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Action Research Journal

Sharing the research of

SMSU Graduate Students May 2022 Vol.1 | No. 1

UNCLASSIFIED EDITION

RESEARCHING BEST PRACTICES 2 Welcome

Dr. Tanya Yerigan and Dr. Dennis Lamb

Building Relationships with Students

Building Fine Motor Skills

Meaningful Morning Meetings

Two middle school teachers explorethe importance of establishing rapport with their students.

Having Kindergarten students manipulate objects using small muscle movements enhances their fine motor movements, stamina,and writing skills.

Implementing Morning Meetings in a third grade classroom changed students’ moods positively.

Sara Lembcke and Angela Krueger

Online vs Paper Homework Alex Cleppe

A high school Algebra teacher compares student success rates by participating in different homework arrangements.

Shaylee Schei

Erika Pavek

Technology In The Classroom: Does It Motivate Students? Kami Johnson

This high school history teacher discovers ways to use technology to keep her students motivated and engaged. ACTION RE SE A RCH JOU R NAL

Action Research Articles – Launching a New Era at SMSU! Over the course of the last few years, we have been contemplating what to do with our Action Research papers that have been written by our Masters of Education students. We felt we were not showcasing the amazing research being done in the field and after working on making the changes that best depict what our teacher leaders are doing in their classrooms and communities, we are excited to share this new format with you. Our students now have an opportunity to publish their research in an article format. We feel we are expanding the knowledge base centered on current and best practices in education today by showcasing the work of our SMSU graduate students. We are using the latest version of APA Style Guide (7th Edition) to provide best practices in a formal style, while at the same time providing a platform for them to showcase their talents and expertise with others. According to Emily Calhoun (2002), “Action research is continual disciplined inquiry conducted to inform and improve our practice as educators.” We embrace this concept wholeheartedly and welcome you as a reader of our talented educators.

Dr. Dennis Lamb

Dr. Tanya Yerigan

is starting his 40th year in education. He began his career as an elementary teacher, served as an elementary principal, and currently is a member of the graduate faculty. He has been a facilitator in the Master of Science Education Learning Community program since 2007.

is a career-long educator with a background in education, business, and social work, with over 25 years in K-12 and higher education. She is currently a professor at SMSU in Marshall, MN and teaches in the graduate program.

Considering a micro-credential?

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is a foundational component of effective teaching and leadership. In this course package, you will gain a better understanding of Emotional Intelligence and explore its professional and personal applications.

Self-Care Package

The Self-Care package focuses on the Six Tenets of Health and provides participants an opportunity to research and develop a self-care plan.

Culture of Poverty

The Culture of Poverty is everywhere. This package of courses promotes a proactive approach to finding solutions and resources to assist those children/ families needing attention at the local level.

Mental Health Coach & Toxic Stress

This package focuses on the physical, social, and psychological childhood stressors and seeking solutions to assist those in greatest need. Upon completion of this package, participants will receive certification in Adult MHFA and Youth MHFA.

Dr. Tanya Yerigan | Graduate Education Director & Professor | Tanya.Yerigan@smsu.edu AC T ION R E SE A RCH JOU RNAL

How Does Building Relationships with Students Affect Academic Scores, Engagement, and Classroom Management in a 6th Grade Classroom? Sara Lembcke and Angela Krueger

Abstract

The importance of building relationships, establishing rapport, and having classroom communities has been recognized by schools for several years, educators still question the effectiveness of different techniques used to establish these positive interventions in a classroom. Several bodies of research indicate certain techniques are more effective and get desirable results.

Key Words

Rapport Building, Positive Interventions, Classroom management

Literature Review

Developing rapport with students requires teachers to establish a relationship with students that demonstrates caring and warmth. In the book series, Reclaiming Children and Youth, Marlow (2016) states, “everyone needs to know in a very real way that he or she matters to someone, someplace” (p. 14). Having rapport means two people are alike physiologically, emotionally, or cognitively, even if the similarity is temporary. Knowing students’ interests and concerns is one way to build rapport (Mendes, 2003). Mendes (2003) believed, “to build rapport the teacher needs a genuine desire to build a connection with students and strategies for reframing experiences so that they elicit student’s interest rather than frustration” (para. 8). Building trusting relationships with students in a classroom environment may be difficult at any age, but especially during adolescence. Between the ages of 10 and 14, children are going through numerous physical and emotional changes. Building relationships of trust with students can help foster the development of these skills. Ongoing research on relationship building suggests students are more inclined to learn if they feel comfortable and cared about. Building rapport and positive connections with students provided students with an outlet for their frustrations, as well as making them feel safe, cared about, and willing to attempt new things.

Sara Lembcke is currently a 6th Grade Special Education Teacher at Forestview Middle School in Baxter, MN

Angela Krueger is currently a 6th Grade Mathematics Teacher at Forestview Middle School in Baxter, MN

Based on the review of the analysis on the data, the researchers found several underlying strategies used by teachers to facilitate a safe and comfortable classroom for their students. The data indicated all three teachers communicated to students the importance of relationship building through words and actions on the first day of school. The teachers also communicated the high expectations they had in the classrooms for both behavior and success. One teachers’ strategy was establishing accountability to students by delivering consequences calmly, and repeated requests. Lastly, the data indicated that these three effective teachers communicated to their students in a culturally responsive way. They used humor and sincerity, common language, and gave clear directives. From this data, it is implied that teachers who are insistent, play a critical role in creating a consistent, caring, and respectful environment. A commonality found within the study was relationship building. The teachers in the study indicated they needed to let their students get to know one another, so they can learn to care about one another. The teachers all concluded the classroom is a happier and more productive place when students treated each other with respect and knew each other. After the study was conducted, the results indicated teacher relationships with students are critical factors for increasing student successes. Furthermore, implementing a social curriculum allows for children to establish positive caring relationships with an adult. It also creates an environment where both academics and behavior have high expectations.

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Student Perspectives

William Buskist and Bryan Saville gathered student perspectives on what they feel helps build relationships between educators and students. They constructed a list of suggested classroom techniques to help with this. These techniques include: • Learn to call your students by name. • Learn something about your students’ interests, hobbies, and aspirations. • Create and use personally relevant class examples. • Arrive to class early and stay late - and chat with your students. • Get on line - use email to increase accessibility to your students. • Interact more, lecture less - emphasize active learning. • Reward student comments and questions with verbal praise. • Be enthusiastic about teaching and passionate about your subject matter. • Lighten up - crack a joke now and then. • Be humble and, when appropriate, self-deprecating. • Make eye contact with each student - without staring, glaring, or flaring. • Be respectful. (para. 18) Remember, doing only one of these suggested techniques will not necessarily produce results, but a combination of many or all will help build a desired rapport with students.

Caring School Environment

Research suggested that children who experienced a caring school environment have a better chance for academic success (Connell & Klem, 2004). Furthermore, research also indicated students not only need to feel teachers know and care for them, but that they are willing to set a clear structure where decisions can be made on their own. Studies have shown, by high school, 40 to 60 percent of students have disengaged from school or have dropped out of school. Led by this data, Connell and Klem conducted a study on the level of support, from teachers, needed to predict academic success in the future. As a part of the study, thresholds were identified for student performance and student commitment at the secondary level. The best case scenario is an attendance of 93% or higher with percentile scores in reading at 70% or higher or math scores of 65% or higher. The study indicated when students are at the desired levels on the threshold, they are engaged and have had supports in the classroom. Students who were disengaged and do not feel supported by teachers at school, and are at risk of failure later in life.

giving critical feedback on assignments, and having discussion boards for students to interact with one another. Now, more than ever, interaction and mental health are key priorities in education. Teachers may not always know the in’s and out’s of their student’s backgrounds; however, having good rapport allows students to more appropriately cope with personal life challenges.

Methodology Participants We identified our focus group by connecting with 5th grade teachers and counselors. We also looked at under-performing test scores from the Standardized Test Assessing Reading (STAR) assessment through Renaissance Learning. After gathering this information, we chose to include six female regular education students, six male special education students, and one female special education student in our group. These students come from a variety of backgrounds and varied in academic skills. Within these thirteen individuals, we specifically focused on six students, three of which were in small group reading and writing instruction. Design We started by gathering baseline data by taking the STAR math and reading tests in September, 2020. The test questions adapt to how the student answers them, so the results gave us an understanding of where each student was at academically. Results from the test were reported as scale scores and percentile ranks. We gave a growth mindset survey to each of our students through Google Forms. This survey asked questions about how students viewed learning, goal setting, their perspective on making mistakes, overcoming challenges, and how students felt about certain situations. We also created a “Secret Lunch Bunch” group to build rapport with these students. During our time with the group of students, we conducted activities and lessons to help build connections and rapport with the children. After being told students were chosen to be in our lunch bunch because they were so amazing, one student responded, “I’ve never been chosen for anything like this in my life!” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our school District changed the learning platform from a hybrid model to distance learning. We took advantage of this opportunity to meet with our case study students 1-2 times per week via Google Meet, to check in, build rapport, and to provide help on assignments.

Coleman’s (2020) article, The Limits of Rapport: What’s Lost When We Focus on Connecting to Our Students, he expresses, building rapport and relationships with students has become even more prevalent in the current worldwide pandemic. More than ever, teachers and students are trying to connect in nontraditional ways, but the importance of connection has only become more of a national issue. Finding new and creative ways to do this has been a mission of educators around the globe. Glazier (2016) states ways in which teachers can demonstrate their presence is by sending emails, hosting virtual meetings,

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Figure 1

Ice Breaker Bingo Card

Students were given the STAR test when they returned to school in the fall and again when they arrived back in the winter from distance learning. Each student took the test in reading as well as math. The goal was for students to make improvements in their percentile rank from their fall score to their winter score. The chart below shows the results in percentile rank (PR), of these tests.

