An Action Research on

“CAUSES OF CLASSROOM DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS THAT AFFECT GRADE 9-ROXAS

STUDENTS LEARNING”

Prepared By:

Bonna Mae Gambong Condemina

SY: 2017-2018
I.CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

During my past two years of teaching, there have been many challenges that I have

encountered, from learning a new school system, materials, and strategies, and facing different

behavior from my different classes. As a teacher, the one thing that I have found to be the most

challenging though is finding my own individual teaching style and structure for classroom

management including student’s behavior. Based on the child protection policy, imposing

punishment to discipline a child or a student is highly prohibited. As a result, some students are

no longer interested on what the teachers wants for them to learn to have a good quality of

learning because the discipline inside the classroom are no longer necessary in line with the

said policy. Instead they are more interested on things that can catch their attention than to

participate in the class. I was once a student and I believed that discipline is one of the best

solutions in order for a student to learn inside the classroom especially in this kind of generation

now that we have.

As a teacher, I teach my students with a heart, applied different style of teaching and

approach, and creating a classroom environment that is conducive from learning. But to my

dismay there are still students who are not interested to learn, and making different disruptive

behaviors inside the classroom and I’ve considered it challenging as a teacher. They are

challenging because it’s their quality of learning that is affected. And that’s why I have

conducted action research on causes of disruptive behaviors in the classroom that affects these

students learning to enable me to learn more about my ability to manage the classroom and to

reduce disruptive behaviors without imposing discipline inside the classroom. My research

focuses on my grade 8 advisory class composed of 23 males and 22 females. This combination

of students, from different areas of interest and different learning abilities and levels, has been

the source of my exploration and need to find appropriate classroom management skills for this

unruly mix of learners.

One of the greatest challenges that educators face today is giving students with

behavioral disorders and inappropriate behaviors, tools that will help them function

independently in an appropriate manner. As the momentum of inclusion is increasing, teachers

are facing classrooms where students display various academic and behavioral characteristics;

therefore, teachers are constantly looking for effective instructional strategies and classroom

management techniques. Dr. Elizabeth Bondy (1999) stated that the Responsive Classroom

approach focuses on creating a balance between academic and social learning in classrooms.

Research supports that students cannot learn in a poorly managed classroom. Classroom

teachers meet daily with a diverse population of students. Approximately 12-22 percent of all

students in school suffer from mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders, and relatively few

receive mental health services (Adelman & Taylor, 2005). Classroom teachers tend to be

attracted to flexible, easy to implement and inexpensive teaching strategies and techniques that

keep students actively involved.

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In investigating the variety of students that were grouped together, I came to the

realization that I needed to create a solution to the chaos in order to accomplish daily classroom

assignments. Through researching my six classes and their behavior, I realized that almost of

my students in my advisory class possesses a combination of disruptive behaviors that needed

to be addressed. In developing my starting point, which originated with all of my classes, I

decided to focus on the following question: Does the feeling of safety or the lack of safety affect

the learning of the students. After contemplating this question, I realized that the true problem

that was involved was classroom management not safety. Therefore, I needed to learn how I

could structure this particular class in order to avoid or reduce the amounts of disruptive

behavior in class without implementing punishment as part of discipline in these particular

classes. The questions that I investigated for this classes were: (1.) What are the students

doing that is disruptive; (2.) Why are they being disruptive; (3.) How this disruptive

behavior affects their learning; (4.) How do I respond to their disruptive behavior; and (5.)

How do the students respond to my actions? By researching these questions, my goal was

to find answers to the questions above, while exploring solutions to prevent these behavioral
problems from continuing. As the school year continued, I learned a great deal about the

dynamics of this particular group of students by deploying a variety of classroom behavior

strategies.

IV. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The study on causes of classroom disruptive behaviors that affects grade 8 students

learning was conducted within my advisory class, grade 8 section Aquino as respondents of the

study. The study is limited only among the selected grade 8 Aquino students and in no way

represent other students outside grade 8 section Aquino. The study was conducted during the

month of January, 2016.

V. METHODOLOGY

In the beginning of the process, I began to keep a journal of the events that took place

that I believed endangered the safety of the students. In about a month time, I had accumulated

random clips of information that did not seem to have much sequence. I then came to the

realization through general questions posed to my students that their feelings of safety varied

from individual. The feeling of safety was not something that I could truly have an impact on

other than in my particular classroom by providing structure and positive classroom

management, which was the means to the variation of my action research. After I decided to

restructure my focus to classroom management, I continued to keep a journal within my

advisory class with disruptive behavior. I wanted to see if there was any particular pattern of

events that caused the students to misbehave (how, why, and when) during the class period. I

also wanted to investigate how I reacted to the situations and how the student reacted to my

strategies of classroom management.

