September 29, 2013

I am reporting on how my action research plan is going.  At this point I only have been able to hand out surveys to my teaching team and to the students.  I am journaling on the progress of implementing the new 6th grade ELAR block course this school year.  Our classes just recently took district benchmarks which will provide some baseline data.  I am struggling with time.  Our team barely has time to plan for the upcoming week, much less discuss and assess the course.  I am hoping as we begin to acclimate to the school year,  I will have more time for this type of discussion.

My Blog thus far:

Due to the fact that my first blog site was not operable, I had to create another one.  I’m not sure if the new site was posted on Dr. Abshire’s revised URL list.  However, in posting my comments on my classmates’ sites, I have encouraged them to follow my site as well.  Yey!! I got some responses!!

I was pleased that Keeva Clayton thought that my action plan was easy to understand and follow.  I also happy about her expressed interest in my topic, as she is an ELA teacher at her campus too.  I look forward to hearing from her as I undertake this research. 

Terri Ballew was complimentary about my plan as well.  She did bring up a suggestion that I am going to consider.  She thought that perhaps having six weeks grading results can generate more timely data.  I am thinking that our benchmark testing can help with this. Great idea, Terri!

My Action Research Plan:

This is my action research plan for my research regarding the effectiveness and implementation of the new combined ELA block course.

Action Planning Template
Goal:The implementation and effectiveness of the new combined ELA block course during the 2013-2014 school year
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with the five ELA course teachers in 6th grade.	Marcy Garza	August 19- 30, 2013	None	After meeting and discussing the research action plan, reflect on what are good data collection methods.
Meet with teachers monthly during PLC meetings.	Marcy Garza	August 19, 2013- May 30, 2014	Interview questions and surveys	Accumulate data from interviews, surveys, and information to ascertain what’s working and what’s not working.
Survey 6th grade students.	Marcy Garza	After first six weeks grading period, at the end of the semester,and at the end of the school year.	Surveys Questionnaires	Accumulate data from surveys and questionnaires.
Meet with site supervisor	Marcy Garza	After first six weeks grading period, at the end of the semester, and the end of the school year.	Questions	Discuss data findings and self reflections.
Meet with 6th grade ELA teachers and site supervisor	Marcy Garza	May 2014	Interviews, STAAR test scores, data, survey, self-reflection	Reflect on what was effective and not effective this past school year with regards to the new ELA course.

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

Week 2

Week 2:
This past week, what impressed me the most was the three videos. I enjoyed hearing what the speakers had to say. I gather the data and research is here to stay in the education system. I think that what Dr. Lewis said about the research was important. He states that research should interest you, stay focused, and benefit our students. This is something I'll take away from this week and keep in mind as I progress through this program and in my future career.

Week 1 Part 1:

I really enjoyed the reading for this week regarding action research.  The idea of inquiring, posing questions, gathering data, reflection, introspection, and implementing change makes sense to me.  I see the value in action research versus the previous methods of research being "imparted" to us teachers via the latest and greatest education guru who has no clue about our school.  I like how action research could be used not only to address issues on our campus, but also as an assessment of my own performance as an educator.  If more principals modeled this type of introspection, many more teachers would be willing to "look in the mirror" to see how we can be better educators.

Action research can be utilized at our school to inquire why there is so much teacher turnover each year, how we can improve interventions, will allowing students to bring their own technology to class work, how one block course affect the entire schedule, dress code, etc.  I think the posssibilites are endless!  I'm taking my first step with my own action research this coming school year; I am looking forward to experiencing the whole process as well as what I find.

Lastly, what resonated with me is that over the past 14 years of teaching,  I can't tell you how many times I've sat through seminars, staff developments, and meetings listening to someone flown in from somewhere out of our state to enlighten us with their research.  The whole time everyone thinks " How is this going to work?"  Action research uses a school's own resources, its staff, to wonder or inquire about a campus' issues or needed adjustments.  The data, input, research, and reflection might then generate real and meaningful change to a campus.


Week 1  Part 2:

I am actually a novice to blogs.  However, I have seen my own children and colleagues employ blogs in a variety of ways.  What I gather is that one can't escape technolgy.  It's all around us, and more and more people have access to it.  People surf the web, check emails, text, and tweet and least once a day if not more.  Educational leaders need to take this to their advantage.  They can use blogs to connect to staff, students, and parents.  It's a way to get involvement and engagement from a school's community.