Figure 2

STAR Math and Reading Scores

Some of the activities we included were a Growth Mindset survey, Rock, Paper, Scissor War, Balloon pop activity, Ice Breaker Bingo, decorating a pumpkin, Show Us Something You’re Good at, Scavenger Hunt, Scattergories, Mad Gab, Would You Rather, Hangman, Christmas movie emoji game, logic puzzles, decorated a virtual locker and gingerbread house.

Decorate a Virtual Locker Activity

Note: + indicates a student’s PR increased. = indicates a student’s PR stayed the same. - indicates a student’s PR decreased. As indicated from the results, not all students made improvements as expected. Many students that were more active in distance learning tended to make more progress than their peers that were not as consistent in attending daily google meets and completing assignments.

Results The purpose of this Action Research project was to determine how building relationships with students affect academic scores, engagement, and classroom management in a 6th grade classroom. The data was collected from October, 2020 through December, 2020. Students were given a pre- and post-survey to determine their level of understanding and perspective on growth mindset. The measures used to collect data were a growth mindset survey, STAR test results, Attendance Records, and qualitative research.

The following figures include results from the Growth Mindset Survey taken at the start of the school year (1st time) and middle of the school year (2nd time). There were 8 students that took the survey. Each question offered a rating scale noting answers with strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree.

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Figure 3

Figure 4

Question 1 stated, “Sometimes I get really down on myself.”

Question 2 stated, “I feel jealous when other people

There was a significant change in the desired ratings of disagree and strongly disagree. In the first survey, 12.5% of students said they strongly disagreed they sometimes get down on themselves, 50% of students were neutral. These results shifted to 37.5% of students disagreeing and 25% neutral, by the time they took the second survey.

In the first survey, 25% of students strongly agree they felt jealous when other people succeeded. Their mindset shifted to feeling neutral by the time they took the survey. There were no changes in the other results; 25% strongly disagreed and 12.5% disagreed, respectively.

Growth Mindset Survey Question 1

Growth Mindset Survey Question 2

succeed.”

Balloon Pop Activity

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Figure 5

Growth Mindset Survey Question 3 Question 3 stated, “There is room for everyone to be

successful.”

Another example of building rapport was with a student who was having difficulty attending school during the hybrid learning model. The instructors made a connection and have been telling this student how important it is for them to be at school and when they are not here, the instructors miss them. During lunch bunch the student was told how proud they were of him for being here today and he said, “Well, I made a promise so I had to keep it.”

Discussion/Conclusion

When reflecting on our project, some of the takeaways we discussed began with the nontraditional model that was forced upon us, due to the current pandemic. We began in a hybrid learning model, then moved into distance learning, and ended with full in person. This created inconsistencies that were difficult to manage. Structure and consistency are very important to students and therefore, we found it helpful and necessary to have a set time and day. We chose Thursday and Friday afternoons, but a morning meeting would also be a great plan. When conducting our research, we anticipated that all students would increase in test scores, behavior referrals, attendance and overall better grades. With the change in models, particularly distance learning, it was very challenging to meet the needs of students and build connections when they refused to get online. This was particularly challenging with the population of students that we chose. Many did not have strong family support to ensure they were getting online for classes or to meet as a group. We also anticipated using attendance and behavior referrals as data points, but with our distance learning model, we were unable to collect data in these areas. We noticed that our group of students appeared more engaged and overall happier when we would meet. They asked to meet more often and were disappointed when we had to end the group, due to a new learning model. We also noticed a shift in their mindset from a more fixed mindset to a growth mindset; just through informal discussions and social coaching we did during the meetings.

There was a significant change in the desired ratings of agree and strongly agree. In the first survey, 62.5% of students strongly agree there is room for everyone to be successful, 25% neutral, and 12.5% disagree. These results shifted in the second survey to 75% strongly agree, 12.5% agree and 12.5% were neutral.

Student Quotes

While building rapport and creating a Secret Lunch Bunch, students made several comments worth noting: “This is so much more fun than my other lunch. I used to just sit in there and not say anything.” “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time at school.” “I look forward to our lunch bunch.”

Lastly, we found that building connections was more successful during our hybrid time together, as we were in person. There was less distraction, and more engagement during this time than there was during our time that was all virtual. With that said, many of our students still chose to log on and engage with the group consistently. There were several things we felt were successful throughout our research. Students were more comfortable in reaching out for help during distance learning in different subject areas and often asked to meet one-on-one. Students were not only able to build connections with us, but with each other during a time of disconnect. Since our shift back to in person learning in February 2021, we see these students walking and talking to each other in the hallways. This was not noted prior to creating our Secret Lunch Bunch. A student even mentioned how she had no friends on our team at the beginning of the year and is now seen engaging with those from our group.

“This is my favorite hangout of all of the hangouts.”

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We also noticed a significant change in our students’ mindsets. At the start of our research, many students had negative selftalk and were more about themselves. Now, they are more confident in their abilities and we see them encouraging others to be just as successful. Another success was the level of engagement during our meetings, whether in person or virtual. We planned several individual and team building activities that students were active participants. They thought it was fun to have Ms. Lembcke’s class versus Mrs. Krueger’s class or boys versus girls, when possible. We saw students interacting with each other that never would have prior to creating our lunch bunch. Several students asked to meet daily, instead of 1-2 times a week. They told us it was the best part of their day and how they loved being a part of something. After a month or two of us planning activities, we started asking our students what they wanted to do. They had wonderful ideas and we did them the following week when we met. The level of engagement soared when we gave them the ability to choose their activities. In the future there are a few things we would change, in order to make our group more successful. We would begin by trying to do the group more than twice a week and more spread out. Not checking in until the end of the week was not as effective. We would also try to integrate more formal growth mindset lessons. We saw changes in this area, but felt they could have been more drastic if we had been more intentional about it. As previously mentioned, conducting research at such a vulnerable time in history was not as effective as we would have hoped. We would choose to set this study up in one learning model. Along with that, we would choose to start our group from day one. Due to the changes this year, it made it difficult to begin day one, however, in reflecting, we feel this would have been a more effective approach. Finally, we would also like to integrate a personalized check-in for each student to do daily. This way, we would know if there was something going on in their lives that they would like to connect about in a more private way. This could also help us gauge who needed more support at different times of the year. Overall, this research proved to be effective in many ways. Throughout our experience in building relationships with students, we found a positive correlation between these connections and academic achievement, motivation, and emotional well-being.

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Decorate a Pumpkin Activity

References

Buskist, W., & Saville, B. K. (2001). Rapport building:Creating positive emotional contexts for enhancing teaching and learning. APS Observer, 14(3). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/obs erver/rapport-building-creating-positiveemotionalcontexts-for-enhancingteaching-and-learning Coleman, D. (2020, October). The limits of rapport: What’s lost when we focus on connecting to our students. Sage Journals, Phi Delta Kappan, 102(2), 68-69. Connell, J. & Klem, A. (2004). Relationships matter: Linking teacher support to student engagement and achievement. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 262-273. Glazier, R. A. (2016, April 15). Building rapport to improve retention and success in online classes. Journal of Political Science Education, 12(4), 437-456. Marlowe, M. (2016, October 3). The relationship‐driven classroom: Stories of Torey Hayden. Reclaiming Children & Youth 20(2), 10‐15. Mendes, E. (2003). What empathy can do. Educational Leadership, 61(1), 56-59.

DISCOVER. ENGAGE. LEAD. 8

Alex Cleppe is a high school teacher with license in math education. He has 6 years of experience teaching 9-12th grade students. Alex currently teaches high school algebra at Marshall High School and Marshall Area Technical Education Center in Marshall, MN

Online vs. Paper Homework

The best method for a modern-day math student Alex Cleppe

Abstract

In this article, the author presents data on the discussion of online versus paper assignments in an Algebra classroom. A multi-part study was conducted to compare these two assessment styles for the modern-day student. First, assignments were given in two forms, online and paper. Secondly, assessment scores were collected for both forms of assignments. Last, a survey was given to students to see what they thought was the best for their education. The goal of this study was to assess the assignment style and determine which was most successful for student assessment scores.

Definition

Homework has had many different definitions but Cooper, a leading expert in the field, has defined homework as “tasks assigned to students by schoolteachers that are meant to be carried out during noninstructional time” (as cited in Bembenutty, 2011, p. 1).

Purpose

In today’s world, practicing problems now has a different look in a math classroom. As math teacher, I wanted to find out what is the best practice method: paper –pencil or online homework. The purpose of the study was to determine how online vs paper assignments affect Algebra 1 students’ summative assessment scores. There have been studies done with online versus paper assignments for elementary/middle school level and postsecondary education. There has not been a study done in this area for high school mathematics. I wanted to see which type was most beneficial to the modern high school student. The target for this study is teachers who teach high school mathematics in districts with a multicultural population.

Setting

My study took place in a medium sized school district in southwest Minnesota. The participants of the study were students from two different schools in this district who were taking Algebra 1. The classes were made up of a total of 39 students. Of the 39 students, there were 20 females and 19 males, 28 students were freshman, eight students were sophomores, two students were juniors, and one student was a senior. Six students were EL, two students had a 504 Plan, and there was one student who received SPED services.