I began this process by reviewing the guidelines of the classroom and talking with the

students about my expectations of them. I also stated the consequences of their actions if they

choose to break the guidelines and why it is important to abide by the rules of the classroom.

Some of the consequences dealt with include of talking in class, throwing objects, pushing,

hitting, and harassing another student. All of these actions would be addressed with a stern

verbal warning, send to the guidance office for counseling, call the attention of parents, and or

suspension from the whole class period. I used these consequences as the basis to managing
classroom behavior and as a reminder of the importance of guidelines for each students

learning style.

In the middle of the school year, after I had been keeping the journal for over a month, I

asked the students for some of their thoughts on what would prevent disruptive behavior. I took

some time at the end of one overly disruptive class period to ask the students for suggestions

on some ways to improve the class to ensure that it kept running smoothly. By asking the

students for their opinions on how to structure the classroom, it helped them to see the

problems that existed. Having the student participate in this activity also enabled me to adjust

management techniques accordingly.

Towards the end of the school year, I administered a survey for the students to

complete on behavior .I asked the students for information that would be comparable to my

findings through journalizing. I wanted to see if the students were aware of the activities that

seemed to encourage or discourage disruptive behavior. I also wanted to know how they

categorized me as a teacher and my classroom management skills as being fair, unfair, nice,

mean, etc. I then had the students explain what I could change or how they could change to

reduce the amount of disruptive behavior. I then asked them to provide any additional

information that was relevant and that would be useful in my understanding of their feelings. I

then broke down the surveys into an overall summary and numerous categories by gender and

division of study. Using this method of data collection enabled me to improve my awareness of

detail and increased my understanding of the importance of organization, preparation, and

consistency. Asking the students for their input and opinions through both verbally and in

survey form helped my classroom management situation empowering the students by giving

them a voice in the classroom and implementing some of their suggestions. From a personal

perspective, I found journalizing their suggestions to be quite time consuming and difficult to

keep up with while teaching classes consecutively throughout the day. The lack of time in the

school day also limited me to only researching as opposed to my advisory class.

The Findings

Through journalizing, I found a few recognizable patterns. I found that if the students were

busy from the moment they walked into the classroom until the moment the bell rang they were
generally less disruptive. As soon as they were granted free time and not kept busy, disruptive

behavior increased. I also found that when the students were participating in groups,

completing a graded assignment, listening to a speaker, or viewing a video, they tended to

behave appropriately and with respect. However, when I assign class work such as reading

and questions from the book, behavioral problems seem to materialize. In addition, when some

students completed the assignments quickly, disruption usually occurred because they were left

without an assignment while they waited for other students to finish. I also found that when I

was checking notebooks and walking around the room, my attention is not focused on the whole

classroom, disruptive behavior occurred.

I also found that in a classroom of 45 students in their younger age year they tend to be

very curious, especially about topic that can catch their attention. Many of the students,

predominantly male, seemed to be extremely immature about the topics of suicide, alcohol,

drugs, tobacco, reproduction, during my class discussion in home management and health.

They seemed to act out by telling stories and showing off to their peers. Some students are

also interested about entrepreneurship because they can relate in their own life situation since it

is the source of income of their family. I was also able to identify through journalizing the

students that were being disruptive on a continuous basis. It seemed that five male students in

particular, were the main perpetrators of disruptive behavior. When any of the five were absent,

it seemed quieter and easier to manage the classroom. Two particular male was absent for

almost two weeks during this observation time and the class seemed to become a little more

manageable. As the school year progressed, I was also able to identify an increase in

independence, self responsibility with daily activities and assignments, and personal maturity.

By asking my students to give their opinions on what would reduce disruptive behavior in

class to enable it to run more smoothly, it help me to understand their opinions and use their

suggestions on a trial an error basis. The following day in response to their suggestions, I

stated to them the various consequences of their actions. That same day I had a student

misbehave by throwing bag at another student. I immediately addressed his behavior with see

me after class, which the students know means to schedule when their punishment will be. The

follow through on this disruptive behavior seemed to set the tone for the rest of the class and
the students seemed to be much more aware of the rules by me responding to inappropriate

behavior without hesitation.

When a student would arrive at faculty office, I would talk with them about their behavior and

asked them why it took place. They usually knew why they were there and I asked them to

complete a behavior plan. I then had the student write me a plan for how he or she was going

to avoid getting punished again, sign it and they pass it in to me. The student would usually

apologize for their action and would agree to try not to let it happen again. This was the process

that I followed for all the consequences that were given to disruptive students. The second

punishable offense was sending to guidance office for counseling by the disruptive student. The

said student was given the chance to be counseled by the guidance counselor. Beyond that, a

letter would be made to the parents and a meeting with the guidance counselor would be

scheduled. The farthest I had to go in the disciplinary process was the suspension stage with

the consent of the teacher in charge. Many of the students would settle down after a warning

and use one another as examples of what not to do.

In the survey I administered to my advisory class, I learned a lot about my student’s

views on activities relating to disruptive behavior and their perception of my classroom

management techniques. Many of them stated that I was fair or nice to the students when I

addressed their inappropriate behavior, but thought that I needed to be stricter by not giving the

students so many chances. The students restated the techniques that I had used and

suggested that I pursue consequences at a faster rate, by not letting students get away with

behavior that causes disruption. Many of the students who provided me with these suggestions

were the ones whose behavior was not disruptive. The ones that tended to be more disruptive

believed that the best disciplining procedure was to give demerits, send them to time out, be

more stern, show more videos, and that there is nothing that I can do to change their behavior.

Although they may be the ones being disruptive, they still seem to believe that consequences

should be administered.

Implications

Through conducting action research on this class, I have learned a number of beneficial

skills that will follow me through my teaching career. I have learned that providing explicit
instructions prior to a lesson has enabled the students to prepare for the day, be more

responsible by not asking as many questions, and to stay on task through the duration of the

class period. I have also learned that providing them with a variety of teaching methods breaks

up the monotony of the classroom, and helps spark their interest to the topic of the day.

Through this research project, I have also discovered that providing students with a reminder of

what behavior is both appropriate and inappropriate has helped the students to abide by the

guidelines of the classroom. Another strategy I have found that has helped this particular

classes is to provide them with in-depth explanations of why we learn what we do during our

class and giving them a reward at the end of the class. The would regularly reward them by

giving them the rest of the class time to start their homework and to talk quietly in their seats.

Before this course, I never realized the importance of explaining why we need to behave

appropriately in the classroom and how breaking the rules affect others. Action research has

also enabled me to pay attention to the details surrounding classroom management. It has also

helped me to look into behavior problems at a new level. Instead of just punishing, I have also

acquired an interest in understanding why the students do what they do. At first, I was unsure

what keeping a journal would do for my teaching. After analyzing the information, I discovered

over only a three-month period, I began to see the value in reflecting on my feelings on

behavior. I discovered that a pattern arose in my student’s behavior that had an adverse affect

on my attitude towards my classroom management style. If I had a positive attitude at the start

of the class, my frustration with their noise level seemed to be quite low and tolerable. It

seemed as if the students could quickly sense the kind of mood I was in and knew the limits

they could take with their behavior.

This research has also increased my awareness of how I let too many inappropriate behaviors

go unnoticed because I am sensitive to the students needs and I feel bad. I have always had

the suspicion that I may be too nice when it comes to managing the classroom and that I need

to be stricter on a consistent basis. In the beginning of each school year, I have the tendency to

start with a very strict, regimented approach, but as the school year progresses, I always seem

to become more lenient. I enjoy the time that I spend with the students and I make an effort to

develop a personal relationship with each of them. Showing an interest in the students’ lives

seems to open the door for my leniency. Although I become less strict as the school year
progresses, I believe that I gain more respect from my students by learning more about their

interests. It is a respect that I hope to gain from all of my students while still finding ways to

implement new strategies for classroom management. And for me it was the best discipline that

I’ve imparted to my students.

Through learning how to systematically conduct research, critically view my journal

reflections, and sharing my findings with my notebook group and other peers, I have begun to

understand the importance of applying action research to my teaching. I do not believe that my

action research on classroom behavior will ever be complete. As soon as I reduce the amount

of disruptive behavior in one class, another will challenge me. There will be a number of

strategies that will work for one class that will have no influence on the behavior of another.

The art of teaching is exciting because of its constant challenges and changes providing

a venue for personal growth. Teaching never seems to be dull or predictable due to students’

behavior, which is one of the main reasons I chose to become a teacher.

VII. COST ESTIMATION

Expected Expenses Proposed Budget

VIII. REFFERENCES

Bondy, E. (1999). Effects of individual contingencies for group consequences on disruptive behavior in a
classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior

(Adelman & Taylor (2005). The school leader’s guide to student learning supports: New directions for
addressing barriers to learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Bradley, R., Doolittle, J., Lopez, F., Smith, J., & Sugai, G . (2007). Discipline: Improved understanding
and implementation. OSEP Part B Regulations Regional Implementation Meeting: