We are getting to the end of class five, and they are asking for some information about how our action research program is coming along. It has taken a little bit of a backseat right now to the other things at school. Mine has to do with math, but we are all over the reading assessment right now. I know in the very near future we will get back to it. All we can do is keep working, and give our best effort.

Discussion Boards

Well I finally jumped in on a conference his week. It was very hard to hear people, and keep up with what was going on. The conferences are very informative it is just very hard to follow along during the conference. For me there are too many things going on. I actually find it easier too read the notes after the conference. I do like the idea of them I just think it might be more helpful if it was limited to a certain amount of people per conference.

Reflections of class 2.

This was a very interesting class from the start. When you hear the word research project you think well I guess I better get ready to bury my head in a book, and start gathering information. That was not the case at all. Starting out the first few weeks I liked where we were going with the class. I find that when I watch the videos every week I can get a real feel for whether I am going to learn a little or a lot. Every week I felt I was going to learn a lot. The only bummer is I just don’t know how much of this I will be able to use when I am an administrator. Maybe during summers, or long term projects. But ask any principal and they will tell you all about the time they do not have. My project is about assessments in math for K-2.  When we read about the section on strategies for sustaining improvement I was able to piece together good info about my project going forward. Using the force field analysis, and finding out what that was. I also liked using the action planning template from the Harris text. This was a good way to have a very realistic timeline for the project. I also enjoyed from the Dana text. This had tons of great information that helped me gather information for the project. I also got to try a lot of things for the first time. I started up my own blog. This is cool, but I have to admit I did not think my blog would be school related. I thought if I ever did one it would have something to do with sports. Blogging is something that I think that I might use a lot going forward. I just don’t feel comfortable using it all of the time. I wonder if over time my comfort level will ease and this is something that will just happen. I also still enjoy feedback from my colleagues and this is a great way for them to chat about topics in our class. The discussion boards are also a great way of gathering information, and seeing what everyone else is doing. I like getting feedback because I often wonder how I am doing, and if I am on task. The topics of some of the other projects are quite interesting to me, and I look forward to seeing how they turn out. The assignments in this class did a good job of building forward to our goal of an action research project. I like how we used every week going over strategies that would help us, and things that we should be asking our site supervisor. Getting to spend a little extra time with my site supervisor is turning out to be a rewarding experience. I also like being able to feel like I am helping him by analyzing data on this project. He is so busy at school that I enjoy walking in and being able tp show him what I found out by looking at the data. That is a rewarding feeling, and I hope I will be able to do more of that. There were a few things I did not like about this class. I did not like the Harris text very much. I think it might be because the Dana text is such a good book. It also could be just me. The other thing I did not like is this TK20 project. I hope it gets easier for me to understand going forward, but to me I just don’t understand it. There are plenty of ways to get the information out there, and for me to have to pay more money is a little silly. The last thing I want to talk about is the reflections of this class. I enjoy being able to stop and discuss what is on my mind. This is a great tool, and I hope it continues in my classes in the future. We did lots of reflecting, and that is a good thing. Taking the time to look back, as well as look forward is awesome. This class I enjoyed very much and I look forward to seeing what else Lamar University has planned for us.

Action Research Plan

Here are the steps in my action research plan:

What parts of the math curriculum do we need to spend more focus on after giving the district wide assessment in grades K-2?

Setting the Foundation- I plan to meet with my assistant principal to discuss what we will be looking at in the data. Will it be patterns or specific objectives that we will be looking at? The issues that we find we will discuss with the classroom teachers, and see what it is that we can improve on. Analyzing Data-First we will look at the exam, and see what questions were missed the most in each grade level. After that we will also look to see if we can find any patterns in the data. Is it just a tough question for the kids, or is it something they just did not learn? Then we will see what specifically we can improve on teaching wise. Is it something that is not being taught enough, or do change how we teach it. This is something we will discuss with the classroom teachers. Developing Understanding- This is where we will look deeper into the data. Since this is a first year test there will be additional questions. So not only will the data be hard to use against previous years, but it will be hard to compare to other assessments. This is a completely different test, so is it the test that is the problem, or the student not meeting the objective. Engaging in Self Reflection- What is it that we are looking to get out of this assessment? Are we looking for things that are not being done, or is it much bigger than that. We talk about teaching to mastery in our school but is it taking place regularly? We need to take a look at that and see what we can do to be better across the board. Exploring Programmatic Patterns- What we are looking for are the objectives being taught and mastered? Since it’s a first year test it will be difficult to see if it’s the student or the test. Sometimes a test can have a very confusing question, and we will have to look to other schools to see what it is that their students had trouble with also. Determining Direction- This is where we will see if the objectives are being met. We will also see if our students are ready to move forward and on to the next objective. We will sit down and see how the kids did, and then we will go back and look at the results. We should have this done in the next 6 to 8 weeks. After we sit down and talk about the results we will then meet with the teachers, and talk to other schools before we can fully know the results of the assessment. Taking Action- After we meet and discuss the results we will sit down with each grade level. See what they think will help in the learning process, and ask for feedback moving forward. What is it that we can change to help these kids successful? We then will be able to find out what it is that we can do moving forward with our students. Sustaining improvement-I hope during this time we will be able to look back at the positive strides we made and make progress going forward. We want to see what we are doing well, and fine tune it. Then we need to see what we have to change going forward. During this process we want to make sure we look at the big picture, and make sure our kids are getting all the resources that they need to be successful.

Week 2 blog fun

This was a fun week of getting to understand action research a little more. We were able to learn a little more about the parts that go into how we do action research. I also got to spend a little time with my site supervisor and we were able to chat about all kinds of things. It was nice to sit down with him and pick his brain about our upcoming action research project. Looking forward to week three, and what it has in store.

Educational leaders

Educational leaders can use blogs in many ways. In my opinion the main way they can use blogs is to get extra information out there for all parents, and members of the community. In the technology age we are this is just another way to be in touch with the community.

My first blog!

What I have learned about action research is that there are a lot of different ways that you can use action research. It can be used in all aspects of education.It can be used in classroom research, or it can be used in continuous improvement plans.There are so many different directions you can go with action research.You can sit down individually and look at yourself, or you can look at a group of different things and reflect upon them.I nave been a teacher and coach for sixteen years, and I use action research at the end of each sport season. It is a good way to look back on the season, and see what it is that worked well, and what we should change for next year. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on every aspect of what it is you do as an administrator. In my case when I am coaching this gives me a chance to go back and look at everything. Sometimes as coaches we look back to soon after a season ends and we rush to judgement. This is a wonderful tool to discover, and I look forward to implementing it in all aspects of my teaching. This is something that I feel would be extremely helpful to all people in the education field.