A New Direction

Well it seems I finally got to talk to my new school principal.  It's been a real challenge to speak with her due to meetings and constant demands through out the school.

I will be doing a completely different research paper.  I am writing it up and thinking out the steps since I feel I am pretty behind in the process.  Wow!  Feels a bit overwhelming but at least I have a direction now. 

Challenges along the way

I was able to get all the documents on referrals and sort them to assess how many referrals of level 1 and 2 offenses happened last year and how many ended in suspensions.  Most of the offenses were level 1.  There were several level 1 offenses that escalated to level 2 offenses.  Level 1 offenses deal with classroom management.  The total of referrals were over 150. The school last year had lack of structure and all the administration was new that year..  The school has been in constant transition for the last 4 years.

This year our school had a new principal and a new school counselor, and about 10 bran new teachers most are still in the AC program.  The social behavior program our principal, Ms. King  wanted  by Sean Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effecitve Teens to implement has not materialized. But she has worked on establishing a positive school culture.

One of the items that she has implemented has been to give the students 4 positive interactions as they enter the school.  Teachers shake hands with students and welcome them to the school.  The school has a slogan and the focus is “college bound”.  I think the biggest challenge at this time is the fact that we have so many new teachers who lack experience.  First year of teaching is always a challenge with so many new things to learn.  Of course, the kids are always a challenge. 

I am going to schedule a meeting with Ms. King to see if we are going to focus on the social behavior program.  If not, I will need to review and possibly change my research project. That meeting will be the deciding factor.

1st week and start of research.

Wow!  This has been a busy and demanding 1st week of school.  But, I finally had an opportunity to meet with my site supervisor and get the material to begin my action research.  It will take a little time to sort it out since it is all paperwork but at least I feel I can make a start on it. 

Comments on Action Research

What can I say?  This has been a very enlightening course.  I also want to say I appreciate my fellow students in the course and their comments and ideas.  It has helped me grow and learn.  

Someone mentioned that it seemed they did not know how we would get through all we must accomplish in the next months.  I so agree with them. But somehow we know that we have set a goal for ourselves and we will do everything possible to see it to the finish.  I think none of us would be here if we were not determined to make it through.

I’ve learned a lot in action research and I can see its many uses in all kinds of areas.  My favorite parts are the collaboration and the reflective journal.  Those 2 parts seem to bring out so much rather than just reading data and knowing things are bad or need work and not knowing what can be done.  I think it is the creative part that makes it work as it really should to benefit everyone especially the students.

I wanted to thank everyone for the help you have given me and the ideas.  It is really helpful and really helps expand and evaluate my own thinking.  I guess I'm getting into this reflection.  We do it but often not in writing and it does help to see things more clearly.  I think the truth is I've enjoyed this class because of it.  But I also know that I have had time to think and that is the important thing after all to make time.  :) 

Revised Action Research

Learning Social Skills - Action Plan
Goal: What impact does having a good social skills program have on the reduction of suspensions and its effect academically?
Action Steps(s):		Person(s) Responsible:		Timeline: Start/End		Needed Resources	Evaluation
Identify: # of referrals for last year, repeat offenders, nature of offenses, suspensions		Noemi Rosier w assistance from Mr. Singleton, assistant principal for documentation		August 19 - 31, 2013		Referral documents	Create a spreadsheet with information attained: student names, number of offenses, number of suspensions, and type of offense.
Discuss training with principal on new Social Skills program.		Ms. King, principal		August 19 - 26, 2013		Interview questions about the new program and how it will be used.	Write a summary of findings.
Conduct survey of Teachers reference social skills training		Noemi Rosier		August 26 – 30, 2013		Email/Survey	Spreadsheet of methods used to help students learn social skills
Conduct Survey of Students		Collaborating teachers		Sept 1 - 6, 2013		Survey of 10 social skill questions	Evaluate answers to responses on spreadsheet.
Discuss ways to share our social skills program with parents: 7 Habits of Effective Teens by Sean Covey		Collaborating Teachers		Sept 1-6, 2013		Newsletter, Parent night	Parent agreement form
Read on successful school programs what made them successful?		Noemi Rosier		Aug 2013 – Jun 2014		Internet, articles, books	Compare to the program being implemented in our school.
Record notes on teachers Professional development for social skills	Noemi Rosier		Aug 2013 – Jun 2014		Calendar/pictures			Document trainings
Record 1st 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier w/Mr. Singleton		Aug 26 – Sept. 27, 2013		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders,
Conference with teachers ref student grades	Noemi Rosier and teachers		Sept 27 – Oct 15, 2013		Notes			Document student grades
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Oct 15 – 25, 2013		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Record 2nd 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier w/Mr. Singleton		Sept 30 - Nov 8, 2013		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders.
Conference with teachers ref student grades	Noemi Rosier and teachers		Nov 19 – Dec 6, 2013		Notes			Document student grades
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Dec 6 – 20,  2013		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Record 3rd 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier  w/Mr. Singleton		Nov 11 – Dec 20, 2013		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders.
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Dec 20, 2013 – Jan 15, 2014		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Record 4th 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier w/Mr. Singleton		Jan 7 – Feb 21, 2014		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders.
Conference with teachers ref student grades	Noemi Rosier and teachers		Mar 4-25, 2014		Notes			Document student grades
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Mar 25- Apr 5, 2014		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Record 5th 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier w/Mr. Singleton		Feb 24 – Apr 18, 2014		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders
Conduct Survey w/ teachers	Collaborating teachers		Apr 18 – Apr 30, 2014		Survey/Email			Review survey
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Apr 30 – May 15, 2014		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Record 6th 6 weeks offenders, record offenses, are they repeat offenders from last year?	Noemi Rosier  w/Mr. Singleton		April 21 – Jun 5, 2014		Referral forms			Document on spreadsheet findings by student, offense, repeat offenders.
Conference with teachers ref student grades	Noemi Rosier and teachers		Jun 5 – Jun 15, 2014		Notes			Document student grades
Reflective Journal	Noemi Rosier		Jun 5- Jun 15, 2014		Journal/blog			Observations to date.
Analyze and interpret data	Noemi Rosier		Jun 8 – Jun 21, 2014		Data, interviews, surveys, notes, pictures			Create graphs, display data, include. comments from interviews
Share results with administration and teachers	Noemi Rosier, Ms. King,(principal), Mr. Singleton (AP), teachers grades 3-5.		Jun 22 – July 30, 2014		Documents, computer, scheduled date for presentation.			PowerPoint presentation of findings