​
What did I learn as a result of the action research?
Throughout this study, I learned that in the classroom we can learn while moving around or playing a game. I can adapt my lessons to include games and movement. Through movement, I can make learning more fun, engaging, and motivating. I also experienced that the strategies do not have to be over the top or anything that will take too much time to create, students learned that even as simple as solving problems on whiteboards were more motivating than paper.
Even the smallest forms of engagement motivated my students more than I could believe. I started to see students enjoying the learning process even if it was tough. I noticed students excited to hear other perspectives and how others got the answer. This experiment could have taken place in any subject area, and I now know how to implement movement and game-like activities in math, but it can be done very easily in Social Studies, Reading or Science.
With the information and experience I gained through this study, I plan to implement engagement strategies across the curriculum in the future. In the short amount of time, I noticed that the whole dynamic of my classroom changed, and students were much more excited and motivated to learn. That is how I want everyday to go in the future. I also experienced the time being too short and if this process was repeated, I would change two things. I would schedule two weeks to explain to the students my expectations and purpose for each strategy so students knew why we were doing it and how to do each. This would get rid of students talking about what their weekend plan is or what game they will play at recess. I would also increase the amount of instructional time I provided to my students. Student achievement is very important, and my number one goal in teaching is to have students retain the information that is taught. Knowing that engagement strategies kept my students on task and motivated will hopefully increase student achievement in the future if instructional time is raised.
​
How did the action research impact:
​
​
​
Successes!
Overall, I enjoyed this research very much and learned so many things. One big success I found was how much my students enjoyed moving around the room but finding a way we could learn at the same time. I also observed that my students worked very hard when they were working as a team and for game points. My students loved voting with their feet and using whiteboards during whole group and small group instruction. They were being challenged but encouraged and coached each other to find the correct answer. I came to realize how much whiteboards made a difference. Instead of solving problems on a piece of paper, students would much rather complete their problems on a whiteboard and stay on task and engaged. I was so pleased to see how their attitude and engagement improved through out the six weeks, and found that they do not dread math when there is movement involved. Even though their test scores did not improve tremendously, I was still proud of the class averages and the little improvement they did make! In the future, I want to focus on setting expectations and purpose for each strategy before implementing it into the classroom routine. I also I plan to implement engagement strategies at the beginning of the year and throughout more subjects to keep students motivated and engaged in the learning process.
Challenges!
One big challenge I ran into was students who took it seriously versus students who did not take it seriously. Some students wanted to discuss their weekend plans or what was for lunch that day rather than discussing math topics and different ways to solve the problem. There were times it was hard to implement movement because there would be too many distractions from those that did not want to take math seriously that day. Some days were more difficult than others and the classroom management became tough. For example, students were messing with their markers/whiteboards, having a conversation about their weekend plans rather than helping each other through the math problems or just choosing not to participate, which caused other students to do the same. Those that did take it seriously loved it, and I could tell. They were motivated to learn new topics and encouraged to do their best. I noticed that the days when there wasn't complete engagement, it was either a Monday, Friday or it was a day before a snow storm. On Monday's I noticed students not as talkative or engaged because coming back from a weekend had students tired and took longer for students to get engaged. I noticed on Friday's and days where the weather changed, they were more talkative and got antsy when sitting. In the future, I could avoid these challenges and preplan for activities that allowed students to move and share their thoughts with their peers.