Background

There has been a lot of research done on the topic of homework throughout education. Homework in the traditional sense can be referred to as paper and pencil. This has been the standard in education for many years. When online homework started to become a trend, educators started to question which assessment style positively impacted students more. When looking at homework scores, there is a variety of studies that have shown paper-pencil homework is better for students. “The traditional homework group in the current study scored significantly higher on their homework grade than did the online homework group” (Williams, 2012, p. 14). One of the most common problems with homework is the completion of the assignments, but it is proven that paper pencil has higher completion statistics. In a study done by Shuman (2015) “Students were more likely to complete their homework when assigned on paper (86.7% of students) than on the computer (64.4% of students)” (p.vi). While studies have shown that students are more likely to complete homework if it was assigned on paper, there are also surveys that show what they prefer between the two options. Figuring out what students are more comfortable with will help with the homework completion. In one survey “students scored online homework lower than paper homework” (Barnsley, 2014, p. 128). Teachers have become more confident in using online homework systems to help provide positive learning experiences. At first, some teachers may not have liked how online homework systems were set up, but online homework systems have improved over time (Jonsdottir et al., 2017). One of the positives of online homework systems is that “students can repeat units multiple times with virtually an unlimited pool of questions to work with” (Arasasingham et al., 2011, p. 70). Being able to attempt a problem multiple times allows for students to find their mistakes and improve on them, which can lead to students scoring higher on their homework. When comparing homework scores of students who do their homework online to that of students who do their homework using paper and pencil, “the homework performance scores of the web-based homework groups were higher than that of the paper and-pencil homework groups” (Gok, 2011, p. 3783).

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Online homework has also shown positive effects towards test and exam scores. “Online homework has a positive effect on the post-test scores of beginning algebra.” (Barnsley, 2014, p. 125). Archer and Olson (2018) also found the following in that, “use of the web-based homework management system correlates to increase student learning as measured by exam performance” (p. 4). Research also stated that feedback is important to a student’s development no matter what type of homework the students were using. Typically, paper homework feedback is not given until the next class meeting or in a couple of days when the teacher finishes correcting. This can cause a problem because students need feedback on how they are doing. This is an issue that was stated by Roschelle et al. (2016), “One prominent issue is that students may not receive timely feedback or help as they practice” (p. 1). The point of giving feedback to students is to help them understand what concepts they got wrong. If the feedback is not timely, it may not help the student because they could have forgotten what they did wrong and would not be willing to go back and adjust. On the contrary, online homework gives feedback immediately and grades the problem so that the student and the teacher know what the score is right away. “Some advantages of homework-assistance systems are immediate feedback to students and automatic grading and recording of grades for instructors” (Mendicino et al., 2009, p. 333). The purpose behind homework is to help student’s achieve higher scores on exams and assessments. Making progress and passing grades are dependent on the students’ assessment scores. “Exam scores for high aptitude students improved with increased homework practice through use of a web-based homework management system”(Archer & Olson, 2018, p. 2).

Methodology

During the data collection process of my research, all assignments were worth two points. For each class, we started with paper-pencil assignments for the first quarter of the school year (9 weeks). How this was done had to be modified due to COVID–19 and myself being on paternity leave. Paper and pencil assignments were completed by assigning assignments online using the online homework system Big Ideas Math. Students then needed to write down everything from the problem including the problem itself, all the work they had to do for the problem, and their solution. Afterwards, paper assignments would be assessed on work shown and answers that were achieved by the student. To earn the two points, students needed to have the paper part of the assignment complete with full work. Once the paper-pencil date collection was complete, assignments transitioned to the online style for the second quarter. For the online portion of the research, students were assigned their assignments using Big Ideas Math. During this part of the research, no work was collected from the students. The students were informed that they no longer had to write down their work

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to turn in, but they were encouraged to still write down their work so that they were not doing it all in their head. Students were allowed as many attempts on a problem as they needed. Scores on assignments were done using the following rubric; below 80% was given a 0, 81-90% was given a 1, and 91%-100% was given a 2. All assessments were given on paper throughout the research. There were three exceptions to this, due to school being in a full distance learning model during chapter 4 of Algebra 1A and chapter 7 part 2 and chapter 8 test for Algebra 1B. For the tests, students could use a calculator and a writing utensil. No notes were allowed during the testing time. Assessments were given after all lessons had been taught and a review day was complete. Due to COVID-19, assessments were given over the span of two days because students were split on what days they were in school.

Limitations

Some limitations of this study are that the study took place during a year where the school district was in hybrid and distance learning models due to Covid-19. This caused parts of the study to be affected that were not planned for. One of those parts was how paper and pencil assignments were completed. Paper and pencil assignments were completed by assigning assignments online using the online homework system Big Ideas Math. Students then needed to write down everything from the problem including the problem itself, all the work they had to do for the problem and their solution. A second change was that assessments were given over the span of two days because students were split on what days they were in school. Other parts that were affected included students working from home multiple days a week, internet connection at home and attendance in class being affected if a student had to quarantine. Another limitation of the study was that I was on paternity leave for most of the initial data collection. Because of this, my sub was collecting the initial data.

Results

The results of this study are split into two different groups. The first group is the data from the student’s assignments and test scores. The second group is survey results taken on the last day of the course from the students. Three main data points that were calculated were assignments completed per chapter, assignment percentage correct, and assessment scores for each chapter. In Algebra 1A chapters 1, 2, and 3, the students needed to write down all their work. For chapters 4 and 5, students used the online learning style for their assignments. The assignments completed by chapter are as follows; Chapter 1 (81.33%), Chapter 2 (86.6%), Chapter 3 (65.7%), Chapter 4 (60%) and Chapter 5 (50%), respectively.

The assignment percent correct are as follows; Chapter 1 (75%), Chapter 2 (85%), Chapter 3 (91%), Chapter 4 (72%) and Chapter 5 (68%), respectively.

Figure 1

Writing Work Helped Me on My Test

The Chapter tests scores were Chapter 1 (63%), Chapter 2 (75%), Chapter 3 (74%), Chapter 4 (47%) and Chapter 5 (48%), respectively. The average test score for tests completed with paper assignments was 70%. The range of scores on the tests varied, but on average, the difference between the high score and the low score was 53 percentage points. In contrast, the average test score for chapters done with online homework was 47.5% and the range was 68 percentage points. In Algebra 1B, chapters 1, 3, and 4 assignments were done on paper and chapters 7, 8 and 9 assignments were done online. Chapter 7 was split into two parts, due to the amount of content in that chapter. The percent assignments competed by chapter are Chapter 1 (88.19%), Chapter 3 (83.33%), Chapter 4 (79.17%), Chapter 7 part 1 (99.09%), Chapter 7 part 2 (79.09%), Chapter 8 (77.78%) and Chapter 9 (59.09%), respectively.

Figure 2

Not Writing Work Helped Me on My Test

The assignments percent correct for each chapter are Chapter 1 (83%), Chapter 3 (73%), Chapter 4 (83%), Chapter 7 part 1 (92%), Chapter 7 part 2 (91%), Chapter 8 (89%) and Chapter 9 (65%), respectively. The test percentages for each chapter are Chapter 1 (69%), Chapter 3 (67%), Chapter 4(75%), Chapter 7 part 1 (44%), Chapter 7 part 2 (78%), Chapter 8 (47%) and Chapter 9 (49%), respectively. The average test percentage for the tests taken during the paper assignment portion of the class was 70%, while the average test percentage during the online part was 54%. The range for the tests scores taken during the paper portion of the class was on average 63 percentage points, while the range for test scores during the online portion was 61 percentage points. At the end of class, students were given a survey about the different homework styles in the class. The survey was given anonymously so that students felt comfortable answering the questions honestly. Students were asked which homework style they preferred in two different questions. The first question asked if they preferred paper homework to online, 71% of students disagreed with this statement. The second question asked if students preferred online homework to paper, 78% of students agreed with this question. Figure 1 shows the student response to the question “I think that writing down the work helped with my performance on the tests.” Figure 2 shows the student response to the question “I think that not writing down my work helped with my performance on my tests.”

The last part of the survey was a free response section where students were asked two questions, “Which type of homework did you think benefitted your performance on tests and why?” In the future, which homework style would you choose (paper or online) and why?” For the question “Which type of homework did you think benefitted your performance on tests and why?” the responses varied. Thirteen students stated that they liked the paper homework for a variety of reasons. One student stated, “writing all of the work down helped me remember how to do the problems.” Another student wrote, “Writing stuff down was good because that’s how I did review for tests and stuff.” A third student wrote, “paper because I practiced doing the work.” Eleven students preferred online homework with three of those students using the reason that “you knew the right answer if you got it right, so you know you are doing it correctly.” Others wrote that online seemed easier as compared to paper homework and one student wrote “the paper one just took a lot of time, so it got frustrating and messy.” Two students noted that they like the online because they could still write down the work that they needed to instead of writing down work for all questions. Six students’ answers were inconclusive as to which style they preferred. These students stated that they liked both and did not care which style they used. One student’s reply was not relevant to the study.

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For the survey question, “In the future which homework style would you choose (paper or online) and why?” the results were dramatically different from what they liked from the current class. Of the 31 students, only seven would choose to do paper homework, where 22 students would prefer to do online homework. Two students were indifferent about which style they would choose. Those students who would choose paper stated reasons, “paper because on the test you’ll have to write it down” and “paper because what if something happens or my internet may not work I guess I wouldn’t be able to do homework that day.” Of the 22 students who would choose online homework in the future, there were a variety of reasons why. A couple students wrote online because it was “easier to do”, while other students wrote that they would not have to worry about losing their homework. One student wrote, “I would prefer online. I think it helped me to be able to fix my answers when I knew they were wrong. Then I can actually learn the concept instead of doing it all wrong and then having to redo everything.”

