PROFESSIONAL INQUIRY

PROJECT

Raelyn Riley
Professional Semester III
University of Lethbridge
Fall 2014

INTRODUCTION
For my Inquiry Project, I decided to focus on KSA #6:
Teachers create and maintain environments that are
conducive to student learning.

GUIDING QUESTION
In what ways can I create an engaging Grade 9
ELA class where students feel physically,
psychologically, socially, and culturally secure?

STRATEGIES AND
Throughout
my project, I used four main
INTERVENTIONS
strategies/interventions:
1. Providing students with structure
2. Build rapport with students
3. Establish myself as a welcoming, fair,
enthusiastic, and organized presence
within my classroom
4. Keep in contact with parents

STRATEGIES AND
#1INTERVENTIONS
Providing Students with structure
To provide students with structure, the
following actions were implemented:
Provide academic expectations
Provide behavioural expectations
Establish seating plan by first full day
Maintain structure

STRATEGIES AND
#2 Build rapport with students
INTERVENTIONS
To build rapport with students, the following actions
were implemented:
Learn students names
Identify student interests
Identify student learning needs
Develop individualized program plans for students
who qualify
Create accommodations that can benefit all students

STRATEGIES AND
#3 Establish myself as a welcoming, fair, enthusiastic, and organized
INTERVENTIONS
presence within
my classroom
To establish myself as a positive presence within my classroom, the
following actions were implemented:
Greet students as they come into to the classroom
Self-reflect on areas of strength and areas that need improvement
Use and create effective rubrics
Keep track of classes, meetings, etc.
Observe and/or ask for advice from other teachers

STRATEGIES AND
#4 Keep in contact with parents
INTERVENTIONS
To keep in contact with parents, the following actions were implemented:
Use HomeLogic to display students marks online
Call home if students are falling behind on assignments or do not have
a passing grade
Email parents general updates on what is being covered in class
Email parents more specific updates on student progress
Speak with parents face-to-face, whether through scheduled meetings
or Parent-Teacher interviews

RELATED LITERATURE AND

RESOURCES
Literature and Resources
for Strategy #1

Course outline
Chinook High School FAQ PowerPoint
Coyote Character video and activity
Seating chart and appropriate desk layout
Wong, H., & Wong, R. (2009). The first days of school: How to
be an effective teacher. Mountainview, CA.: Wong Publishers.

RELATED LITERATURE AND

RESOURCES
Literature and
Resources for Strategy #2

Attendance list and alphabetized seating plan

Student Interest Survey
Conversations with student
Students cumulative files
Student IPP program

RELATED LITERATURE AND

RESOURCES
Literature and Resources
for Strategy #3
Journaling
Agenda
Teacher Mentors Sarah Brunner, Ashley Macknak, Rebecca
Kostek
Other teachers on staff

RELATED LITERATURE AND

RESOURCES
Literature and Resources
for Strategy #4
HomeLogic:
displaying students grades that may be viewed from home
at any time.
Contacting parents about general updates through mass
emails, as well as more specific emails
Parent phone numbers
Parent-Teacher interviews

TIMELINE
First Student
Survey Exit Slip
Sept. 18

All strands of Strategy

#1: Prepared before
school, implemented
first week of school,
and maintained
throughout semester.

Second Student
Survey Exit Slip
Nov. 13

Strategy #2
- Student Interest
Survey: within first
two days
- Learn students
names: by end of
second full week.

Third Student
Survey Exit Slip
Dec. 15

Strategy #3
- Journal at least
once/week
- Agenda and teacher
feedback ongoing
- Observing teachers
Nov. to Dec.

Strategy #4
- First mass email at
start of Sept.
- First grades posted in
Sept.
- First phone-homes in
Oct.
- P/T Interviews in Nov.

RESULTS
Qualitatively, it was fairly easy for me to see how
most students were faring in my classroom
environment. However, I also conducted three
short student surveys throughout the semester
where students were asked to answer four basic
questions and could also add comments. Overall, I
have found the results to be positive. The data and
comments are displayed on the slides that follow.

