Action Research Update

My Action Research project has really been a learning process. I have taken six students into a music program I have designed to build the confidence, social skills as well as musical abilities. The program has had to be tweaked due to school rules being broken. One child was taken out of the program due to the amount of times the student missed the program in the mornings. The program still has 5 students working hard and I can see improvement in self-esteem as well as socializing with one another. The skills learned in the morning have stimulated their brains I believe to where they can focus more in their homeroom after announcements. I have had few teachers come and thank me for doing the program. They can see the success of their students and the discipline for most has improved. I do, however, still have many more obstacles to reach. I have learned that everything looks good on paper. You can have the best ideas to help students but until you put it into action you will never know if it will work or not. Everything is trial and error. There is no right or wrong and it is a learning experience for both you and the students. This action research project has helped me grow as a teacher. I feel more confident in decision making and I feel like I am becoming a better teacher because of it. I will continue the program hopefully after the performance because I feel that they can still learn so much from the program and use their skills in the future. I am anxious to see how the performance will turn out.