Because of this, the conclusion I drew was students need to write down their work to succeed in a modern-day math class. While the use of online learning management systems (online assignments) for assignments is less stressful for teachers, letting students solely work online is not beneficial to their educational growth. Using a blended approach of online assignments with having students write down their work is the best-case scenario for today’s classroom.

Literature Review Comparison

The results from Figure 3 and Figure 4 show assignments completed by chapter for my students. These results shown verify what Shuman (2015) found in his study, “Students were more likely to complete their homework when assigned on paper (86.7% of students) than on the computer (64.4% of students)” (p. vi).

Figure 3

Assignments Completed by Chapter for Algebra 1A

Discussion

In examining the results of my study and drawing conclusions based on the data, the study I conducted was based on the question, “how does online vs paper assignments effect Algebra 1 students’ summative assessment scores?” To do this, I split the class design into two parts, one where paper assignments were given and one part where only online assignments were given. The paper assignments had to be adjusted, due to a hybrid learning model and a leave of absence. To adjust for this, all assignments were given online, but students had to write down every question and all subsequent work that went with each question for the paper assignments. The online assignments were graded solely on the percent correct on the assignment. For each chapter, a test was given on paper with the exceptions of Chapters 4 in Algebra 1A and Chapter 7 part 2 and Chapter 8 in Algebra 1B, which were given online, due to school being in a distance learning model.

Figure 4

Assignments Completed by Chapter for Algebra 1B

Conclusion

The research done in this study was to address the question, “how does online vs paper assignments effect Algebra 1 students’ summative assessment scores?” This study was conducted in two different Algebra 1 classes. In these classes, the data suggested that students scored poorly on tests where they were not required to write down any work. Their test scores, assignment completion, and percent correct on assignments all went down when the transition to online assignments started, except for percent correct in Chapter 7 and 8 in Algebra 1B. When taking this into consideration with the students’ response to the survey about the current class, the data suggests that students knew they did not fare well in a strictly online assignment environment. This leads to the idea that students (whether it be in a classroom, district, or community) understand what they 17 are good at and what style is best for their education.

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On the contrary, my results yielded a differing conclusion then what Barnsley and Archer & Olson found with their research. “Online homework has a positive effect on the post-test scores of beginning algebra.” (Barnsley, 2014, p. 125). Archer & Olson (2018) also found the following information, “use of the webbased homework management system correlates to increase student learning as measured by exam performance” (Archer & Olson, 2018, p. 4). The results from the data are like what the research has shown, both of which were inconclusive.

Recommendations

After completing this study, I feel confident in suggesting to math educators that using a blended approach for assignments is the best method to utilize for students. I would suggest using an online assignment system, like WebAssign, Big Ideas, DeltaMath, etc., as well as having students show work on paper. This would benefit general education students, as well as special education students. If an educator were to repeat this study, I would suggest adjusting the paper

Implications

The results of this study could have influence on a school district if they use online assignments. Teachers/departments purchasing curriculum is one of the most challenging aspects of the job. Using this study as a guide, teachers/department(s) should look at online learning management systems and the effect that they have on student achievement. Online learning systems should be another tool in the toolbox and not just used because it is easier.

References

Arasasingham, R. D., Martorell, I., & Mcintire, T.M. (2011). Online homework and student achievement in a large enrollment introductory science course. Journal of College Science Teaching, 40(6), 70-79. Archer, K. K., & Olson, M. (2018). Practice. Practice. Practice. Do homework management systems work? International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 12(2), 1-5. https://doiorg. ssuproxy.mnpals.net/10.20429/ijsotl.20 18.120212 Barnsley, A. E. (2017). Analysis of the effects of online homework on the achievement, persistence, and attitude of developmental mathematics students [Proquest LLC]. In ProQuest LLC. Bembenutty, H. (2011). The last word: An interview with Harris Cooper—research, policies, tips, and current perspectives on homework. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(2), 340-349. https://doiorg. ssuproxy.mnpals.net/10.1177/1932202 X1102200207

Jonsdottir, A. H., Bjornsdottir, A., & Stefansson, G. (2017). Difference in learning students doing pen-and-paper homework compared to web-based homework in an introductory statistics course. Journal of Statistics Education, 25(1), 12-20.

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Building Fine Motor Skills One Finger at at Time

Shaylee Schei is currently serving as a Kindergarten teacher at Nisswa Elementary School in Nisswa, MN.

Implementing Daily Fine Motor Activities in Early Educational Settings Shaylee Schei Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of daily fine motor activities on handwriting development and writing perception in Kindergarten. Students were selected to manipulate objects using small muscle movements to increase finger dexterity and enhance writing skills. Gaining strength in hands, fingers, and wrists will ultimately increase fine motor movements and stamina during the writing process.

Key Words

Fine Motor, Small Muscle, Movement, Dexterity, Handwriting

Development

As emerging readers and writers enter elementary school for the first time, students are to explore, mature, and expand their knowledge in countless areas. Knowing children differ in developmental levels, schooling experiences, and learning techniques, the evaluation of fine motor abilities must also be considered. Sharing an array of fine motor opportunities with young learners will allow students to perform everyday skills with independence and confidence. In doing so, early elementary students have the opportunity to strengthen their small muscles controlling their hands, wrists, and fingers, known as fine motor skills.

Definition

Fine motor skills refer to the coordination between small muscles, like those of the hands and fingers, with the eyes. Fine motor skills involve small muscles of the body that enable such functions as writing, grasping small objects, and fastening clothing. They involve strength, fine motor control, and dexterity. (Logsdon, 2020, para.2)

Purpose

The Writing Process

Multiple fine motor skills are required for a child to have the ability to perform writing tasks independently. When asking a learner to write, their brain must activate a series of steps, in order to perform the task of writing. The steps are as follows… 1. Dynamic Tripod Grasp 2. In-Hand Manipulation 3. Letter Formation

Dynamic Tripod Grasp

First, a child must have the ability to manipulate a pencil using a Dynamic Tripod Grasp. This is holding a writing utensil resting against the middle finger, while the thumb and index finger control the pencil, pen, marker, or crayon. The Dynamic Tripod Grasp often develops at an early age and will strengthen the tiny muscles inside their hands. By school age, children often have mastery of the Dynamic Tripod Grasp, thus allowing learners to make small bending movements of the fingers to move the pencil tip. Fingers will be able to move freely and easily, in order to control a pencil for smooth handwriting.

Through providing an abundance of fine motor activities, students will have the opportunity to complete day-to-day tasks, such as buttoning, zipping, and tying. Additionally, fine motor skills will enhance children’s communication through writing, while young learners manipulate writing utensils. Through the implementation of daily fine motor activities, school staff will have the opportunity to determine the influence fine motor movements have on proper handwriting techniques and writing skills. In doing so, educators will obtain a detailed picture of individual fine motor abilities, thus, determining modifications and differentiated opportunities to implement in the early stages of the writing process.

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In Hand Manipulation

Second, In-Hand Manipulation refers to the skill of picking up an object and having the ability to move it around. This includes stabilization, which allows students to hold objects with the ring and pinky fingers, while moving an object with the thumb, index and middle fingers, i.e. a pencil.

Letter Formation

Third, Letter Formation is the act of following a “path” or series of verbal cues to form a letter. Verbal pathways will guide a student in knowing the direction to take, when forming a letter. They will also enhance children’s ability to understand how to control their small muscle movements, in order to produce individual letters with ease.

Early Stages of Writing

Knowing a child must have knowledge in the steps above allows educators to design opportunities for early learners to build foundational strength in their fine motor movements. The role handwriting plays in communication, written expression, and reading, encourages educators to assist students in reaching their highest potential in fine motor development and writing success. Educators must be sensitive to the varying levels of fine motor skills and promote the joy of writing. Educators must also encourage children to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings with written language. (Ouellette& Sénéchal, 2017, p. 77)

Writing Framework

When instructing emergent writers around the writing process, an educator must work with students through each stage of the emergent writing framework (shown above). This framework was designed to support educators in better understanding writing development. The framework itself is composed of conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and generative knowledge. When educators implement the following three domains appropriately, children gain confidence and independence in writing and mastering handwriting skills. Additionally, students are enhancing fine motor abilities and an increasing perception of the writing process.

Conceptual Knowledge

Conceptual knowledge includes learning the function of writing. In this domain, young children learn that writing has a purpose and that print is meaningful (i.e., it communicates ideas, stories, and facts). (Byington, 2017, para.4) Children begin to recognize environmental print and certain symbols, such as the red bullseye representing Target, or the letters DQ representing Dairy Queen. During this stage, children are drawing to represent writing, scribbling, and creating letter-like symbols. The drawings created are a form of writing, in which the students are communicating a purposeful message. Students are holding and using a pencil like an adult would, using the Dynamic Tripod Grasp, thus meaning their fine motor skills are developing. Having strong wrists, hands, and fingers help children hold their pencil functionally and build stamina during the writing process.

