Action Plan
Figure 6 - Flow chart of Actions
The action plan will occur as a cycle with 3 actions that will be used to encourage community building and collaboration. Figure 6 shows how each part of the cycle will lead into the others actions.
Action 1- is necessary to set the foundation for cycle 2 and 3.
The ultimate goal is to create a learning environment that is community-oriented and supports learning. The moment I stepped into the classroom I knew I was stepping into very diverse classroom. The student population includes students from military families, local students, and many from all over San Diego. As I started to teach the students, I found that halfway into the year many of these students did not know each other’s names. This need to build community and to know our students better (Trees, 2013) prompts me to develop and implement community-building exercises.
These community-building exercises will be fairly simple, the primary goal of the activities will be to have students know each other’s names as well as learn new facts about each other. In most contexts students would not need to go through this task, but the nature of the school is that many students are constantly coming and leaving. This leads to a mentality where some students do not find the need to get to know more than the people who sit around them during class. I will be giving students time at the beginning of each week to share how their weekends were and what they did. This will allow students to build relationships with each other, which will help them as they work together in groups.
Action 2- is necessary for us to create building blocks in the classroom.
Often times, students think of collaboration as a way to do less work by using a “divide and conquer mindset” (Santagata and Guarino, 2012). This action requires me to create smaller groups. I hope that smaller groups will encourage students to share and listen to each other during discussions and group projects. Using small groups will allow students in the classroom to have a space to practice collaboration and community building. “Small groups have the most leverage when they are part of a larger gathering” (Block, 2008). It is important to note that although it is important to have diversity in groups, placing them in the vicinity of each other does not make them learn (Hurtado, 2001). Rather, it acts as the first step to providing opportunities for smaller and more intimate discussions. The smaller collaborative groups will give a chance for every student to share and ask questions, and in the smaller groups the students will be more comfortable engaging in conversations. I hope that this will also take away distractions that can occur by having too many students in a group, but one issue that might arise is that students will be paired with someone who they do not enjoy working with and will shut down. Santagata and Guarino says that an important factor in helping with the divide and conquer mindset occurs through teacher preparation as well as prompting. This will occur as I encourage students to share in their groups through discussion.
Action 3 - Implementing Projects
Many traditional history class lessons are composed of creative ways to make history interesting so that individual students can be engaged in the learning. The third action of the cycle will be incorporating projects as a means to determine if both community building exercises and small groups have impacted the way students work together in groups. I hope to have students collaborate, and allow small groups to practice skills learned in community building exercises (action 1). The projects will engage students in learning history but also create a space where they will be interacting with each other so that they can process information in their groups. The goal is to use the projects to implement the use of small groups, technology, and exercises to build upon the community in the classroom.
Ongoing - Tweeting
The primary social media tool that will be used is Twitter. There are many different ways for social media applications such as Twitter to support the classroom environment and connect students to build relationships. During the course of this action research, I will be incorporating the use of social media into the coursework. The purpose is to use technology to promote the community space within the class. Since the classroom is a one-to-one iPad space, I aim to use Twitter as a platform for students to collaborate and for joint knowledge (Blake, 2013). Through these cycles of actions, I expect to see students begin to develop a sense of community and build relationships with each other.
Action 1- is necessary to set the foundation for cycle 2 and 3.
The ultimate goal is to create a learning environment that is community-oriented and supports learning. The moment I stepped into the classroom I knew I was stepping into very diverse classroom. The student population includes students from military families, local students, and many from all over San Diego. As I started to teach the students, I found that halfway into the year many of these students did not know each other’s names. This need to build community and to know our students better (Trees, 2013) prompts me to develop and implement community-building exercises.
These community-building exercises will be fairly simple, the primary goal of the activities will be to have students know each other’s names as well as learn new facts about each other. In most contexts students would not need to go through this task, but the nature of the school is that many students are constantly coming and leaving. This leads to a mentality where some students do not find the need to get to know more than the people who sit around them during class. I will be giving students time at the beginning of each week to share how their weekends were and what they did. This will allow students to build relationships with each other, which will help them as they work together in groups.
Action 2- is necessary for us to create building blocks in the classroom.
Often times, students think of collaboration as a way to do less work by using a “divide and conquer mindset” (Santagata and Guarino, 2012). This action requires me to create smaller groups. I hope that smaller groups will encourage students to share and listen to each other during discussions and group projects. Using small groups will allow students in the classroom to have a space to practice collaboration and community building. “Small groups have the most leverage when they are part of a larger gathering” (Block, 2008). It is important to note that although it is important to have diversity in groups, placing them in the vicinity of each other does not make them learn (Hurtado, 2001). Rather, it acts as the first step to providing opportunities for smaller and more intimate discussions. The smaller collaborative groups will give a chance for every student to share and ask questions, and in the smaller groups the students will be more comfortable engaging in conversations. I hope that this will also take away distractions that can occur by having too many students in a group, but one issue that might arise is that students will be paired with someone who they do not enjoy working with and will shut down. Santagata and Guarino says that an important factor in helping with the divide and conquer mindset occurs through teacher preparation as well as prompting. This will occur as I encourage students to share in their groups through discussion.
