Thanksgiving

Our team has taken a short break to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones. When we return, we'll be sharing our plans for how to apply the results from our data collection.

Data Collection

Over the last week, we've been developing a plan to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret our data collected during our Action Research project.  A few samples of our data collection tools are below.

DATA COLLECTION SHEET

Student's Name: Class/Teacher: Observer: Week: (Number and A or B): Date:

Identify challenging behavior in observable and measurable terms:  Off-task behavior is being observed and measured using interval recording, behavior will be noted twice per class (pre and post intervention during B weeks) every 30 seconds for 15 minutes.  See key below for behavior definitions and codes.

Start Time

End Time

Behavior - Code Recorded Every 30 Seconds

Total On Task

Total Off Task

Definitions of Behavior 1. Off-task motor (OTM) - Instead of working on assigned task, the student is out of seat (six inches or more from seat) without authorization from the teacher, handling objects not involved in the lesson, physically touching other children when contact is not part of the lesson, making gestures not relevant to the lesson, or throwing things. 2. Off-task verbal (OTV) - Instead of working on assigned task, the student is calling out without being called upon, talking during quiet work time, holding a conversation not related to the assigned task, or making non lingusitic noises. 3. Off-task passive (OTP) - Instead of working on assigned task, the student is looking somewhere other than the acknowledged speaker, the board or screen on which the lesson is occurring, or relevant lesson materials, putting head down on desk or in their hands, or delaying starting the assigned task. 4. On-task (ONT) - The student is engaging in behavior that is directly related to the activity established by the teacher.  None of the above behaviors are occuring

Post Intervention Student Interview Survey

Student Name: 

Date:

1. Do you think the brain beaks helped you focus better/stay on task?

                  Yes                                  No                                     A little   

2. Where do you have the most trouble focusing/staying on task?

                 a. Desk   

                                b. Front carpet     

                                                  c. Guided reading group table  

3. Do you have a suggestion for a brain break the class could try next week ?

         a. Hoberman sphere/breathing exercises    

                    b. Yoga        

                               c. Dance   

                                                d. Go Noodle      

Learning How to Analyze the Data

Over the last week our team has been learning about how to analyze the data that we will collect next semester. We learned about several data analysis skills and tools to analyze quantitative and qualitative  data. For quantitative data analysis, there are two major categories of statistical tools: descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, standard deviation, percentage, and correlation coefficient) and inferential statistics (e.g., t-test, sign test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and chi square analysis). For qualitative data, we learned about several strategies, such as organizing the data; generating categories, themes, and patterns; and testing emergent hypotheses. This week we are meeting to decide which tools we will use to collect data and how we will analyze the data.