Finding time to Implement Action Research

What: I'm finding a really hard time to naturally implement my small group discussions in my classroom. Part of this is because my lessons are literally written for me--the whole department World History II team does the same things on the same days with the same readings for all of 10th grade. They don't like when I deviate and I find the groupings take a long time to put together, and students don't often remember who they're with or the roles they are taking.

So what: I'm afraid I'll have inadequate action research to write about and reflect on, including presenting at spring conference.

Now what: Next week is a time where I would naturally have a place to do small groups prior to a large class discussion, but with shortened classes and snow days mixed in, I'm running out of time. I might talk to one of my department members to see if I can amend a lesson to fit the needs of my AR.