Action Plan

Implemented

The six-week study implemented social-emotional skills in order to see an improvement of competencies in social-emotional development and self-regulation during peer interactions. Social and emotional learning skills were important because they gave students the life skills and coping skills they needed in everyday life. Educational programs and public schools were changing their focus from academics to social and emotional learning due to the lack of skills not being taught at home. The lack of positive social-emotional skills created behaviors and hindered students from being able to reach their full potential and growth. Through social and emotional learning skills, teachers were providing students those fundamental social-emotional and self-regulation skills to utilize in and out of the classroom.

This six-week data collection was implemented in a six-week program through social circle, after specials at 9:05-9:35 a.m. Social circle was when Sanford Harmony lessons were used to introduce a new social-emotional skill to the class. This was given sitting on the floor in a circle or at our desks depending on the activity we had that day. The lights were always off during this time to convey a calm environment. Examples of lessons included skills such as empathy and communication. Once the skill was given during this time through an activity or peer collaboration provided in the Sanford Harmony lesson kits like doing a skit to find communication bloopers, the rest of the day focused on using that skill and praised the students who were utilizing that skill. Tally marks and anecdotal notes were taken throughout the day when students were struggling with a skill by replacing the social-emotional skill through verbal or physical retaliation with peers. The verbal retaliation focus was avoiding the use of cursing at a peer when they were upset and the physical retaliation was focused on not hitting a peer when a behavior was not liked by a peer. Each tally mark was connected to whole class white board tally marks and coordinated with a lap at recess. Observations were also utilized throughout the day to write positive and negative behaviors connected to the social-emotional skill of the week. The observation anecdotal notes were placed in individual student sections in the teacher’s observation binder. This binder was utilized when the behaviors witnessed were positive or negative. For example, a student was observed inviting a peer to join them during an activity because they were having conflict with their friends. This was written down, placed in the binder, and provided a strength that would be provided when responding back to that student in their reflection journal. Surveys/weekly check-ins were given once a week on Friday. The surveys/weekly check-ins provided a snapshot that highlighted a student’s self-reflection and growth with that week’s social-emotional skill. They were also utilized to guide the following week’s instruction and target student social-emotional skill need. At the end of the day at 2:50 p.m. on social studies days, and at 2:10 p.m. on science days through reflection journals. Reflection journals allowed students to complete a self-reflection on the specific Sanford Harmony lesson and how they utilized the content taught during social circle throughout the day.

This action plan was implemented January 20 through February 28, 2020.

How

When

Strategies

•Daily Reflection Journal

•Daily Social Circle

Social circle included lessons from Sanford Harmony

Why

Differentiation

Best for Population

These strategies were chosen for implementation in this six-week data collection plan because these strategies allowed multiple perspectives on student growth in the area of social and emotional learning. These strategies provided many opportunities for the teacher to provide feedback and personalized instruction for each student through evidence collection in observations, anecdotal notes, and student feedback. Research has shown that social and emotional learning involved the students' abilities to manage their own emotions and interactions that benefit themselves and others. When students are able to master the ability to manage their emotions and interactions, students are able to succeed in school, relationships, and in citizenship (Jones & Doolitte, 2017).

Instruction was differentiated through reflection journals. Each student was provided with a reflective journal to document their grows and glows. Grows are an area students believes they need to improve and glows are an area a student believes they did well on after self-reflection that day. Each day, the teacher provided feedback for each student over anecdotal notes that were taken that day. This method gave students the ability to have individualized goals and strategies for a skill they are missing.

The strategies in this six-week data collection plan worked the best for the population outlined in the rationale because these strategies allowed students to be reflective of their actions and build a stronger rapport with their peers. This plan provided students with multiple means to communicate the skills and coping strategies needed by encountering them throughout the six weeks. Anecdotal notes created the need for observation because these notes illustrated the discrepancies between student perception and real-world interactions.

Diverse Needs Accounted For:

Diverse learning needs were accounted for by utilizing classroom tools available to the teacher to help modify or provide all students access to content being taught. The teacher had access to iPads, journals, paraprofessionals, and whole group instruction time that provided students with the tools necessary to complete the tasks with available modifications or accommodations depending on student needs.

In this six-week data collection plan, equitable learning that supported culturally responsive practice included teacher feedback and tools used. Students utilized iPads in order to complete check-ins and weekly scales because the device can read aloud for students who are academically low and do not require writing for students who struggle with those motor skills. As for journals, not all students completed it in a notebook and if they did, they were provided support from the teacher or paraprofessional to help them write. However, if neither were available to assist, the students utilized their iPads as a forum to independently create their responses with the speech to text function.

Multiple perspectives included were not only the teacher’s, but the students’ as well. Observations from the teacher’s perspective throughout the day provided real world perspectives from different points of view when providing anecdotal notes. Observations showcased classroom situations like peer conflict, peer aggression, or peer interactions to highlight social-emotional skills they were missing. An example of an observation that highlights social-emotional skills that were missing occurred during independent work time. The teacher was at the front of the room when everyone heard yelling. The yelling was due to a student being annoyed at another student for not wanting to read the definition of a word during a presentation to the class. The teacher addressed the situation and had to facilitate a discussion between the students because neither student was willing to compromise. By the end of the discussion, the students agreed that working together on future activities would not be the best fit in order to meet the activities goals as they were not able to compromise. The teacher wrote down notes about the situation between the two students on how to collaborate and compromise during activities. These notes were used in morning meetings to show the different missing skills through the eyes of peers. The teacher pulled in real world situations during morning meetings to connect to skills and highlight the different areas needed to connect to the diverse population. This included students with disabilities, pulled in stories or books that were connected to the social and emotional skill addressed that day and built the connections with those peers and similar emotions that had been experienced. An example of real world situations used in class was a teacher made video. This video had three girls between the ages of 14-17. These girls discussed their different situations that they had with cyber bullying and the mental struggles they have now because of it. Students were able to connect with these girls because they were close to their own age and had encountered similar situations. The students were able to build connections and see the impact they have on people.

Equitable Learning

Multiple Perspectives

Culturally Responsive Practice:

Collaboration With Internal and External Stakeholders:

Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders was experienced throughout the action plan research. The internal stakeholders I worked with were colleagues, cadre associate, guidance counselor, and principal. Colleagues helped brainstorm ideas when I was struggling to find a rhythm with my students in social-emotional instruction. Colleagues also helped enforce positive social-emotional skills when students were outside of the classroom. I utilized my cadre associate, who is my school’s instructional coach, during this time as well to find strategies for individual students and discuss how to problem-solve when I did not know how to move the students forward. The school guidance counselor was a valuable resource and reinforced skills or discussed these skills more in-depth on issues that occurred in the classroom. The counselor also helped the teacher discuss social-emotional issues that were repeated by students and becoming an issue with peers to the principal. The principal supported the teacher and gave stronger reprimands to students who needed that extra push to end negative social-emotional skills like hitting.

External stakeholders included the cadre cohort. I utilized my peers in the cohort who were teaching the same grade level for solutions to challenges I faced. They helped supply outside encouragement and strategies to utilize in the classroom. Without their support, I would not have been able to maximize the social-emotional learning my students had and provided them the level of instruction they needed.