Week 5 Action Research Reflection

As I reflect on this course I will have to take you back to my thoughts when I realized this was going to be a research course.  That word “research” was a word I found to be intimidating and something I had always dreaded since grade school.  Regardless of the way I felt about it I also realized I was going to have to do it if I wanted to get through this course. 

One area of this course that helped me on this journey was the reading assignments from the Dana text.  This textbook pulls you through step by step.  Chapter 2, The Passions that Drive Your Journey”, in my opinion, was the most enlightening.  I think the most important sentence in the whole chapter is this. “If you find your wonderings beginning to focus on controlling or changing teacher behavior, try reframing them in ways that help you understand teacher behavior and allow you to discover what you can do as an administrator with those new understandings.” (Dana, 2009)  We as leaders have to understand the behavior to determine what our next step will be.   

For me the video lectures worked well.  They allow us to see the professors involved behind the scene and lay a good foundation for what to expect from the week’s assignments. They also helped me to feel at ease. 

Another highlight for me in this course would be the discussion boards and blogging.  My previous experience with discussion boards was not always very good.  That could have been due to the criteria set for previous discussion boards.  With that being said, I feel this time was quite different. I looked forward to seeing what others had to say. Conversing with my peers on their topics, as I have mentioned, was enlightening and inspiring.  Having their input and feedback on my questions and comments was very helpful and insightful.  As I continue this journey, I look forward to hearing from my peers on their topics of research as well as feedback on my own.

Week 4 2nd Revision of Action Research Plan

Week 4 is over. What a week! I have had some great discussions this week with my classmates. Cohort17 is so insightful at times it scares me. I have learned alot about action research this week. On to week 5. Below is my 2nd revision of my plan. I was not able to meet with my mentor this week so final word on it will come next week. I did however, take some of my classmates suggestions and made a few changes. Please give me some feedback. I look forward to reading your comments. Thanks all.

Week 3 Action Research Plan and Reflection

This week has been a difficult one. Not just because of the weather but also in the attempt to narrow down and finalize my action research plan. Where it started is not really where it ended up. I guess this is a part of the process but not sure I like where it ended. I first began wondering about technology staff development trainings being effective enough to enable teachers to actually implement the newly acquired ideas into their lessons which would result in an increase of technology use in the classroom. This all came about because of our campus not meeting a district requirement involving technology as I discussed in discussion board this week. When first posting my wondering I had the question stated as “Does technology staff development help teachers become more comfortable and increase the use of technology in the classroom?”  After reading and reviewing the questions I realized I did not have an open ended question taking me to another revision. My question then became, “How can we ensure technology staff development assist teachers in implementing and increasing the use of technology in the classroom?” Well, that one didn’t really work either because we can’t ensure anything when it involves the actions of another.  After several discussions with my mentor and others my wondering took a sharp turn. In trying to achieve a deeper understanding I realized that it may be more about what teachers do with the information and their own perceptions of effectiveness. Where one teacher may find something effective another may not. So I had to re-think and came up with a new inquiry.  “How can we assist teachers in effectively implementing the newly acquired ideas from trainings attended and increase the use of technology in their classrooms?”  Below is my latest revision of my action plan. I would love some feedback from you. Oh and did I mention, research is really not my thing so finding this really difficult. J

Action Research Web Conference #2 Jan. 27, 2011

Another interesting and informative web conference. There were so many outstanding ideas for action research. Still a lot to do and a lot more to learn. I'm actually getting a little more excited about it! This week I will be making my decision on my action research and get the ball rolling. Will post that later this week and hope for feedback from my peers! Oh and professors as well!

Reflection of week 2 - Action Research EDLD 5301

I have learned wondering about things is a good thing especially when you are thinking about action research. These wonderings should come from our passions developed through our work. In education when working as an administrator your wonderings may come from 9 different areas of passion, staff development, curriculum, individual teachers, individual students, school culture, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice. One should not focus their wonderings on controlling or changing others' practice. Discovering passion that is true and sustaining happens over time. Finally, wonderings that begin as one thing and change as time goes on is how we continue to find the best strategies and ideas to have successful students.

As I continue on through this course and deciding on my own action research project I will try to keep in mind all the information I have taken in this week.  This course is definitely going to be a journey!

Reference

Dana, N.F. (2009). The passions that drive your journey. In N.F. Dana, Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher (pp. 29-69). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.



Web Conference 5301 Action Research Week 2

It was nice to see familiar faces and some new faces during the web conference this week. This was the first web conference for this course and it was filled with valuable information. It is great to learn that when asking questions I feel might seem stupid, are the same questions some of your classmates had. It's not just me! I like that!  Everyone should try and join in on the web conferences. They are fun and you get to put faces to names. We all get the important questions out of the way and still have time to socialize a bit. This time it was interesting because we had two professors to answer questions and make things clear. Dr. Abshire of course who I had in my last class and Dr. Jenkins. They are really helpful and want us to be successful. Looking forward to the next one.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blog

I can see blogs being used as a way to interact with other educational leaders.  This could be done district wide or even be opened to educators across the state or country.  I see it as a great way to discuss current topics of interest, such as the cutting of education funds.  Blogs can also be used as a way to interact with staff.  Have an idea?  See what your staff thinks about it before you put it into action.            

What I Have Learned About Action Research

I have learned action research is a systematic process used to study behaviors or areas of concern where improvement or a complete change is needed.  These concerns can be with an individual, within a classroom, school wide, or even district wide.  This process begins by asking, yourself or a team of educators posing questions. Once the questions are decided upon, relevant data can be gathered.  When all the data has been gathered and analyzed, a plan of action can be created. This plan of action can then be implemented over time with the intention of improving or changing the area of concern.  To make the action research more meaningful leaders should involve educators who work on the campus where the concern is. This creates collaboration among the educators causing the plan of interventions to be more meaningful and allows for substantial professional growth.  Action research causes us to reflect. When we reflect on what we are doing and compare it to what we want or need to do change will occur. Change is the ultimate goal.

I feel I am involved in a simpler form of action research on a daily basis several times a day. My current position consists of me assisting teachers within our district on behavior challenges in their classrooms. It is part of my job to go in to a classroom, discuss with the teacher about what is happening or not happening in reference to the student. I then observe the student's behavior.  This portion would be the gathering of data. After looking at the data (analyzing it) I sit down with the teacher to give suggestions and create a plan of intervention.  The teacher then implements the plan for an appropriate amount of time.  I then return to follow up and reflect with the teacher to see if the plan is working or not.  If it is, we continue on and keep in touch in the weeks and months to come.  If the plan is not working we sit down reflecting some more and adjust the plan. The teacher and I collaborate and work toward the goal of improving the students’ behavior or changing it all together.