Never Stop Learning

     Whew!  This week has almost been an overload on learning, but I have survived and am all the better for it.  Everything I have learned this week has been advantageous in helping me with my action research.  While happy with my action research topic, I was having some anxiety about getting started.  I knew what my action research would be about, but was not clear which direction to take.  I was relieved when I read in the Dana text that getting started was considered to commonly be the difficult part of action inquiry.  Examples provided in the Dana text and interview videos have been very helpful in my understanding of how to approach action research.
     The nine passions for action research topics were quite interesting to me.  It was neat to read the examples and be able to relate the inquiries to my campus.  I was happy to gain ideas developed through action research by principals and think about ways their experiences could benefit my school.  I found Principal Donnan Stoicovy's contribution of All-School Gatherings on her campus dynamic.  My school has the family feeling, but I never thought about improving our school community with an inquiry into how it can grow into a neighborhood environment.  In addition, an All-School Gathering sounds like so much fun.  Their gatherings include singing and recognizing students for their accomplishments.
     Most importantly, Dr. Arterbury's interview with  Dr. Jenkins helped me decide the direction to take with my action research.  I realized part of my problem was that my inquiry was too broad.  I was trying to address too many grade levels and look at too many areas of information.  Learning about the four elements of an effective purpose for a research project gave me a clearer picture of how to state my action research purpose, which was a road block for me in getting started.  Watching this interview also taught me that I needed to focus on what I wanted to learn from my research that would benefit my school the most.  This led to my inquiry, “What impact does Read 180 have on fourth grade reading STAAR scores?"  By making my action research more specific and focused I am feeling much better about getting started.  Thanks to Dr. Arterbury and Dr. Jenkins for the introduction of week 2 video!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

To blog is definitely the answer to that question.  Blogging has never peeked my interest because I haven't spent much time on line and I am known as a digital immigrant.  However, I do journal some and many times wish I would have written down some of the ideas I so quickly forgot.  Now that I know much more about blogging, I can see it's relevance and how useful it can be to educational leaders. 

First, blogging can be a significant tool for educators in storing and retrieving thoughts that can lead to new and deeper insights.  It allows you to post thoughts you have and build upon them.  With a blog you can also access your written thoughts from school, home, or on the road.  Most importantly, one of the greatest advantages of having a blog is the collaboration and support between you and others who are interested and have knowledge of the topic you are blogging about.  A great piece of advice I received from a superintendent was to keep in touch with others in your position and learn all you can from them.  A blog is the best way for me to do that.  How else could I share and learn from other educators who I can't see every day and live all over the world?  A blog is useful in keeping educational leaders from being isolated to only those who are near them and provides a much wider open door to share and learn from others.

Action Research

I have to admit, I did a lot of moaning and groaning when I realized my next class was “Research.”  Research has never been a favorite activity of mine and it has been many years since I attempted a research paper. I have always viewed research as somewhat boring.  Taking the time to put the research on paper seemed unproductive to me since after the paper was turned in that was “all she wrote."  Thank goodness, after reading what an action research is I feel pretty relieved and excited.  It is very different from the traditional research paper.  Actually, an action research, also known as action inquiry, is just the opposite of what I knew about research in that it is so engaging and truly productive.  As an educational leader who wouldn’t want to find an answer to a curiosity or problem you have in your school?  Action research allows you to address a topic that is interesting and relevant to you, making the topic much more personable, valuable, and exciting.  While searching for answers during an action research you will find that it creates opportunities for teacher input and participation which goes a long way to accomplish teacher buy in.  Action inquiry broadens into collaboration and leads to individual growth while at the same time creating change and/or school improvement.

I learned that action research is instrumental in providing relevant and meaningful professional development.  I am impressed at how well this kind of research drives professional development compared to traditional professional development.  The professional development experienced during action research makes so much more sense.  Sadly, I can't count the many workshops I have attended and never used.  Oh, my intentions were good.  I usually left thinking I can't wait to use this in my classroom, but when I returned to school all I thought I had learned went right out the window.  I truly believe if I would have participated in defining an issue to study,  researching, collaborating with others about the topic, and sharing results, which is what you do in action research,  I would have definitely put it to good use.  With action research you are so involved and have so much invested that there's no way you would not use what you learn to make improvements, change, or remain confident in what you are doing that is already working.  I have also discovered that reflection is a vital part of action research because it leads to thoughts building upon each other and deeper understanding which then leads to more discoveries that you may or may not have anticipated.  The reality is that action research extends far beyond just turning in a research paper. 

Now that I understand what action research is through reading Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Dana, I look forward to putting this knowledge into my own action research.   Reading in the upper grades, especially fourth grade, at our elementary has been a concern for a couple of years.  Last year my school implemented Read 180 in hopes of helping those struggling the most with reading.  I am wondering what impact Read 180 is having on these particular students.  Is their reading ability actually improving?  Going into our second year I am curious to see how last year's growth compares to this year's for students who remained in the program, how new students growth compares to last year's new students, and how these students STAAR scores from last year will compare to this year's.  Something else I find intriguing about action research is that it opens the door of possibilities to discover things about my subject that I hadn’t thought of.  I look forward to a very engaging experience with my action research and am eager to learn and share the knowledge I gain. I am so glad that action research extends far beyond just turning in the commonly known research paper.