Research Class Post

This class has been very informative and has taught me alot about research. Before this class began my mindset of research was very limited. I have received positive feedback from all of my classmates regarding my Action Research Project and I am eager to implement this plan of action on my school campus.

Week 2 Reflection

Week 2 lesson focused on examples of action research in educational settings. One thing we've discussed in this weeks lesson is the use of data to drive action research projects. In education, we can use data to analyze a students performance and create intervention plans to improve performance. Also, data can be used as a measuring tool to assess your students needs and levels of learning in your classrooms. Data is also a major component of standarized testing.

This week went great. My Action Research Plan is coming along. I had an opportunity to meet with my site supervisor and we developed some great ideas as far as conducting my research. I trully believe that through the strategies and data I plan to collect, I will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our tardy policy in our school, and hopefully this will bring forth a plan of action to make our school climate better.

Blogging in the World of Education

Educational blogging should be used by educational leaders because it's another communication tool. Communication is vital for anything that we do in today's world. Blogs can be used by educators to speak freely but carefully about any subject they choose. Furthermore, it can also serve as a communication tool between the community and administrators to keep others informed on what goes on in the schools.

Action Research

 What I've learned so far is action research is different from traditional educational research. Traditional education research includes a day or week of professional development to learn a new program that is to be introduced within the education environment. The positives to this of course is learning a new way of "doing things". The negatives are there's really no research involved or any deep thought. Just, "hey, this looks nice, let's do it".

Action research requires us first to "inquire" about a particular problem we're having within the educational environment. The inquiry is followed by research and collaboration to determine what, if any, solutions we have to the problem. Then of course comes implementation and maintenance. This process should take a while, unlike the traditional scheme which takes a few days and causes frustration within the district/school.

Action research should result in successful implementation of a new program and general agreement among the stakeholders as to the direction of the vision within the district/school. It is time consuming, so patience is a must.

First Post

I am new to the world of blogging so this may take some time to get used to. This blog is mainly designed to discuss action research techniques with fellow classmates who are attending Lamar. A little bit about myself, I currently teach at Lancaster High School, where I serve as the special education Science Inclusion Teacher. I'm a former SHSU Bearkat, I love my Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks!