This week in EDLD 5301 Research was a little overwhelming just because I realized all that was going to be involved in my action research.
When I listed my actions in my action research plan (as seen in the post below), it became a little bit more clear how much it is going to take to complete my action research project. It also made me happy that I chose the topic that had the most limited scope. I think picking a topic with a larger scope may have been too overwhelming.
This week definitely got me more excited about my action research topic. Seeing each step being put on paper made me eager to start because of how many steps need to get taken care of before we break for summer.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Action Research Plan Draft
| Action Steps: | Person(s) Responsible: | Timeline: Start/End | Needed Resources: | Evaluation: |
| Discuss action research topic with “leaders” involved. | Department chair, site supervisor, math instructional facilitator, and instructional technology facilitator. | Now - May 5th | Intern plan. | Do I have a clear topic and plan of action? |
| Gather currently used technology resources. (links) | Math teachers and myself. | May 5th - May 12th. | Other math teacher's input. | Does my list incorporate all currently used internet and technological resources available to teachers. |
| Teacher surveys | Math teachers and myself. | May 5th – May 12th. | Survey questions and campus STAR Chart data. | Compare my survey results with the campus STAR Chart data to gauge the use of technology with-in the Math Department. |
| Teacher interviews | Myself. | May 12th - May 19th. | Interview questions. | Determine how well and how much technology is integrated from the teacher's perspective. |
| Student surveys | Math teachers and myself. | May 12th - May 19th. | Survey questions. | Analyze responses to formulate interview questions. |
| Observe teachers who are integrating technology into their lesson on that particular day. | Math teachers and myself. | May 12th - May 26th. | Teachers integrating technology into their lessons during that time period. | Did a sufficient number of observations take place? (3 or more) |
| Student interviews | Myself. | May 19th - June 2nd. | Interview questions. | Determine how well and how much technology is integrated from the student's perspective. |
| Gather “new” technology resources and links. | Myself, math teachers, math instructional facilitator, and instructional technology facilitator. | Ongoing. | Internet access. | Am I able to supply teachers with a wealth of resources for their particular subject so that they can integrate technology into their lessons on a more regular basis. |
| Make the technology resources easily available to teachers. | Myself, math facilitator, and instructional technology facilitator. | June 2nd - August 1st. | Space on the district's shared drive or space on the math department's website. | Are the resources easily accessible enough so that teachers will actually use the resources? |
| Train teachers on the use of Examview. | Instructional technology facilitator and myself. | Summer 2011 | Computer with Examview installed on it. | Does the teacher feel comfortable administering assessments using Examview? |
| Train teachers on using the “library” of math technology resources. | Myself | August 2011 | Network access. | Do teachers feel comfortable accessing these resources and implementing them on their own? |
| Re-evaluate implementation of solutions. | Myself | December 2011 | Previously interviewed students and teachers. | Did the quality of instruction improve? Did the amount of technology integration improve? |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Week 2 of EDLD 5301 Research
This was quite a difficult week, not because of any part of the master's program, but rather because of my health. Missing three out of the five days of work this week and having a flu/mono-like virus was not fun. It definitely ruined my routine with getting my master's work completed.
My biggest struggle this week was with deciding on which of the three topics I would choose for my action research topic. My biggest concern was scope.
The topic with the largest scope was looking into integrating action research into the district's professional development. Due to the large scope, I did not pick this topic given my current position as a math teacher. I just didn't feel I'd have the ability to take on a project with such a large scope given my current position.
Another topic of interest was my campuses tardy system. This topic's scope was limited to my campus, but I still was concerned with it's scope along with getting the buy-in of the teachers and administrators at my campus. Also, this topic just didn't have the personal intrigue factor that my third topic has.
The topic I choose for my action research project is, "How is technology integrated into the math curriculum?" This not only has more of the scope I was looking for my first action research project, but it had the personal intrigue factor for two reasons. First off, I am a math teacher and I am always looking to improve my effectiveness. I find that too often the lesson is presented as a lecture and I would like to look towards technology to differentiate my instruction. Why technology? Even though I am a math teacher I actually don't have my my degree in math. I actually majored in Business Administration and Information Technology, so better integrating technology perks the I.T. side of me up. These combinations of factors are what led me to deciding on this topic ahead of the other two possibilities.
My biggest struggle this week was with deciding on which of the three topics I would choose for my action research topic. My biggest concern was scope.
The topic with the largest scope was looking into integrating action research into the district's professional development. Due to the large scope, I did not pick this topic given my current position as a math teacher. I just didn't feel I'd have the ability to take on a project with such a large scope given my current position.
Another topic of interest was my campuses tardy system. This topic's scope was limited to my campus, but I still was concerned with it's scope along with getting the buy-in of the teachers and administrators at my campus. Also, this topic just didn't have the personal intrigue factor that my third topic has.
The topic I choose for my action research project is, "How is technology integrated into the math curriculum?" This not only has more of the scope I was looking for my first action research project, but it had the personal intrigue factor for two reasons. First off, I am a math teacher and I am always looking to improve my effectiveness. I find that too often the lesson is presented as a lecture and I would like to look towards technology to differentiate my instruction. Why technology? Even though I am a math teacher I actually don't have my my degree in math. I actually majored in Business Administration and Information Technology, so better integrating technology perks the I.T. side of me up. These combinations of factors are what led me to deciding on this topic ahead of the other two possibilities.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Use of Blogs by Educational Leaders
From my readings to this point I see educational leaders benefiting the most from blogging through the use of it as a tool to collaborate. The sheer number of people that blogging can connect someone to makes it a powerful tool. I think it can be even more effective as a tool used between acquaintances to build a good professional relationship and establish collaboration between people that might not normally be able to collaborate because of time or distance.
Initial Impression of Action Research
Action research, or inquiry as Nancy Fichtman Dana describes it, is something very new to me. I had never heard of action research until reading the first chapter of "Leading with Passion and Knowledge".
From my introduction to this topic I have learned that it is an ongoing, cylical process designed to continually evaluate and solve a specific problem until an optimum solution is reached. Action research is designed to meld academic research with experience from the field to provide a solution that effectively incorporates the best of both worlds. One of the biggest benefits of using experience from the field, particularly information from stakeholders, is to ensure maximum buy-in by all stakeholders.
As a classroom teacher I definitely see action research as a useful tool to me not only in the long term as a potential administrator, but also in the short term as a classroom teacher. I really like the idea of writing down my "wonderings" and then using them to develop specific inquiries that will help make me more effective as a classroom teacher. Specifically, I would like to use the process to analyze my students' formative testing data in conjunction with analyzing how and what I teach in order to look for gaps in my teaching, the curriculum, and the pacing of specific TEKS.
From my introduction to this topic I have learned that it is an ongoing, cylical process designed to continually evaluate and solve a specific problem until an optimum solution is reached. Action research is designed to meld academic research with experience from the field to provide a solution that effectively incorporates the best of both worlds. One of the biggest benefits of using experience from the field, particularly information from stakeholders, is to ensure maximum buy-in by all stakeholders.
As a classroom teacher I definitely see action research as a useful tool to me not only in the long term as a potential administrator, but also in the short term as a classroom teacher. I really like the idea of writing down my "wonderings" and then using them to develop specific inquiries that will help make me more effective as a classroom teacher. Specifically, I would like to use the process to analyze my students' formative testing data in conjunction with analyzing how and what I teach in order to look for gaps in my teaching, the curriculum, and the pacing of specific TEKS.
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