4th Grade Action Research Project Update

    I implemented my 4^th Grade Action Research project after Christmas break.  At first my students were happy to help and almost excited.  For the most part they were willing participants in working on the activities they were given.  The majority of my students enjoyed discussions, but there were students who didn’t want to participate even when being called on.  4^th Grade behaviors have slowly changed, from worse to better.  However, there are still some students who choose to make decisions for which they don’t like the consequences.  I’m not convinced this project has anything to do with it only because we have tried since day number one to instill character in our students.  There have been several changes, such as the loss of “behavior challenged” students who had great effects on the outcome of classroom behavior.   We regrouped our students based on behavioral need prior to Thanksgiving, and then we had to regroup again in February due to the loss of too many students. The loss of these students and the typical change in behavior are hopefully accompanied by this project to promote better behavior.  We have asked for conferences with parents of various students who have been struggling with their behavior and we have received no feedback, until recently.  We have a few parents who have made the commitment to help their children begin to succeed by changing their behaviors.  Typical bullying also seemed to slow down for a while.  Within the last month it has picked back up again, but it also began to involve parents getting into the mix.  The situation has been handled properly, and if it continues it will be passed on to a higher level authority off campus.  As the year has drug on, the more we have tested and the closer we get to the end of the year, some behaviors are starting to pick back up.  Students are getting restless for many reasons, but they are also beginning to show a lack of excitement over helping with my research.  As they do their homework, some students do not seem to care if they finish what is asked of them on a regular basis.  Hopefully once testing is over then my students will be able to climb back on board and finish off the year with getting a lot accomplished.