Action 3 - Implementing Projects
Many traditional history class lessons are composed of creative ways to make history interesting so that individual students can be engaged in the learning. The third action of the cycle will be incorporating projects as a means to determine if both community building exercises and small groups have impacted the way students work together in groups. I hope to have students collaborate, and allow small groups to practice skills learned in community building exercises (action 1). The projects will engage students in learning history but also create a space where they will be interacting with each other so that they can process information in their groups. The goal is to use the projects to implement the use of small groups, technology, and exercises to build upon the community in the classroom.
Ongoing - Tweeting
The primary social media tool that will be used is Twitter. There are many different ways for social media applications such as Twitter to support the classroom environment and connect students to build relationships. During the course of this action research, I will be incorporating the use of social media into the coursework. The purpose is to use technology to promote the community space within the class. Since the classroom is a one-to-one iPad space, I aim to use Twitter as a platform for students to collaborate and for joint knowledge (Blake, 2013). Through these cycles of actions, I expect to see students begin to develop a sense of community and build relationships with each other.
Assessment Plan
Observation Guides
During the community-building exercises I will be using an observation guide to track the amount of participation as well as the depth of interaction between students. I will be also using observation guides to keep track of dialogues between students while they do group work. In the observation guides I am looking to see if the students use each other's names, and whether or not they are on task. Observation guides will also help me keep track of the groups that students form to see the effectiveness of individuals working within the group. I will be observing their basic interaction levels, the frequency of them using each other’s names, as well as the depth and quality of conversation because many of these students do not know each other’s names even though they have been in the same class together for almost 8 months
During the community-building exercises I will be using an observation guide to track the amount of participation as well as the depth of interaction between students. I will be also using observation guides to keep track of dialogues between students while they do group work. In the observation guides I am looking to see if the students use each other's names, and whether or not they are on task. Observation guides will also help me keep track of the groups that students form to see the effectiveness of individuals working within the group. I will be observing their basic interaction levels, the frequency of them using each other’s names, as well as the depth and quality of conversation because many of these students do not know each other’s names even though they have been in the same class together for almost 8 months
Student Feedback Forms
At the end of each cycle (about a week) I will use student feedback forms to assess the student’s perception of collaboration and community. Through the use of feedback forms, I will be able to gauge how students are reacting to doing group projects and collaborative assignments. These student feedback forms will allow me to gather quantitative data on whether or not students find collaboration effective, and these feedback forms will allow me to gather qualitative data on what can be improved to help facilitate future projects.
At the end of each cycle (about a week) I will use student feedback forms to assess the student’s perception of collaboration and community. Through the use of feedback forms, I will be able to gauge how students are reacting to doing group projects and collaborative assignments. These student feedback forms will allow me to gather quantitative data on whether or not students find collaboration effective, and these feedback forms will allow me to gather qualitative data on what can be improved to help facilitate future projects.
Student Work
I plan on using student work, such as exit slips, to see if students are learning through their collaborative projects and assignments. Student work will be graded through the amount of effort that went into the projects, and I will be checking to see if students just split up the work and did everything individually, or if they actually worked together and supported each other. The quality of student work will be important in determining whether or not students were successful in collaborating. I hope to see improvement in the student work as the semester progresses. I will use student work such as their tweets to see if students are using social media to construct knowledge and help each other build upon facts.
Timeline:
4/9- Community Building exercise 1
4/10- Form initial collaborative groups
4/10- Create Twitter space
4/10-4/16- Collaborative group project 1
4/16- Community Building exercise 2
4/18- Form 2nd collaborative groups
4/20-4/24- Collaborative group project 2
5/1- Community Building exercise 3
5/04- Collaborative group assignment
I plan on using student work, such as exit slips, to see if students are learning through their collaborative projects and assignments. Student work will be graded through the amount of effort that went into the projects, and I will be checking to see if students just split up the work and did everything individually, or if they actually worked together and supported each other. The quality of student work will be important in determining whether or not students were successful in collaborating. I hope to see improvement in the student work as the semester progresses. I will use student work such as their tweets to see if students are using social media to construct knowledge and help each other build upon facts.
Timeline:
4/9- Community Building exercise 1
4/10- Form initial collaborative groups
4/10- Create Twitter space
4/10-4/16- Collaborative group project 1
4/16- Community Building exercise 2
4/18- Form 2nd collaborative groups
4/20-4/24- Collaborative group project 2
5/1- Community Building exercise 3
5/04- Collaborative group assignment