Revised Action Research Plan for "Inquiring Minds"

Goal: Facilitate successful implementation of new reading series using an interactive blog.

1. Create pre-study and post-study surveys.

2. Create new blog.

3. Conduct survey and identify four focus participants.

4. Schedule project overview meeting in computer lab.

5. Create informal technology club for students.

6. Make ongoing visits to classrooms to capture photos, video, and student work for blog.

7. Host and monitor blog.

8. Conduct post-study survey.

9. Create digital scrapbook to share research with others.

DRAFT

Action Research Draft For: 

How can I best facilitate teachers’ implementation of our new reading series?  

What effect does the use of a blog have on this process?  

Will blog discussions help teachers focus on differentiation and enable them to better meet the needs of all students? 

Setting the Foundation 

Teachers are excited about having a new reading series this year, but the change can be overwhelming and uncomfortable. The new reading series is focused on guided reading groups and differentiated instruction, which is new for some of the teachers. Successful implementation will require collaboration and training. How can I best facilitate teachers’ implementation of our new reading series?

Analyzing Data 

Teachers tend to be isolated from one another during the school day, and dread after school meetings. We need to find a way for teachers to collaborate without scheduled meetings. Our district’s website allows us to have interactive blogs. What effect does the use of a blog have on this process?

Developing Deeper Understanding 

I found an article written by an elementary principal who successfully implemented moodle, twitter, wikis, and blogs. Huber (2010) embedded technology into the culture of the campus and created professional learning that is online, ongoing, and automatic. Teachers have access to information and collaboration anytime, anywhere. Could staff development on our campus become as interesting as facebook?

 Reference 

Huber, C. (2010). Professional learning 2.0. Educational Leadership 67(8), 41 – 46.  

 

Engage in Self-Reflection 

Will the district’s website allow for a creative and inviting blog? I’d prefer to use moodle or ning but cannot confirm that teachers will be able to access these sites. I will need to go to my campus to experiment with various sites and check for firewalls.
Do I have the time to commit to this project? My vision for the blog is to include photos, video, and samples of student work. I’m hoping that all teachers will follow the blog, but I’ll need to have just a few teachers as my focus group. These teachers will be open to experimentation and welcome my visits. 

Exploring Programmatic Patterns 

As I continue to refine this project, I realize that it could result in even bigger changes. On the blog, teachers will see differentiation in action and become more comfortable with it. Will blog discussions help teachers focus on differentiation and enable them to better meet the needs of all students?

Determining Direction 

Ultimately, this research project is all about meeting the needs of our students. By increasing the level of collaboration among teachers using an interactive blog, we can successfully implement our new reading series and provide more effective, differentiated instruction. The blog provides for both monitoring and evaluation. Revisions can be made throughout the study based on the level of activity on the blog. Our timeline consists of ten active weeks with the blog plus a few weeks of preparation before and one week after. I believe this will give us plenty of time to answer our action research questions.

Taking Action for School Improvement 

Goal: Facilitate successful implementation of new reading series using an interactive blog.
1. Create invitation and pre-study survey.
2. Create new blog.
3. Conduct survey and identify four focus participants. 
4. Make ongoing visits to classrooms to capture photos, video, and student work for blog. 
5. Host and monitor blog.
6. Conduct post-study survey. 
7. Create digital scrapbook to share research with others. 

 Sustain Improvement 

How can we share the results of our study with others? On our campus, we might want to implement interactive blogs for other subjects. We can share our digital scrapbook with other schools in the district. A blog could replace a staff meeting, bring together a group of principals in scattered districts, help teachers mentor new staff, or create a place for PLC’s to interact. When a principal implements a blog, chances are the teachers will become comfortable with the process and begin to use blogs in the classroom. The opportunity for improvement using technology is inspiring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Three of EDLD 5301 Action Research

My action research study will be in the context of staff development. Our new reading series is based on guided reading groups and differentiated instruction. How can I best facilitate teachers’ implementation of our new reading series? What effect does the use of a blog have on this process? Will blog discussions help teachers focus on differentiation and enable them to better meet the needs of all students?

Participants will include all second and third grade reading teachers at Dyer Elementary. All teachers will be invited to complete a pre-study survey contribute samples of old lesson plans and grades taken last year. At the end of the study, teachers will be invited to complete an end-of-study survey and contribute samples of new lesson plans and grades taken throughout the study. My focus sample will include four teachers who are interested and committed to this project. The blog will include embedded videos, photos, and student work samples from these four classrooms.

I’m looking forward to sharing this study with everyone on campus and inspiring others to jump on board the action research adventure.

Week Two of EDLD 5301 Action Research

Time to choose a topic for my action research project.

This is what I'm thinking:
Teachers do not have enough time or energy to sit in formal meetings every day. We need a more effective way to share ideas on our own time, when it fits our schedule. I need to find out if our district firewall blocks ning or moodle and if both are blocked, then I will use a blog on the district’s site. Using this interactive technology, I will lead a group of reading teachers to explore more effective practice while implementing our new reading series. Teachers can post when they have found success implementing a specific component of the reading series and others can learn from that experience. Our goal will be to explore and discover the most effective strategies, help each other become familiar with them, and implement the strategies in every classroom. This action research project will benefit teachers as they choose more effective teaching strategies and drop less effective strategies. It will also benefit students who will receive better instruction.

Why Blog?

     A blog offers an educator an opportunity to post information and allow others to comment. It may include helpful links and embedded videos or graphics. A blog could replace a staff meeting, bring together a group of principals in scattered districts, help teachers mentor new staff, or create a place for PLC’s to interact. When a principal implements a blog, chances are the teachers will become comfortable with the process and begin to use blogs in the classroom. Principal as role model…a powerful tool for school improvement.

What Have I Learned About Action Research?

     Forget about stuffy old research consisting of control groups and confusing statistics, action research happens right where the ACTION is. Also known as inquiry, action research begins with a question. Something that makes you say, “HMMM.” It’s the first step for educators to take in order to make improvements on campus. It’s all about taking time to observe, reflect, learn, collaborate, experiment, and analyze.

     Dana (2009) explained that, “Inquiring professionals seek out change and reflect on their practice by posing questions or ‘wonderings,’ collecting data to gain insights into their wonderings, analyzing the data along with reading relevant literature, making changes in practice based on new understandings developed during inquiry, and sharing findings with others” (pp. 2-3).

     Action research can be used as part of a graduate course, a district meeting, the campus leadership team, and professional learning communities (Dana, 2009). It can become part of our existing activities to make the time spent more valuable and effective. For example, instead of sending a small group of teachers to a workshop outside the district, the principal could ask the group to pose a question and systematically apply action research to find a solution within their classrooms. Experimentation and reflection provides hands-on learning and leads to more effective practices. Inquiry allows us to wonder, reflect, learn, and change.

Reference

Dana, N. (2009) Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin