• Change in routine in the beginning that allowed time to introduce and teach accountability tasks

• Transition time from reading during IDR and working on the accountability task

• Determining the sweet spot for goal setting with a variety of students

• Several schedule changes

  • Snow days and the move to all students attending

• Observing students' time on task in the beginning versus post action research

• Seeing the positive effects of goal setting on student motivation

• Students independently reading outside of IDR

• Continued to develop stronger positive relationships with students

I have learned a great amount about several things within my study such as conferring, goal setting, accountability tasks, motivation, and relationship building. I have learned so much about goal setting and the importance of it. From goal setting with students, I have learned that every student works at a different pace. Goal setting taught me that these varying paces are okay and expected. When using goal setting with each student individually, diverse learning needs are being met. The end goal is for students to read because they truly want to and enjoy reading. Goal setting during IDR is a stepping stone towards that end goal.

I feel that my action research has had a positive impact on students. The part I feel that has impacted students most is the one on one conferring discussions and goal setting. My students are so excited when they reach the goal they have been working on. They can not wait to tell me that they finished their book! Seeing that excitement and happiness in their eyes is when I feel the most impact.

A change I would make would be to the accountability tasks. I felt I rushed introducing each task and did not give them the proper amount of time to successfully learn the expectations for each task. In the future, I would plan to spend one week introducing each task. I believe this would be the ideal amount of time for each student to really understand the expectations. I would also model it several times, with a variety of books - chapter, picture, etc., so students are exposed to multiple modes of literature.

Another thing I would change would be my conferring anecdotal notes. While they were necessary, the format I used was not as clear cut or useful as I had hoped. Next time I will make it so I could check boxes on if they did something. For example, if they read fluently...check box. It was hard to record good and purposeful notes while conferring when I wanted to be present for the student in front of me.

I will continue to confer and set goals with students. I truly believe providing students with one on one support while conferring is a huge advantage when building and maintaining relationships with students.

From now on, I am going to offer my students the option of completing an accountability task or not. I think some students benefit from it and some of them could benefit from reading independently for a longer time. This change will be made with stipulations. If I notice a student needing to be held accountable for independent reading, I will ask them to complete an accountability task.