Procedural Knowledge

Procedural knowledge refers to the mechanics of letter and word writing. During this stage, emergent writers are beginning to write their name, gain alphabet knowledge, and learn the corresponding alphabetic symbols. Children begin to form letter strings, create letter-like shapes, use spaces between words, and record beginning and ending sounds in words. Children benefit from having multiple opportunities throughout the day to develop fine motor skills and finger dexterity using a variety of manipulatives (e.g., magnetic letters, pegboards) and writing implements. (Byington, 2017, para.5).

Fortunately, students are using fine motor muscles for just about every task on hand, however, allowing additional opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills is just as important. As an emergent writer, students discover multiple ways to send written messages. The stages of emergent writing consists of multiple steps, which include…

Early elementary learners enjoy experimenting with the writing process, which is why it is crucial for educators to provide young children with an abundance of early writing experiences.

Generative Knowledge

Lastly, children reach the third domain, known as generative knowledge. During this final stage of the emergent writing process, children begin to write phrases and sentences with meaning. They are slowly learning to translate their thoughts and express themselves using written communication (Puranik & Lonigan, 2014).

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Children will begin to write sentences and in doing so, emergent writers are able to record the sounds they hear in each word. Slowly, additional writing skills will be developed. These skills are enhanced, due to the experience in fine motor activities and strengthened small muscles. As children continue to develop during the conceptual, procedural, and generative domains of writing, they learn to include writing in their daily routines. For a child to be successful throughout each domain, fine motor skills must be in the process of developing, too. Children are strengthening their fine motor skills each time they simply pick up a pencil and begin to write. Writing skills allow individuals to communicate knowledge and engage in life activities. Writers have the opportunity to share thoughts, express opinions, and foster the ability to explain ideas to other individuals.

wrists, and fingers. A picture was included inside each fine motor bin explaining directions on how to complete the activity inside. All materials were provided for each activity. The goal of the picture was to encourage students to independently follow directions and allow time to manipulate the activity.

Collect Baseline Data

Following the introduction of each fine motor bin, the kindergartners received the Handwriting Without Tears (HWOT) initial screener (pictured above). Upon completion of the HWOT screener, I selected my four lowest scoring students to be the participants in my case study.

Puranik & Lonigan (2014) state, Teachers are laying the foundation for generative knowledge as children learn to express themselves orally and experiment with different forms of written communication, such as composing a story, writing notes, creating lists, and taking messages. (para.6) Through encouraging learners to engage in fine motor activities, educators are giving students opportunities to gain strength in finger dexterity, grasp a pencil easily, and gain confidence during the writing process. Knowing how interconnected fine motor development is on writing skills led me to the design of the following action research study.

Implementation of Case Study

In executing this investigation, I began by introducing the individual fine motor bins to students, in order to familiarize children with each activity. Fine Motor Bins included, but were not limited to, the following items… • Snapping items • Buttoning shirts • Lacing cards • Screwing nuts & bolts together • Hole Punching alphabet letters • Beaded Therapy Putty • Pokey Pin (push pin) • Beading Upon introducing each individual fine motor bin, a fine motor daily rotational schedule was created. This was designed for students to determine the activity they would be manipulating that particular day. This rotational schedule switched daily, in order to give children the opportunity to manipulate items in all fine motor bins. Upon entering the classroom, students would locate their photo on the fine motor rotational schedule and access the corresponding fine motor bin. Each day, students manipulated the objects strategically designed within each fine motor bin to begin working on small muscle movements using their hands,

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To begin the process, I administered an individual Writing Survey to determine my students’ thoughts on writing and how they viewed themselves as a writer at the time (pictured right). This survey provided quantitative descriptions of the characteristics and individual attitudes towards writing in Kindergarten.

Observational Period

Once the HWOT initial screener and writing survey was administered, the observational period began. During this time, I observed students while they completed fine motor tasks within each bin. Additionally, I took anecdotal notes and recorded findings regarding Dynamic-Tripod Grasp, In-Hand Manipulation, and Letter Formation. This information allowed for individual support. Concurrently, I observed students while completing independent writing practices. This could be during Writer’s Workshop, handwriting journals, etc. I took notes on strengths and areas in need of growth during this time on my case study students. Using anecdotal notes allowed me to collect my own data around writing strengths, fine

motor skills, and handwriting expertise. Being thorough in the note taking process allowed me to determine which stage the learners were performing in emergent writing skills.

Re-administration

Halfway through the study, during Week 6, I re-administered the Handwriting Without Tears Screener. Data was collected regarding the differences in letter formation, sentence structure, pencil grasp, line placement, verbal pathways and letter knowledge (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

HWOT Screener Results – Week 6

Observational Period Continued

Throughout weeks 6-11, the observational period continued as anecdotal notes were taken regarding the data from the screener. The notes allowed me to determine trouble areas for students around letters. Students continued rotating through their Fine Motor daily rotation chart, allowing for multiple opportunities for an increase in finger dexterity. I chose to focus on trouble areas during small group and whole group instruction to guide students in becoming independent with writing tasks based on HWOT Screener results.

Final Administration

Beginning Week 12, the last week of the study, I administered the Handwriting Without Tears Screener. I chose to use the data from this screener and enter the information into each individual student graph. Once HWOT results were entered on the graph, I administered the Writing Survey again. I made notes of the changes from the case study. I used this non-academic piece of information to determine students writing strengths and additional areas of growth. This graph shows the results of the HWOT Screener, in regards to the course of the study over time.

This graph displays students’ writing and their growth over time for the case study participants.

Figure 2

HWOT Screener Results – Week 12

I was able to determine that the time spent on strengthening fine motor skills and focusing on writing was beneficial. Students made the following gains.

Table 1

Week 1 vs. Week 6 Performance Percentages

When looking at the graph, baseline data indicates that Participants A-D were able to grow significantly based on results from the Handwriting Without Tears (HWOT) Screener. This data solidified my hypothesis around how the implementation of fine motor activities positively affect handwriting skills and the writing perception of young learners. Students made the following gains.

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Table 2

Participant Results – Week 1, 6, and 12

line, formation of capital and lowercase letters, and their ability to write a sentence appropriately. Moreover, I found as fine motor skills were integrated into the daily schedule, students obtained a positive outlook on their handwriting skills overall. Providing time to strictly focus on fine motor maturity and dexterity is crucial in determining its effect on early handwriting skills and promoting the writing process.

Further Consideration

Should this study be replicated, an assessment would be for each Fine Motor activity to determine the child’s ability in completing each task at Week 2, 6 and 12. Also, fine motor activities were implemented in the classroom without any formal training in this area. I would use the same 12 Fine Motor Bins for the course of the case study.

Furthermore, Students A-D rated themselves more positively on the Writing Survey. Each student in the case study viewed themselves as a “good writer”, based on survey results and all four felt “excited” when asked how writing makes them feel at school. In addition, the students stated “yes, I like to write in my journal” and “I want to be a better writer.”

Conclusion

Understanding the relationship between fine motor activities and the link towards proper handwriting techniques and perception towards writing is significantly challenging. The correlation between the three components not only lacks in research around handwriting specifically, but also questions the exact amount of time students should spend on specific fine motor skills, in order to gain fine motor maturity. This difficulty fueled my drive to seek a specified set of skills for handwriting and how to incorporate said skills into everyday routines in a kindergarten classroom. However, public schools were also faced with the challenge of switching to distance learning throughout the course of the year, meaning the study could not be fully completed in a kindergarten classroom setting, due to COVID-19 restrictions. By implementing daily fine motor activities and discovering its influence on proper handwriting techniques and perception towards handwriting in kindergarten, I anticipated my population of students in this study would demonstrate matured handwriting skills and a positive confidence towards handwriting by the end of the twelve-week period. Based on the data during the case study, students’ fine motor skills, finger dexterity, and growth in small muscle movements improved. Additionally, the HWOT Screener determines growth of handwriting capabilities, therefore, proving my study question as correct. Utilizing the HWOT Screener provided data in representing areas in which students grew in their individual handwriting abilities. The screener shared data on legibility, letter placement on the

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Furthermore, I would utilize an Observation Survey titled, Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words designed by Marie Clay as an additional way to measure handwriting skills and writing techniques.

References

Byington, T. A. (2017, November). Promoting preschoolers emergent writing. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/ nov2017/emergent-writing Logsdon, A. (2021, February 5). How to help children improve their fine motor skills. Verywell Family. https://www.verywellfamily.com/whatare fine-motor-skills-2162037. Ouellette, G., & M. Sénéchal. (2017). Invented spelling in kindergarten as a predictor of reading and spelling in Grade 1: A new pathway to literacy, or just the same road, less known? Developmental Psychology 53(1), 77–88. Puranik, C.S., & C.J. Lonigan. (2014). Emergent writing in preschoolers: Preliminary evidence for a theoretical framework. Reading Research Quarterly 49(4), 453–67. Robbins, J., (2020, August). Improve kids’ fine motor skills with 30 materials & Activities: HOAWG. https://handsonaswegrow.com/fine-motorskills activities/

Technology In the Classroom: Does it Motivate Students? Kami Johnson

Abstract

How does the use of technology engage and motivate the average high school student? Technology in the classroom adds new dimensions to teaching, best practices, and relationships. When used appropriately and with purpose, technology has a positive impact on learning and students stay motivated.

Kami Johnson is currently serving as a High School Social Studies teacher in Menahga, Minnesota, teaching Civics and U.S. History. She has been a teacher for 14 years. Kami calls the Park Rapids area her home where she lives with her husband and three children.

But is all this access to technology a good thing? What role should it play in classrooms and in schools? How does the use of technology impact the success of our students, both academically and socially?

