Course Reflection

The first thing I gained from this class was a broader understanding of what action research is. I found that action research is a cyclical process for improvement where the researcher asks questions, gathers data, and makes changes, leading them to another inquiry. I also learned that action research differs from traditional research in that the research is driven by the person conducting the research. I think this is important because it means I get to research something that is interesting to me.

According to Dana (2009), the process of administrative inquiry allows the principal to become the “head learner” (p. 2) on campus. I found this to be very encouraging because I never want to stop learning and become satisfied with where I am professionally. “A major benefit inherent in the process is the improvement of teaching when focusing on improving student achievement” (Ringler, 2007, p.36). I am excited that my desire to help my students achieve will assist me in my desire to become a better educator. Sometimes traditional research can take focus away from the students, but action research allows the teacher to investigate how she can improve so that her students can improve as well.

This course also focused on the importance of reflection. While trying to arrive at a research topic, I spent a great deal of time focusing on areas I could improve on and figuring out what my wonderings and passions were. This in itself was possibly the most useful part of the course. It helped me look critically at my current practices and gave me some focus points for my internship plan. The need to develop the research plan gave me the opportunity to collaborate with my assistant principal and a district-level specialist. Together we agreed upon a research topic that will not only positively affect students and teachers at our school, it can be shared with others across our school district and beyond.

The main outcome of the course was developing an action research plan to complete during this program. It was interesting to read what everyone else was planning on researching and to have access to their blogs. It seemed somewhat overwhelming to try to determine whose blog to begin commenting on, so I thought it might have been helpful to have been placed in small groups for peer editing like we had done in a previous course. I think this would have helped ensure everyone received peer review comments on their research plan. One final take-away from the course was the need to collaborate with colleagues and build on others' research rather than starting from scratch. Jeff did comment on my blog “I'm looking forward to working with you on integrating Moodle with the special education teachers.” He works at the district-level and I am looking forward to working with him to enhance each others' research projects.

Overall I found the course to be informative and I complete the course feeling well-prepared to conduct an action research project.

References

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ringler, M. (2007). Action research an effective instructional leadership skill for future public school

leaders. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice,4(1), 27-36.

Usleman, J. (2011, March 13). Re: action research plan [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://madteacherdiary.blogspot.com/2011/03/action-research-plan.html

week 4 reflection

I can't believe this course is wrapping up! I am confident in the plan I have and think it will be a useful process to go through. I am taking the next step next week in implementing some of my action items, as I describe below in my summary of my meeting with my site mentor.

I met with my site mentor in his office on Friday March 11, 2011 at 10:30am before we left for spring break. I printed off copies of my Action Research Plan for us to review. He thought my plan looked great and was anxious to get started. One of early action items is to attend an ARD meeting so he pulled up his calendar and put me on the schedule to attend an ARD the week we come back from spring break. We agreed on the timeline I had proposed, with the intention of implementing the professional development course during staff development days in August. Chris also wanted to add one item to my plan. He is working on scheduling classroom walk-throughs so we can observe and video current instructional practices. I intend to adjust my plan accordingly. We had a great meeting and are both excited about the project.

action research plan

Technology can help students be more engaged in their learning and can help teachers become more efficient. Our SPED department has been challenged in their Campus Improvement Plan to implement technology to reap both of these benefits. What training will the teachers need to implement the technology they are being asked to use? Will the students find their Visual Transition Plans more useful if they are created with cutting edge technology resources? If our SPED department succeeds in their improvement efforts, can the same process be used across the district? These wonderings have led me to the following action research question -

How can I use Moodle to train and assist the SPED department in infusing technology into their current practices to increase productivity and student engagement?

Please use this link to review my action research plan:https://sites.google.com/site/shytnen/home/edld-5301-action-research

week 2 reflection

I had been kind of dreading this course, even throughout most of the first two weeks. I was not confident in what I wanted to do my research project on. After meeting with my site mentor though, I was very much encouraged. He gave me a great suggestion to combine two of my ideas to come up with a research topic that I am interested in but will also be very helpful to my campus and potentially our entire district. Now that I have a topic I am cautiously looking forward to conducting the research.