Triple A: Ashley’s Alternative Areas Ashley Haynes Hazard Middle School Hazard Independent Schools

Area of Focus The goal of the Triple A: Ashley’s Alternative Areas Project in my 6th grade mathematics classroom is to promote positive student behavior that is in accordance with the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (P.B.I.S.) at Hazard Middle School.

Research Question Will implementing 21st Century Classroom Redesign lower the number of student discipline referrals in 6th grade?

Why did I choose to research this topic? After analyzing the SWIS data from the previous school year, I noticed that 6th grade consistently had the most number of discipline referrals for each month compared to the other three grade levels in the building.

Why did I choose to research this topic? To address this problem, I want to offer alternative seating areas in my classroom to create a more personalized instruction for each student in terms of where he or she can be the most productive, feel the most comfortable, and hopefully reduce the chances of becoming bored, irritable, and exhibiting off task behavior.

Why did I choose to research this topic? Research shows, “…ergonomists who have watched well-behaved children at standing-height tables or in bouncy chairs in Sweden or New Zealand or Canada insist that innovative furniture makes students pay more attention, not less,” (Perlstein, 2010, para. 9).

Action Plan To conduct the research, I will need to acquire various types of seating options that will be conducive to learning, such as saucer chairs, bungee cord chairs, a futon, and Hokki stools. Students will have the opportunity to sit in one of the alternative seating areas as opposed to sitting in an uncomfortable desk, while I am paying particular attention to their behavior to see if they are more inclined to follow school-wide rules, procedures and expectations.

Action Plan

Participants of the Study To address its objectives, this study considered as respondents all sixty-six students in 6th grade at Hazard Middle School during the 2016-2017 school year.

Pics of Participants

Pics of Participants

Pics of Participants

Pics of Participants

Pics of Participants

Pics of Participants

Implementation of Plan Students were given student voice about which flexible seating options they preferred for our classroom by taking a perception survey via the SurveyMonkey website on October 31, 2016. Survey Results showed: 92.06% said they were excited about transforming our classroom into a flexible seating environment

Implementation of Plan Survey Results showed: Which type of seat do you feel would help you focus the most? (You may choose up to 3 answers). Futon-58.73% Bungee Cord Chairs- 53.97% Camping Chairs- 47.62% Saucer Chairs- 41.27% Butterfly Chairs- 34.92% Hokki Stools- 15.87% Regular Classroom Desks- 7.94%

Implementation of Plan Students were given a student voice via a Google Classroom assignment about what they felt were appropriate Flexible Seating Expectations. Student responses were compiled to create the Flexible Seating Expectations. Flexible Seating Expectations were discussed in great detail on day one of implementation, January 9, 2017.

Evaluation To evaluate the outcomes of my project, I will be utilizing several sources of data, including weekly mark sheets for each 6th grade homeroom and SWIS data, which is a “… web-based information system to collect, summarize, and use student behavior data for decision making,” (PBIS Apps, 2016, para. 1). Student perception survey data will be analyzed to see if their perceptions of the classroom environment have changed since the beginning of the project. To ensure any positive outcomes on the measures are actually due to my innovation and not something else, I will be utilizing SWIS data from last year’s 6th grade class as the baseline.

Data

Data

Data

Data

Data Weekly Mark Sheets August 17, 2016-December 16, 2016 Frequency Excessive Talking 71 Off-Task Behavior 52

Data Weekly Mark Sheets January 9, 2017- April 3, 2017 Frequency Excessive Talking 53 Off-Task Behavior 34

Data Weekly Mark Sheets Analysis Frequency August 17, 2016- December 16, 2016 January 9, 2017- April 3, 2017 % of Decrease Excessive Talking 71 53 25.35% Off-Task Behavior 52 34 34.62%

Data Student Perception Survey Data -95% of students love the flexible seating environment and believe that it helps them focus better -88% of students said the Bungee Cord Chairs helped them focus the most -Some students said they wished we would have had recliners -On a scale of 1-10, 90% rated their flexible seating experience as a “10”

Analysis SWIS data reports show a significant decrease in the number of discipline referrals for both time frames compared. Weekly Mark Sheet Data also shows a significant decrease in the number of marks related to excessive talking and off-task behavior. Student Perception Survey Data shows that students prefer the flexible seating environment over the traditional classroom environment.

Meet the Participants Abby Steele Presley Steele Kassidy Jones Jude Koura Cole Smith Sawyer Patrick

Reflection Overall, I would conclude that the innovation was successful due to the lower number of discipline referrals as indicated by the SWIS data as well as weekly mark sheets. Positives- Students appear happier, more engaged, and more attentive. Students are eager to come to class on time because they want first pick of their “Smart Seats.” Seats can easily be maneuvered for different activities. Negatives-Bean bag chairs have to be refilled with beans; rotation schedule for futon