Week 5 Reflection!

Wow! What a ride! Very intense and very informative. Very excited about getting on with this research and seeing what happens!

Week 4 Reflection

Well, this is Week 4 of this particular research class and I must say it is a little more challenging that I had originally thought it would be! I am not making any changes so far to my plan so please feel free to review it from my Week 3 posting.

I would really appreciate any comments you can make in regards to this plan. I realize there are many things to consider and would appreciate any recommendations!

Thanks and happy blogging!

Week 3 Action Research Plan

Action Plan
Goal: Determine the relationship between student’s attendance due to extra-curricular activities and the student’s success rate in the classroom.

Action Step #1: Form an Advisory committee to focus on extra-curricular attendance issues.
Person(s) Responsible:
Brenda Moore, Administrator and at least one teacher for each core subject area.
Timeline: September 6, 2010 – September 17, 2010.
Needed Resources: Available core teachers.
Evaluation: Verbal confirmation of willingness to participate.

Action Step #2: Prepare teacher survey to determine teacher’s true concerns regarding attendance and extra-curricular activities and student’s classroom success.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, administrator and advisory committee.
Timeline: October, 2010 – November, 2010.
Resources: Internet connection, computer, survey monkey.
Evaluation: Completed survey questions.

Action Step #3: Administer teacher survey to determine teacher’s true concerns regarding attendance and extra-curricular activities and student’s classroom success.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore
Timeline: February, 2011 – February 2011.
Resources: Internet connection, computer, survey monkey, computer usage for survey completion.
Evaluation: Completion of survey and dissemination of data into usable form.

Action Step #4: Prepare survey for students to determine if they feel their attendance due to extra-curricular activities becomes a hindrance at times.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, teachers, administrator and advisory committee.
Timeline: October, 2010 – November, 2010.
Resources: Internet connection, computer, survey monkey, computer usage.
Evaluation: Completed survey questions.

Action Step #5: Administer survey to students to determine if they feel their attendance due to extra-curricular activities becomes a hindrance at times.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore
Timeline: March, 2011 – March 2011 (prior to Spring Break).
Resources: Internet connection, computer, survey monkey, computer usage for survey completion.
Evaluation: Completion of survey and dissemination of data into usable form.

Action Step #6: Evaluate data and determine course of action to improve problem areas found in survey data results.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, Principal and Advisory committee
Timeline: April, 2011 – April, 2011.
Resources: Internet connection, computer, survey monkey data results.
Evaluation: Completed data.

Action Step #7: Submit findings to campus site based committee to determine if there is a feasible plan of action for improvement.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, Principal, Advisory committee.
Timeline: May, 2011.
Resources: Computer to record findings and report for submission.
Evaluation: Data results.

Action Step #8: Wait for approval from site based committee for continued submission to school board.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, Principal, Advisory committee, site based committee.
Timeline: May, 2011
Resources: Created reports of data findings.
Evaluation: Approval or disapproval.

Action Step #9: Implement plan of action if approved by school board or start over if not approved.
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore, Principal, Advisory committee, site based committee and teachers.
Timeline: May, 2011 – June 2011.
Resources: School board approval and comments; both positive and negative. Implementation of planned details.
Evaluation: Approval or disapproval.

Action Step #10: Self Reflection / Evaluation
Person(s) Responsible: Brenda Moore
Timeline: June, 2011.
Resources: Self evaluation.
Evaluation: Reflection of plans of action taken and processes.

Week 2 Reflections!

During my reflections of Week 2, I have learned that when participating in action resesarch, we should definitely resesarch something that we are truly interested in; something that gets our heart pumping! Just as we always tell our students, if you are truly interested in your topic, you will do a really great job in researching important factors to support it. If it is something we are passionate about, the research no longer becomes "work", it becomes fun and challenging!

So, let's stay interested, focused, and practical!

Action Research Rocks!

During this first week we have taken a look at action research. I have participated in action research before without knowing that was actually what I was doing. It plays a vital part in problem solving while using data analysis to udnerstand current problems or situations. It takes this data in a controlled environment and assists in implementing a plan to improve the outcome. I guess I thought it was something that would be extremely difficult to understand, but in reality it is something we use in the classroom throughout the school year. Sometimes the research is simple and sometimes a little more involved.

In Desktop Publishing the students learn how to make various types of charts. One of the lesson plans the students participated in was to divide up into groups, choose a topic of concern for students on our campus, and survey students about the particular concern. After compiling the data they had to chart their findings. Since their topics were true areas of concern, our students were able to present their findings to our administrator. Although nothing has been done, as of yet, the issues will be looked at again during the Fall semester of this next school year. Our adminstrator was able to look at the data and review the concerns through the eyes of the student and found some to be legitimate.

Hopefully, with the data that was collected, some of these concerns will be addressed and changed for the betterment of the students and campus.

Analysis of How Educators Might Use Blogs:

There are many ways educators can use blogs to engage students in the classroom. One might use a blog as a type of chapter review. The teacher could post discussion questions about the chapter and the students could respond. It could also be used as a way to keep daily journals. The educator could post a thought for the day and the students could use the first 10 minutes of class to respond to the thought. They could be issued a specific code from the educator so the student could remain anonymous if needed.