INQUIRY BRIEF

TRANSITIONS
BY: MIEKAL MORRIS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
School Demographics

Low income community

My Interning school became a Title
1 school about four years ago
It is a choice school
White
Asian

African American
Mixed

Hispanic

MY INTERNING CLASS

I am an interning student in the fifth grade

Classroom Demographics
Class is made up of 11 boys and 9 girls
About 68% of my students are eligible for reduced
lunch.
9 students who are on the safety patrol
1 ELL student, 2 students with IEPs, 1 student has
a 504 and 3 AGP and 5 gifted students.
2 students who are in the process of getting tested
for gifted.

White
African American

Hispanic
Mixed

WHAT HAVE I NOTICED

Lately, I have been noticing that my students seem to take a
long time transitioning form subject to subject and to and from
specials or lunch.

PURPOSE

I feel that not only does this take time away from learning but it also
effects their focus in class.
I am sure that the transition times will add up throughout the week and I
also feel that the longer that the transitions take the longer it will take the
students to focus after the transitions.

MY GOAL
My goal next semester is to come up with a useful
strategy to promote shorter transitions times

WHAT NEXT.
I began timing the transitions to see how long the students took to go from
one subject to another.
I also started looking and mapping out the classroom layout to see if that
had any direct effect on the transition times.
I began to do some research by reading articles about transitions

NEXT SEMESTER
I have been informed that I am being transferred to another interning
school next semester for various reasons.
I will now be interning in a kindergarten class, although I plan to continue
with the same injury I am wondering how the different grades will differ in
transition times.

ARTICLES
Increasing on-task behavior in every student in a second-grade
classroom during transitions: Validating the color wheel system.
Encourage students by calling on them to read the rules before transitions and
provide praise.
During the maintenance phase, the teacher gives the students a 2 minute warning
before switching over to the red wheel rules.
For students who failed to follow the rules during transitions, the teacher can either
read the rules again, have the whole class wait for that individual, punishment, or
extinction and start the activity.
Fudge, D. L., Skinner, C. H., Williams, J. L., Cowden, D., Clark, J., & Bliss, S. L. (2008). Increasing on-task behavior in every
student in a second-grade classroom during transitions: Validating the color wheel system. Journal of School Psychology,
46(5), 575-592. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2008.06.003

Moving Right Along...Planning Transitions to Prevent Challenging

Behavior

Transitions provide opportunities for supporting socialization skills and emotional competencies
Designing a schedule that minimizes transitions and maximizes the time children spend
engaged in developmentally appropriate activities is the first step in decreasing challenging
behavior
Use a variety of transition strategies to get the most of transitions such as large groups,
transition music, transaction activities, dismissals, etc.
Hemmeter, M., Ostrosky, M. M., Artman, K. M., & Kinder, K. A. (2008, May). Moving Right Along...Planning Transitions to Prevent Challenging Behavior. Beyond the Journal:
Young Children on the Web.

Role of Teacher as Classroom Manager

Transitions disrupt time flow and disruptive behaviors increase during transitions
that are unstructured.
By having a well-managed classroom that is planned ahead of time and the rules
are enforced, the less likely the students will be disruptive, late, etc.
Increase engagement and teach role and routines. Rules should be posted in the
classroom. Deal with the present and current problem.
Bushra Naoreen, C., & Aijaz Ahmed, G. (2009, February). Role of Teacher as Classroom Manager. Journal on Educational Psychology, 2(4), 65-73.

QUESTIONS I STILL HAVE.

I am wondering if the classroom layout has a direct effect on transition times.
I am wondering if making transitions shorter will increase student focus.
I am wondering what the transition differences will be between the 5th graders and
the kindergarteners.
I am wondering if the desire of socialization is the main contributor to transition
times. If I incorporate more opportunities to socialize during my lesson, will the
students still feel the need to delay transition times to socialize?
Will repeating the directions before the transition occurs, shorten the transition time?

METHODS
Time the students during the transition periods using my stop watch and record
the time it took
Conduct notes containing information such as how many students were still not
ready when the transition is over, what the tasks were to do during transitions, etc.
Tally to see how many students socialized during the transitions and what effect it
may have on the transition
Map out the different routes the students take during the transition to see if the
classroom layout is creating problems during the transitions

CONTINUE
Incorporate different transition strategies once I have collected the data after the first
month and analyzed it along with getting to know my new students.
Based on that data provided I can possibly add in a transition song or a countdown
After those new transition strategies have been implemented for a while, I would like to
compare that same type of data with my original data to see if there is an improvement.

TIME LINE
Week - 1
Get to know new students
Collect data in my notebook about what I have observed during the transition periods
Time the transitions using a stop watch and record the data
Analyze transition times data between subjects

Week - 2
Time the transitions using a stop watch and record the data
Interview CT
Using my data notebook create notes on student behavior during transitions
Create a tally sheet ( who is still unprepared, who socialized, who did not get the instructions)

Week - 3
Time the transitions using a stop watch and record the data
Interview 3-5 students
Create a layout map.
Collect data in my notebook about what I have observed during the transition periods

Week - 4
Time the transitions using a stop watch and record the data
Video record transitions
Collect data in my notebook about what I have observed during the transition periods
Analyze data

NEXT SEMESTER
I will get to know my new CT, students and
school
I will begin to collect my data and analyze it
Research to find new strategies or ideas to
implement in the classroom
Focus on my goal to come up with a useful
strategy to promote shorter transitions times