Key Words

Learning Management Systems, Online Platform

Purpose

Technology use in the classroom is definitely a topic that is at the forefront of most every educator’s mind today. We are living in a tech-driven society, and the kids we see on a daily basis are living and breathing this every day. We are teaching and learning in a technology-filled society, and the culture of a high school is no different. Students are bombarded with screens, social media, video games, texting, and online curriculum on a daily basis. I was incredibly curious about the impact this was having on my students in the classroom. Does the constant use of technology hinder or help students to be more engaged and successful in 10th grade American History, for example? I have been using technology in my classes for years, but most often viewed it as something I was being forced to integrate, not always seeing the value that it could bring to my classes, if used to fidelity. Also, in light of the rapid move to technology in the last decade for kids especially, there is more research being done about the impact of screen time on our students; both in and out of the classroom. How does this affect the social and emotional well-being of our students? What impact does the constant use of technology have on motivation and engagement in the classroom? As a teacher, what is my role and responsibility in all of this? In today’s educational world, there is no doubt that the role of technology has greatly impacted what happens in our schools. It is evident when walking through a typical high school today; students with laptops, classrooms with smartboards, and I-pad carts scattered about. We are fortunate to have various forms of technology at our disposal, both at home and at school any time it is needed. Students live in a fast-paced environment where the ability to connect with others using technology has never been easier. Playing online games, using social media regularly, and having vast amounts of information at their fingertips can be very gratifying.

Using technology in the classroom adds a new dimension to teaching, best practices, and relationships that exist between the students and the teacher. It can be complicated, problematic, and exciting all at the same time. How one navigates this as a teacher, greatly influences the students in their classrooms. The role of a high school teacher is to prepare students for what lies ahead- whether it be the workforce, tech school, or a four year university. Making sure that today’s students have 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking are crucial for their success (Cassellius, 2016). It is the school’s responsibility to prepare their students to live successfully in a tech-driven world (Monke, 2006). Technology in the classroom has come to be expected by students, parents, and administration. It can be used in nearly any kind of classroom and with nearly all grade levels. Technology can help students feel connected and build social ties, by allowing them to have access to incredible amounts of information, interact with others in far-away locations around the world, and maintain relationships using technology (Antonucci, 2017). Using technology appropriately in the classroom can help students feel more engaged, both emotionally and intellectually (Cassellius, 2016). Students need to have authentic experiences that allow them to feel success and that are interesting for them to participate in and stay engaged with daily. Technology can allow for the teacher to differentiate instruction, use a variety of resources like videos, interactive web sites, and use learning management systems to provide students with multiple opportunities to be engaged, stay motivated, and feel intellectually successful. These tools allow students to connect with others, collaborate, and learn digital citizenship, helping them be emotionally engaged. With all these advancements in

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new methods of learning and communicating, there is still much to learn about how the health and well-being of the kids are impacted by the constant use of technology (Antonucci, 2017).

establish classroom norms, allow for group work, movement, choice, and build relationships that will help students to feel more motivated to participate in their own learning.

Engaging in technology can help the students take an active role in their learning. It can feel new and exciting. How the use of technology directly relates to student success in the form of work completion, academic achievement, and overall motivation in the classroom is yet to be determined, but is debated often. What motivates students and keeps them engaged is a constant discussion in education. Is it the teacher, the lesson, and use of technology itself? Or is it a combination of both (Wiggins, 2020)? High school students are quite acclimated to using technology in all facets of life. Their school experience is no different. They are typically quite comfortable using online learning management systems like google classroom or infinite campus. Accessing assignments, watching videos, submitting work online, are all elements of a standard high school class and students can navigate these fluidly (Vedova, 2013). Observing a typical high school classroom and collecting data would prove this to be true. Currently, the reality of education is that using technology to connect with and teach students is, in some instances, the only option. “Educational technology is simply becoming education” (Veldova, 2013, p.18). Distance learning is proving this to be true. The walls of our classroom spaces are being erased and forever changed. There are new ways to connect both inside and outside our classrooms (Veldova, 2013). It is the responsibility of the teacher to still build relationships, encourage growth, and model grit and persistence through it all; whether teaching online or in person. The opportunities for growth through the use of technology are greater than ever before. Videoconferencing, Zoom classrooms, and Google are now the gateways allowing us to access numerous paths to learning. Students and teachers are being challenged every day to take risks, learn new ways of doing things, and collaborate in an entirely new space when compared to the typical classrooms of years past, and technology is at the heart of this challenge (Veldova, 2013). Engagement is the goal of the classroom. It is when the most learning is happening, when students are actively participating, cooperating, and when they are taking ownership of their education (Matijic, 2018). Creating a classroom where this is occurring should be the goal of every teacher; whether teaching in person or using an online platform. Honoring students as creators of content, listening to their interests, and developing a community of active, supportive learners can be achieved both virtually and in person (Burns, 2018). Keeping students genuinely engaged is and will continue to be one of the biggest challenges as an educator. Teachers need to help students build healthy support systems and a growth mindset to ensure that they are achieving their goals and not quitting when it gets tough. Optimism and grit are critical in overcoming obstacles and challenges. Educators need to model this way of thinking and to shift their mind set as well. By embracing a mindset that values social interactions, establishing a supportive classroom climate, and focusing on student learning and growth, engagement will happen. It is crucial that educators

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Integrating technology can be a challenge for teachers, but “necessity is the mother of invention” (Wiggins, 2020, p.1). Given the current state of education in the year 2021, using technology in the classroom is not only needed, but it is vital to students staying connected to each other and to their learning. Helping students build their “digital toolbelt” will help them navigate an ever-changing educational experience right now. Teachers need to be creative and willing to take risks and try new things. Our students need us to lead the way! The learning journey cannot be underestimated, and teachers need to support their students along the way. Getting students to think critically, be adaptable and persistent, collaborate and problem solve, should be at the heart of every lesson, regardless of the mode of teaching. Technology is an important avenue that can allow for that to happen. Apps and videoconferencing allows for students to connect like never before. With the popularity and usefulness of learning management systems, students can now access information in a variety of ways. Social media, free online curriculum, and the ease with which information can be accessed have created numerous paths to learning (Veldova, 2013). Technology can challenge students to become consumers, creators, and collaborators with information on an entirely different level. Students need to be able to manage time, communicate clearly, and solve problems in a 21st century world. Digital tools can help develop and support these skills. It is the hope of teachers, that by allowing for choice and exploration and creativity using technology, more engagement will be achieved (Burns, 2018). Ultimately, it comes down to the teachers and the effectiveness of their lessons, the classroom climate they help foster, and the relationships they build with their students. HellTechnology has the ability to transform a lesson, a classroom, and the educational experience of students. Learning can broadly include both tech and non-tech strategies that facilitate student growth and expand the universe of learning possibilities for them (Ferlazzo, 2017). Teachers need to think through the steps students will need to be successful; both with and without digital tools (Burns, 2018). Technology has made online learning an achievable reality, but it is evident nothing can take the place of a good teacher. There is no question technology is here to stay, but so is the need for

effective, compassionate teachers who are invested in the wellbeing of their students. When students trust the teacher, they feel like they are in a respectful and safe learning community; motivation, engagement and learning will happen. Technology is merely a tool, which can enhance the learning experience.

preferred to work alone and not interact with many peers or me. The last of the girls was what I considered to be most average. She worked fairly hard a majority of the time, but could get easily distracted by the drama of high school. She had goals beyond high school, but quite often had a hard time with work completion and self-motivation. She tended to get her work done, but it was not always stellar work. All of the students had been in my class previously as ninth graders. I selected this group, due to the nature of the class being small and the fact that I already had the opportunity to establish a relationship with them as freshmen the previous year. It was my hope that they would be an honest and willing group to use in my research.

Design

Methodology

The participants for my Action Research project were tenth grade students who were enrolled in my U.S. History class. They were ages 15-16 years old at the time of the study. The group was made up of Caucasian students, 14 total of which there were 4 boys and 10 girls. In the class, there were 2 special education students, both girls. For my study, I tracked the progress and work of 7 students; 3 boys and 4 girls. I also surveyed the entire class as well. Numbers could fluctuate at times, due to the pandemic and shifts in our mode of learning throughout the fall of 2020. Out of the 7 students I used for my action research project, 3 of the students were high academic achievers, 2 were typical, average ability, and 2 students struggled with academics; and only 1 of them qualified for special education services. The three boys tended to be fairly social, respectful, and mindful students. None of them were what I would consider behavior challenges, but none of the three were very self-motivated. They all successfully passed Civics in ninth grade, when I had them last year. One struggled more academically, but I believe there were outside factors, which inhibited his desire to learn and get work done. The other 2 were very typical, squirrely at times, high school boys. They typically got A’s and B’s. The girls were a varied bunch as well. One was a straight A student who usually went above and beyond on every assignment or project there was in class. She came from an affluent, stable home and had a great deal of support. Another one of the girls was in many ways, the opposite - she struggled emotionally, did not have a lot of support at home, and some days hated being at school. She did what she needed to get by, but did not work to her potential. The second girl in my research was a special education student who worked really hard to be successful. She also had tremendous support; both at school and at home. She was extremely shy and struggled with communication, at times. She

At the start of my research, students completed an introductory survey regarding the use of technology in class throughout the spring of 2020. This survey was made up of very basic questions about what they saw as a success when using technology in the classroom, and what they felt were challenges. These questions were reflective of distance learning and learning entirely online during the start of the pandemic. Some sample questions were: did they check in to their online class daily, did they feel comfortable navigating technology for the classes, were they able to access information regarding their classes easily and with good connectability, did they prefer technology-based assignments over traditional paper/ pencil assignments, and their overall feelings regarding distance learning.

Figure 1

Tech-driven vs Traditional Delivery Assignments

I also examined and tracked assignment completion throughout the first semester of American History. I kept track of the type of assignments, online vs. traditional in person and how the work was completed and submitted through the use of a spreadsheet. Students have choices in my class often, regarding how they will show what they have learned. I also recorded whether they chose an online platform to show their work, or if they chose to complete a project using hands-on resources. Students just completed a research project on the Civil War, so I used their work as samples; examples of routes students took when given a choice. Students also completed a unit quiz using google forms entirely online, and I compared it with a traditional unit test they also took. I also compiled information given by the students through the use of a self-evaluation survey.

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This survey contained various questions regarding the use of technology in American History, online curriculum, learning management systems, and what they felt was a success and what they saw as a challenge. This survey was very similar to the one students took at the start of the year. Student input through the use of interviews were also used in gathering my research. I found their responses to be insightful and honest, in regards to how they felt about using technology in the classroom.

Procedure

The first step in my research process was a survey given in the early weeks of the school year in September regarding their (the students) overall feelings and opinions regarding technology use in the classroom. This was a google form that my tenth grade students in American History completed. Then, I started to record assignment completion and choices the students made regarding using technology versus a hard copy of information and project creation. I kept a log to keep track of student work completion from September 10th through November 30th. Using this log, I also recorded what model of learning we were in at the time. During the course of the fall semester, we moved from in-person to fully distance two different times; one time in October and the other in early November. I also taught from home 2 times during this period, as well while in quarantine; the end of September and the first week in November. I feel this information is very relevant when looking at work completion and student engagement for my research. Prior to Christmas break, during the week of December 14th, students completed a self-evaluation for American History, answering questions about their use of technology, assignment completion, and once again, their feelings on technology use. Final interviews were conducted in early January at the end of the first semester.

Figure 2

Motivation to Complete Assignments with Technology

my classroom. When asked at the beginning of the year in September how they felt regarding using online platforms, 10 out of 11 felt comfortable using them. When asked if they preferred using an online book compared to the traditional hard copy, 8 out of 10 replied that they preferred the hard copy, as opposed to the online version. One of the most telling questions and responses my students gave regarding technology and motivation was about whether or not they felt the use of technology motivated them to stay engaged. Only 50 percent said they felt more motivated. Only 27 percent said they preferred a technology-focused approach, while 45 percent said they preferred a blended approach where both technology and more traditional methods were used. This reinforced what the research had indicated. Technology will enhance lessons and the ease with which students can access the materials, but it still ultimately comes down to the effectiveness of the teacher and the overall classroom environment. To quote one of my students, “I feel that online learning is not the most exciting and fun, but we made it work. I really missed seeing people”.

Conclusion

After months of research, observation and really being mindful as to how technology is used in my classroom, I have come to some conclusions. First, technology is merely a tool. Education is and always will be about the relationships you build and help grow with your students. This is at the heart of everything. It is also important as a teacher to model being a lifelong learner, to take risks, and challenge yourself to always be learning more. Technology is a great avenue for this to happen! Secondly, having a strong foundation in your content area with clearly defined learning objectives will also help you branch out and build your digital “toolbelt”. Do not be afraid to try new things right along with your students. Students need to feel that your content and the lesson you are teaching is relevant to their lives. This is incredibly vital in the High School. Understanding that technology is relevant to their life, it is here to stay, and finding creative ways to use technology in your classroom will motivate your students. Naturally integrating good teaching practices with the use of effective technology greatly enhances the learning that is taking place in your classroom. With these things in motion, engagement and motivation will be there!

Results

When compiling the data and results over the course of the last 4 months, there were some very strong indicators of how my 10th graders felt regarding the use of technology in the classroom. Throughout the duration of my data collection, out of 10 assignment activities varying from online game participation like Kahoots! to lesson reviews and google slide presentation, 7 out of 10 assignments had a 100 percent completion rate. I also used surveys throughout the data collection period to gage where my students were, as far as their comfort level, engagement, and overall feelings about using technology in

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References

Antonucci, T.C., Ajrouch, K.J., & Manalel, J.A. (2017, December). Innovation in aging, 1(3), 1-9 doi: 10.1093/geroni/igx029. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles /PMC5954608/ Burns, M. (2018). Tasks before apps: Designing rigorous learning in a tech-rich classroom. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Cassellius, B. (2016). Minnesota department of education 1:1 device programs best practices in K-12 education. https://www.files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED5 72315.pdf Ferlazzo, L. (2017, March). Student engagement: Key to personalized learning, 74(6), 28-33. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Monke, L.W. (2005, December). The overdominance of computers, 63(4), 20-23. https://www.ascd.org/publications/educati onal-leadership/dec05/vol63/num04 Vedova, T.D. (2013, March). Teaching and leading in a “facebook meets face-to face” environment, 8(12). http://www.ascd.org/ascdexpress/ vol8/812-vedova.aspx Wiggins, A. (2020). A brave new world: A teacher’s take on surviving distance learning, 77(10), 38-41. https://ascd.org

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SMSU 15 01 STAT E ST R E E T • M A R S H A L L , M N 5 625 8 5 07. 5 37. 6 2 8 6 • 8 0 0 . 6 4 2 . 0 6 8 4 ADM ISSION@SMSU.E DU • SMSU.E DU

AC T ION RESEARC H JOURNAL

Mrs. Erika Pavek is an elementary teacher with a degree in elementary inclusive education. She has taught a variety of grades and currently teaches 3rd grade. She contributes to her community by serving as a coach alongside teaching. Erika resides in Marshall, MN with her husband and two young boys.

Mood and Morning Meetings Erika Pavek

Abstract

During the school day, many factors determine what mood students are in. This article will specifically look at how Morning Meetings can affect a student’s mood. The researchers’ analysis showed that implementing Morning Meetings into a classroom increased a student’s mood in a positive way, while also decreasing unwanted student behavior.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine what impact Morning Meeting will have on a student’s mood. Educators can use this research to gain an understanding of the effect a class morning meeting has on a student’s mood. I will be filling a gap in the current body of knowledge. The research will aim to answer the question: What impact will morning meetings have on a student’s mood?

Setting

The participants in this study include males and females from the researcher’s third grade class in Southwest Minnesota. The school district has 2,286 total students. Within the district, there are five school buildings which include two elementary schools, a middle school and two high schools. The school for the study is a combined third and fourth grade building with 170 third graders and 178 fourth graders. The sample for this study is from the researcher’s homeroom third grade class ages eight and nine. There are 19 students which include 10 females and nine male students. Six ELL (English language learners) students of which two students preferred language is Karen and one student’s preferred language is Spanish. This study has significance to classroom teachers who are with a full class at the beginning of the day. A limitation on the study is I was on maternity leave for the beginning of baseline data collection; therefore my long-term substitute started my baseline data collection. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the students involved in this study were in a hybrid style of learning. Therefore, students are at home doing distance learning one day a week. I did not track the student’s mood when they were distance learners. Also, when students were quarantined for two weeks, they were unable to participate in the study for that specific time.

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My school went all distant learning towards the beginning of the research and again in the middle of the study. There was a lot of inconsistency of student attendance throughout the data collection process.

Methodology

The data collection was created by the researcher in order to determine the purpose of the study, the tasks and the subjects. The researcher developed and completed the instruments. The instruments used in this study were student interviews, observations, and a student reflection log. The student interviews were utilized to determine student’s moods about Morning Meetings. The observations track student moods by their behavior. The student reflection log depicted what mood students were in each day and students indicated why they chose that mood. Student interviews. The student interviews are a set of compiled opened-ended questions which were completed in a one-onone setting. The researcher asked each student the interview questions individually and recorded their answers. The student interviews were completed two times. Once, three weeks after Morning Meetings were first implemented, and then eight weeks after implementation. The interview questions examined what Morning Meetings taught them, what parts do they like or dislike and if they enjoy Morning Meetings. The data was collected and stored in the researcher’s file. Observations. During the school day, the researcher would observe the students on Monday and Tuesdays from 8:15am8:45am to gain information on the student’s mood. The would record if students were in a noticeably negative mood such as outburst, putdowns, complaints or students being uncooperative. The researcher will go off the basis that all students are in positive moods unless otherwise noticed. The researcher will observe the students and track their positive and negative mood in a folder after the observation time is complete. Student reflection log. Every day, there is time set aside for students to complete their reflection log. The students fill out their reflection log using a sentence starter for how they feel and why. “Today I feel _____, because ________.” Students fill in the blank on what mood they are in, followed by why they feel that way. The student will complete the student reflection at the same time every day. The researcher collected and recorded the student reflection logs from each student.

Literature Review Morning Meeting

The Morning Meeting is a specific strategy designed to build respectful classroom interactions. These meetings are a structured time when students can develop their social skills among classmates. Specifically, Morning Meetings teach students skills so that they can learn, interact, and develop as human beings (Kriete, 1999). The purpose and objective of a Morning Meeting is to build a community full of learning, respect for self and others, and a set of social skills that children need to become academically and socially successful. By merging social, emotional, and intellectual learning, Morning Meetings can set the tone for a climate of trust and respect among a heterogeneous group of students (Kriete, 1999).

