Leadership - My Contributions to My School and Community Abstract This action research investigated the use of interactive student notebooks

involving a small group seventh grade middle school social studies classroom. This interactive teaching tool was used to determine if content comprehension and application of skills was increased through daily use in a grade seven setting. Students used the interactive notebook daily during social studies instruction to write lecture notes, work on independent and group activities as well as to complete homework. Additionally, the interactive notebooks were used to summarize prior lessons and as a study tool to prepare for formative and summative assessments. Data was collected daily through teacher observation of student work and weekly to check for understanding and completion of assignments. A major finding of the project was that student ownership of the notebook provided the student with the opportunity to be active participants in the learning experience. The notebook design allowed students to convey their understanding in a format that supported their individual learning styles. This resulted in an improved and deeper understanding of the content as evidenced through the connections students made between teacher generated materials and the varied demonstrations of their knowledge throughout the unit of study. Findings: Student populations are changing every year. With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, more students with disabilities are being educated within their hometown schools. As more students of all abilities participate within general education classes, it becomes the responsibility of all educators to find inventive means to reach all learners. One method teachers can use is through a more individualized approach to evaluating content understanding

the interactive student notebook. As stated by Lauria (2010), reaching students of all academic ranges involves the need for differentiated instruction techniques and more individualized approaches to demonstrating student comprehension. The interactive notebook permits the teacher to provide his or her own input information in various formats. Students are taught that this information is the key information for them to understand. The left side of the notebook permits the student to transfer and convey their understandings of that material in a manner that can be differentiated or suited to their individual learning style. This concept of choice proved favorable to the students that were involved in my research and written about by Lo (2010), when she mentioned that students are drawn in to the learning process when they feel a sense of ownership in their work. Pride in ownership became a key characteristic with my students. They took a keen interest in the presentation of their output material and enjoyed the concept of choice that was given to them. Since choice of output was involved I also saw more thorough work completed. This was evidenced in the transfer and application of teacher input into a creative demonstration of their comprehension of the content information. The addition of having the teacher material conveniently located on the accompanying page allowed for more detailed work product. The ISN format allows for frequent opportunities for the teacher to assess understanding. Since all work is contained within the notebook there is little chance for lost homework. The convenience of all work in one location permitted me to assess comprehension and understanding more quickly. This was key to deciding what information needed to be repeated or reinforced and helped me to modify lessons when I needed to. Another advantage is that having the input pages next to the student work made it easier to point out where student

misconception existed and quickly eradicate it. Additionally, since assessment could be more regularly administered it also allowed me to increase the rigor when it was appropriate. Still another advantage was building organization skills. Being a successful student means taking responsibility for their materials. For learning disabled students, organization can be very difficult. The use of an interactive notebook helps keep students structured by having a table of contents and numbered pages in a predictable format. As Wist (2006) points out building organization is one of key advantages to interactive notebooks. As chronicled by Wist (2006) a major disadvantage that I also found was setup of the notebook. Teacher information needs to be designed to fit on the right sided pages concisely and with enough input so students can produce a corresponding output page. Assembling the notebook can also be time consuming until it is fully understood. Aside from these disadvantages I found that student involvement with the notebook offset the additional time needed to set up the ISN. I also agree with Massey and Heafner (2004) that interactive notebooks are most likely better suited for science and social studies content where comprehension skills need to be more frequently monitored.

References Lauria, J. (2010). Differentiation through learning-style responsive strategies. Kappa Delta Pi, 47(Fall), 24-29. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.marygrove.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=73495a54 -f39c-4beb-84ce-88edfa26b063@sessionmgr112&hid=127& bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl

Lo, C. C. (2010). Student learning and student satisfaction in an interactive classroom. The journal of general education, 59(4), 238-263. Retrieved from http://130.102.44.246/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_general_e ducation/v059/59.4.lo.pdf Massey, D. & Heafner, T. (2004). Promoting reading comprehension in social studies. Journal of adolescent & adult literacy. 48 (1): 26-40. Retrieved from http://www.ed.sc.edu/raisse/pdf/SocialStudiesArticles/PromotingReadingComprehension inSocia%20Studies.pdf Wist, C. (2006). Putting it all together: understanding the research behind interactive notebooks.(Master's thesis)Retrieved from http://interactivenotebooks.wikispaces.com/file/view/ISN-Research Based.pdf