of action that you can take to help resolve or improve the issue.  You then need to implement your strategies or plans.  As you implement the strategies you collect data that is then analyzed for further review.  If the strategies or plan did not receive the results you wanted then the strategies or plan will need to change for further study.

My topic is on behavior.  We have a great deal of negative behavior that we deal with on a regular basis.  This negative behavior is a distraction in the classroom and takes away from instruction.  I am hoping that I can come up with a plan to reward the good behavior so this might have an effect on the negative behavior.  If this does not work during the action research then I will change my plan and try something else.