The Structure of Morning Meetings

Morning Meetings from Responsive Classrooms are part of a social-emotional learning system that contributes to academic learning throughout the day (Kriete & Davis, 2017). Morning Meetings are classroom gatherings of students and adults in a circle at the beginning of the day (What is Morning Meetings, 2016). There are four purposeful and sequential components to a morning meeting: greeting each other, sharing information from their daily lives, engaging in an activity together, and reading or listening to important announcements (What is Morning Meetings, 2016). The Morning Meetings build a strong sense of classroom community and set up students for academic and social success. Morning Meetings have a student-centered focus on human development and resiliency, which brings coherence to planning and the curricula to the classroom. “The repeated sequence of inclusion, influence, and community enables the group to experience increasingly more profound interaction the longer they are together” (Gibbs, 2001, p. 84). Once all teachers and students have an appreciation for Morning Meetings, everyone can participate in creating a healthy classroom (Kriete, 1999). Morning Meetings develop a sense of community. Community is the spirit that happens when many minds and hearts come together to work towards a common good that occurs through inclusion and the appreciation of individual differences (Gibbs, 2001). “The possibility for community, whether in a classroom, school, or any organization, depends upon the assumption that interdependence and connection to others is key to human development, learning, and the accomplishment of tasks” (Gibbs, 2001, p. 81).

Mood

Merriam-Webster (2020) defines mood as a conscious state of mind or predominant emotion; feeling. Mood is complex and has three major factors in creating them in the brain. The factors are biological, psychological, and environmental (Department of Health & Human Services, 2017). The interaction between these three factors results in the responsibility for mood and thought.

“Moods constitute the range of ways in which things are able to matter to us, a sense of the kinds of possibility that the world can offer up for us” (Ratcliffe, 2013, p.159). Positive mood may consist of positive emotions such as excitement, self-assurance, and cheerfulness at the high end, and boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the low end. Negative mood may consist of negative emotions such as nervousness, stress, and anxiety at the high end, and relaxation, tranquility, and poise at the low end (Robbins, Judge, Millett, & Jones, 2010). The effects of positive and negative moods will follow.

Positive and Negative Moods

In a positive mood, information is more readily perceived, learned, and inferred (Pekrun & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2014). When looking at mood and cognitive performance, negative mood serves to focus attention on local, sensory, and rule driven aspects of learning, while positive mood serves to broaden attention to alternative, conceptual, and integrative learning (Clore & Palmer, 2009; Nadler, Rabi & Minda, 2010). “A large body of empirical evidence has shown that negative affect-– depressed and anxious mood–-is associated with reduced cognitive performance and lower cognitive flexibility,” says Von Stumm (as stated in Grothaus, 2015, para. 7). Positive and negative moods affect nearly every type of learning.

Mood and its Effects on School-Age Children in the School Setting

The research literature shows that there is a shift occurring in educational needs in the 21st century. Through her work, Gibbs (2001) demonstrates that there is a need to teach 21stcenturyskills in schools. Gibbs (2001) states, “the way to do that is through positive classroom environments and cooperative learning communities where students learn and develop the necessary social skills” (p. 21). Mood can shape the way students and teachers engage academically. There might be limited engagement from students because of their negative mood. (Pekrun & Linnenbrink- Garcia, 2014). Classroom structure is limited in how it can affect a student’s overall mood, but it does play a role. Moods are connected to their emotions. Emotions experienced in the classroom could include anxiety, enjoyment, anger, hope, pride, and boredom, which can affect students’ learning in a variety of ways (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz & Perry, 2002). These emotions can be affected by classroom factors, individual differences between students, and external factors (Pekrun & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2014). “From the moment your child walks into the classroom, their emotional networks are activated and drive their attention, engagement, decisions, and behaviors” (Posey, 2019, para. 3). The students’ learning is tied to their moods. If students feel secure or feel as though they belong, their mood will likely lead them to engage in the learning (Posey, 2019).

Discussion and Results

The goal of the study was to determine what impact Morning Meetings will have on astudent’s mood. Using data from the

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reflection logs, I was able to determine that the student’s mood increased in a positive way when Morning Meetings were in place. As shown in Figure 1, students’ moods before Morning Meetings were 67% positive, 21% neutral, and 12% negative.

Figure 3

After Morning Meetings – Boys vs Girls

Figure 1

Students’ Moods before Morning Meeting

After Morning Meetings were put into place, student’s moods were 68% positive, 26% neutral and 6% negative. Even though the change was slim, we were able to see fewer negative moods among students. Along with increasing a student’s mood in a positive way, Morning Meetings will decrease classroom behaviors among students.

Figure 2

Before Morning Meetings: Boys vs Girls

From the student surveys, there was a 32-percentage point difference on the question, ‘Do you like Morning Meetings?’ three weeks after Morning Meeting were implemented compared to eight weeks after implementation as shown in Figure 4. Student’s responses were 63% ‘yes’ and 37% ‘okay’ three weeks after Morning Meetings were implemented. Eight weeks after implementation, 95% responded with ‘yes’ and 5% said ‘okay’. This shows student’s liking of Morning Meetings increased over time. The survey question ‘What part of Morning Meetings do you not like?’ had 85% of students respond with ‘nothing’, 5% of students said ‘greeting’, 5% said ‘sharing’ and 5% of students said ‘too loud’.

Figure 4

Feelings towards Morning Meetings

The number of outbursts, putdowns, complaints, or students being uncooperative decreased after Morning Meetings were put in place. Both girls and boys saw an increase in positive mood after Morning Meetings were implemented. Overall, girls were in a positive mood more often than boys both before and after Morning Meetings (see Figure 2) and Figure 3 Boys’ mood before Morning Meetings were 59% positive, 24% neutral and 17% negative. After Morning Meetings their moods were 62% positive, 32% neutral and 6% negative. Girls’ moods before Morning Meetings were 73% positive, 19% neutral and 8% negative. After Morning Meetings their moods were 76% positive, 21% neutral and 3% negative.

Educators have used their morning time to welcome their students and introduce them to a new day. If educators implement Morning Meetings, there are benefits to follow. Morning Meetings allow students to greet one another, share, participate in an activity and have a goal for the day. After completing this study, it is my recommendation to implement Morning Meetings into the classroom. For this specific study, students tracked their mood directly after the Morning Meetings. In future research, students should track their mood multiple times a day. If their mood was tracked around lunch and again towards the end of the day, we would be able to determine if Morning Meetings would affect how their mood is throughout the day. The purpose and objective of a Morning Meeting is to build a community full of learning, respect for self and others, and a set of social skills that children need to become academically and socially successful. Morning Meetings teach students skills so that they can learn, interact, and develop as human beings (Kriete, 1999). Teachers benefit from knowing Morning Meetings

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will shift negative moods into a more positive mood. After Morning Meetings were implemented, classroom behaviors also decreased, which will impact teachers, educators, and students. Morning Meetings have a very specific purpose and direction to them. If students feel secure or feel as though they belong, their mood will likely lead them to engage in the learning (Posey, 2019). Incorporating Morning Meetings at the start of each day helps students know the expectations when coming to school. What I discovered is that when I began to look at the use of Morning Meetings in the classroom, the implementation of Morning Meetings had a direct influence on mood and behavior in students. I am encouraging educators of all disciplines to consider the impact Morning Meetings have on a student’s mood. Likewise, a student’s success is more than their behavior or mood, but rather a holistic sense of fulfillment.

References

Clore, G. & Palmer, J. (2009). Affective guidance of intelligent agents: How emotions control cognition. Cognitive systems research, 20, 21-30. Department of Health & Human Services. (2017, December 11). Monitoring your mood. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health /HealthyLiving/monitoring-your-mood Gibbs, J. (2001) Tribes : A new way of learning and being together. Center Source Systems. Grothaus, M. (2015, November 9). Unraveling the surprising relationship between mood and productivity. https://www.fastcompany.com/3051246/u nraveling-the-surprising-relationshipbetween mood-and-productivity Kriete, R. (1999). The Morning Meeting book. Northeast Foundation for Children. Kriete, R., & Davis, C. (2017). The morning meeting book: K-8. Turner Falls, MA: Center for Responsive Schools. Mood. (2020). https://www.merriamwebster. com/dictionary/mood Pekrun, R., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (2014). International handbook of emotions in education. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Posey, A. (2019, October 7). How do emotions affect my child’s learning? http://www.parenttoolkit.com/social-andemotional development/news/selfawareness/ how-emotions-play-a-criticalrole in-learning-and-attention Ratcliffe, M. (2013). Why mood matters. In M. Wrathall (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger’s being and time (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, pp. 157-176). Cambridge: Cambridge. University Press. doi:10.1017/CCO9781139047289.008 Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. P. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement. A program of qualitative and quantitative research, Educational Psychologist, 37:2, 91-105, DOI: 10.1207/S15326985EP3702_4 Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., Millett, B., & Jones, M. (2010). OB the essentials. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. What is morning meeting. (2016, June 7). https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/cate gory/morning-meeting/

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Each spring, the off-campus Graduate Learning Communities host an Action Research Conference held on the SMSU campus in Marshall, MN. Graduate students from around the region share their research with fellow educators and their topics are linked with the standards established by the Minnesota Board of Education’s requirements for re-licensure. You can earn CEU’s by attending the sessions.

The four Continuing Education Units come from the following categories:

• Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies • Accommodation, modification, and adaptation of curriculum, materials, and instruction • Key warning signs for early onset Mental illness in children • Reading Preparation ACTION RE SE A RCH JOU R NAL

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