S17: Blog 15: Inquiry!

Most of this past year, I have been engaged in an inquiry, where I found something that I was wondering about my classroom and my teaching practice and went through a process to answer that wondering. It began back in the fall when I began to think about questions I had about my classroom and the challenges I was facing on a daily basis. It was around this time that I was beginning to truly struggle with one of my classes. I was feeling like it was impossible to accomplish any meaningful teaching with them. I didn’t feel, sometimes, like I wanted to even try because it was so exhausting to battle the students in the room. I did not like the way I felt in my classroom. And I could tell that my students didn’t either. This led me to my research question: What strategies can I implement in my classroom to create a positive classroom climate?

I was lucky enough to have a partner in my inquiry, Sara, my fellow 5th grade resident that I have worked with all year. While I was focusing on my homeroom group of students, she chose to focus on hers. We spent the rest of the fall semester collecting research about classroom climate, as well as factors that can affect classroom climate, such as student culture and student retention. We also began to design how we would collect data for our inquiry, being particularly interested in having our classes complete activities created by Shapiro (1993) about factors that she states have the biggest effects on classroom climate, including: values, perceptions, and leadership.

By the time we came back from Winter Break in January is was time to thoroughly plan and begin the data collection process. We decided that while we wanted all of our students to complete the activities we had planned, we also wanted to choose focus students. I chose my three focus students based on who I felt had the most drastic effect on our daily classroom climate. These focus students would be the ones we interviewed with questions we had created about their background and the classroom climate. I also began keeping a daily, reflective journal where I made notes about the focus students every day, as well as made notes about the rest of the class as a whole.

In the interest of honesty, I asked my PRT to be the one to conduct the interviews with my three focus students. However, I was the one to listen to and transcribe them so that I could begin the process of coding and analyzing. Of all the data I collected, my journals, the activities, and the interviews, I found the interviews to be the most eye-opening. Some things I heard I expected, like a student placing blame on teachers and saying things like we were “mean.” However, I also heard so many things that I hadn’t expected. For one, I had thought that many students in my class didn’t like each other or get along. But all three of my focus students said how much they liked their class and the people in it, even stating that they felt “like a family.” It was also interesting to hear what students thought needed to change about our classroom environment. While teachers were mentioned, students also talked about things they knew they needed to change about themselves, like doing a better job focusing and following directions.

The activities I had students completed and then analyzed also gave me important sights into my students. I learned so much about what they value most, which I was then able to use when I was planning lessons. I also learned about how they perceived themselves, and how they felt I perceived them. I had students tell me they didn’t like school at all- and these were students I felt loved it! Also, I learned how my students and I have different ideas about what it means to be a leader.

After you collect and analyze your data, the final steps in the inquiry process are to talk about the implications this inquiry has and the conclusions you’ve come to. My implications were that I changed some of my teaching practices, especially how I chose to interact with students that I felt challenged by. I take time to think before reacting, and have more conversations with students so that they understand my thinking and feelings when disrespect occurs. This has also influenced how I will go into my own classroom next year. From the very first day of school I want to ensure that I set the right tone and begin creating a positive classroom climate. My conclusion was simple, when I began I thought it was all about the students. But what I’ve learned is that it’s truly all about me, I play the key role; and I needed to take this time to understand my own values and beliefs so that I can understand theirs and create a climate where we all want to be and all want to learn.

Today, I had the opportunity to present my research with Sara at the USF College of Education’s Practitioner Research Conference. We created a PowerPoint presentation about our inquiry and presented this in a roundtable format. It was a great experience to get the chance to talk about what we have learned about ourselves as educators to our fellow residents and others who came to watch our presentation. While I was nervous to present, I felt empowered afterwards. It made me feel like a true educator to know that I had made changes in my own classroom and then was able to share what I’d done with others, in the hope that I may be able to help someone else. I also had the opportunity to listen to others present at the conference. I walked away with so much new learning, especially about culturally responsive teaching and literature, the subjects of two sessions I attended.

I look forward to conducting an inquiry in my own classroom next year!

FEAPS: 5a – Designs professional goals based on students’ instructional needs

5b – Uses research to improve instruction and student achievement

5c - Reviews data with colleagues to evaluate learning outcomes and plan effective lessons

5d - Collaborates with stakeholders to support students learning

5e - Collaborates with stakeholders to support continuous professional growth

5f – Engages in professional growth opportunities

5g - Engages in ongoing reflective practice

5h - Accepts constructive feedback

5i – Applies knowledge and skills learned in professional development

6a - Adheres to the Codes of Ethics and to the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession of Florida

6b - Demonstrates professional responsibility