FormyInquiryProject,studentsweregiventhefollowingsurvey.
Please circle the answer that best represents how you feel about the environment in this class only.
In this class . . .
1. I feel secure about participating in class discussions.
Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Not Sure

Strongly Disagree

Not Sure

2. I do not feel physically threatened in any way.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

3. I feel that my fellow students respect my personal beliefs and values.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Not Sure

4. I feel that my teacher respects my personal beliefs and values.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Not Sure

Comments/Suggestions
Do you have any ideas for how I could improve any of the classroom conditions mentioned above, or just in general? All comments and
suggestions are helpful!

Classroom Management Inquiry #1

Thursday, September 18, 2014
In this class
1. I feel secure about participating in class discussions.
Strongly Agree
2
Agree
15
Disagree
3
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
4
2. I do not feel physically threatened in any way.
Strongly Agree
15
Agree
9
Disagree
0
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
0

3. I feel that my fellow students respect my personal beliefs and

values.
Strongly Agree
4
Agree
15
Disagree
5
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
0
4. I feel that my teacher respects my personal beliefs and values.
Strongly Agree
12
Agree
11
Disagree
1
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
0

Comments
- I do not always like working with my desk partner for every project. I would like to
choose a partner.
- I also like playing games or activities to help learn material.
- Longer breaks
- Have a game day or while studying make it fun and yeah
- Longer breaks
- I feel physically threatened by how uncomfortable the desks are. Perhaps armchairs? :)
- Longer breaks
- You're doing great.
- Keep up the good work!
- We should have longer breaks.
- Connect more with each individual student.

Classroom Management Inquiry #2

Thursday, November 13, 2014
In this class
1. I feel secure about participating in class discussions.
Strongly Agree
7
Agree
13
Disagree
3
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
4
2. I do not feel physically threatened in any way.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure

20
6
0
0
1

3. I feel that my fellow students respect my personal beliefs and

values.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure

8
15
3
1
0

4. I feel that my teacher respects my personal beliefs and values.

Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure

12
10
1
1
3

Comments
- If things are due we should be told and a notice should be on the board.
- I feel like your marking everyone really hard.
- Can we pick who we want to sit with?
- You need to explain stuff more clear.
- All good.
- More interacting activities/games.
- to give us more time with projects
- More hands-on activities
- To maybe bring us some snacks on certain days!
- I would like to do some more creative activitys.
- 5 minute break instead of 3 minutes.
- Keep up the good work!

Classroom Management Inquiry #3

Friday, December 19, 2014
In this class
1. I feel secure about participating in class
discussions.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure
2. I do not feel physically threatened in any way.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure

7
9
2
0
0

12
5
0
0
1

3. I feel that my fellow students respect my personal beliefs and

values.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Not Sure

7
9
0
0
2

4. I feel that my teacher respects my personal beliefs and values.

Strongly Agree
14
Agree
3
Disagree
1
Strongly Disagree
0
Not Sure
0

Comments
- Don't mark so hard
- Don't give out so much homework
- Raelyn your amazing & eyebrows on point
- She's Awesome!
- All good
- More candy canes
- You're doing a great job! Good luck! :)
- More candy canes :)
- Food sometimes and youre an awesome teacher
- I will miss you - Merry Christmas

REFLECTIONS AND FUTURE

DIRECTIONS

- A couple of the most useful resources I used were students cumulative files and the Student Interest
surveys that I distributed at the beginning of the year. I had never used them before, but I found them to be
very insightful.
- One of the strategies that I found to be the most useful for creating a stable classroom was using a seating
plan. Originally, I used an alphabetized seating plan to help me remember everyones names. Later, I tried
letting them sit where they wanted. This did not work. After getting to know their personalities better, seating
plans were useful for placing my students in spots around the classroom where they would be able to focus
and learn the most effectively.
- Parent communication is a strategy that I added later on after beginning my inquiry. I hadnt thought of it
earlier because I was so zeroed in on thinking about the actual classroom, but obviously outside factors are
going to affect what happens inside a classroom, so communicating with parents became very important for
me.
- Probably the greatest challenge I have faced with regards to students wellbeing was developing individual
relationships with all of them. All of my classes contained over 30 students. I think that for my core ELA 9
class, I got to know more personal details about the majority of them, but for my Enrichment classes, who I
only got to see every other day, this was more of a struggle. Building meaningful relationships with my
students is something I will continue to work on improving throughout my teaching career.