Week 5 Part 5: Web 2.0 tools

As a future principal, I hope to incorporate the use of Web 2.0 tools.  I understand the advantages of using technology to reach students and engaging teachers on a daily basis.  Throughout my internship, I have learned to blog, use the internet more efficiently for research purposes, Skype, and attend webinars and visit chat rooms.  I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the webinars or chat rooms.  It still feels "odd" to me to have to "talk" to my computer and look at the camera.  I was distracted by everything else going on, and found my mind wandering as I was looking at others.  Maybe one day, I'll be more comfortable with the technology and find a way to use this effectively.

Final Internship Thoughts

Finally coming to an end of my course work and internship program.  I have learned so much just since January.  My principal, Stace McEwin and assistant principal, Debra Wheeler, have been so kind and generous to share with me their knowledge and experience.  I think the biggest surprise I received is how much I enjoyed doing the Action Research project.  This initial work wasn't fun, however when I got into talking with students and teachers about motivation, I learned some very interesting things from both parties.  I still need to sit down, go through all the data, dis aggregate the data, then compile it to share with teachers and others.  I hope our campus will find it valuable and helpful in planning for the next school year.
Overall, even though my Internship was shorter than most, it was highly enlightening to me.  I've learned a lot, and I hope to become an administrator that is a mentor to others, just like Mr. Mac has been to me!

Week 5 Reflections

At the beginning of Action Research, I was dreading this course.  In my mind, I had the picture of long hours in the evening being spent reading and “crunching numbers”.  The word research sent chills up my spine.  However, through the lectures, the Dana text and the Harris et al (2009) text, I learned that even though data and number crunching can be part of the research process, that’s not entirely what is looked at in an Action Inquiry. 

I found the lectures to be informative.  I especially enjoyed watching the interviews with the principals and superintendent.  I found these interesting and inspiring.  The interviews helped alleviate fears that I had concerning action research.

In the assigned readings, I found the Dana text to be informational in introducing me to what Action Research really is.  In reading the chapter, Administrator Inquiry Defined, Dana (2009) includes a subtopic, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ENGAGING IN INQUIRY? p.11. In this section four benefits to action research were identified and discussed.  The overall gist of this section was that the principal is a leader who should be showing his/her staff the value in being a life-long learner.  To lead is to continue to learn.

The Harris et al (2009) text was also informative in giving clear steps into conducting an Action Research.  I found the chapter on sustaining improvement helpful.  The CARE model (Harris et al., 2009, p. 97-98) is a model that I found most beneficial to my current Action Research project.  I also believe that this model is the most user-friendly of the three methods that have been described. 

This was the first course in which I used blogging.  I enjoyed reading the blogs of others and found their insights helpful.  I plan on continuing to follow several of the blogs to aid in my future career as an administrator.  I also enjoyed the discussion board.  It is interesting to me that no matter where we are as educators, some of the issues are the same across the state.  Reading the discussions and blogs, helped me understand the need for Action Research and how to use it to guide decisions that I may be making as an administrator. 

As for the assignments, for the most part they weren’t too difficult.  The main issue I had would be finding time for my principal and I to discuss my Action Research.  During this course we’ve had spring break, numerous meetings, some in which our principal was out for the entire day, and of course STAAR testing.  Finding time with busy administrators was the most difficult aspect of this course. 

Overall, my fears of the long hours spent on research have been alleviated and I have gained a useful tool in my career as an administrator-inquirer.

Action Research Week 4

Week 4 of the Action Research course has been extremely busy, not so much with the course work, but with the life I lead on a daily basis - teaching school.  In addition to being the special education teacher for my K- 5th grade school, I am also the lead testing coordinator.  That means, I am responsible for making sure students are grouped in the correct testing situations, accommodations are provided for those who receive them, test booklets are assigned and accounted for, plus making schedules and assigning test administrators.  For those of you who are fellow test coordinators, you understand what I'm talking about.  It's a big responsibility.  There is a lot at stake, for the school and students.  So, needless to say, Action Research has taken a back seat for this past week, and for at least most of next week. 

Today, I read a paper on student motivation by Cagra Tugrul Mart, from Ishik University.  "How to Sustain Students' Motivation in a Learning Environment".  The author states in the conclusion of the paper, "Motivation needs to be concerned about by every educator."  This is one of the points of my action research.  I'm not sure that teachers, ones that I work with, truly realize the impact of their behavior on student motivation.  We know this, but do we really understand this?  I'm hoping to find out as I conduct my action research.  I am hopeful that once we do realize our impact, that my school will see positive changes in its overall climate.

Reflections of Week 3

Putting my plan in a template and seeing what I would actually be doing helps organize my thoughts and actions.  I like having a plan and clear direction in which to go.  In looking at the 8 steps that are needed in designing and implementing my plan, I could see some gaps.  I will be looking and asking for assistance in filling in the gaps, mainly from the leadership team on my campus.  I am hoping that the research shows some clear patterns in student motivation and what is needed to impact our school's climate in a positive way. 

Action Research Plan

Goal: Find ways to motivate students, either intrinsically or extrinsically in order to improve school’s climate and ultimately test scores.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Develop a student survey on motivation	Donna Carnagey	March 2012/May 2012	Motivation surveys that are appropriate for elementary age students  (2nd – 5th graders)	Identify patterns or trends among students.  What is it that motivates students to do their best?
Develop a teacher survey on motivation.	Donna Carnagey	March 2012/May 2012	Utilize on-line survey programs such as Survey Monkey	Identify patterns or trends among teachers.  What motivates teachers to be effective in the classroom?
Have students and teachers fill out surveys; paper and on-line.	Students in grades 2 – 5, and the teachers of those same grade levels.	March 2012/May 2012	Surveys:  paper and online	Gather surveys; look for patterns or trends in motivation
Share results with the leadership team and Mr. McEwin.	Donna Carnagey	May or June 2012	Copies of trends/patterns to be given to the members of the leadership team.	Using the data, develop a plan of action for the next school year 2012 -2013, in order to positively impact our school’s climate.

Action Research Reflections - week 2

In thinking about and then discussing my action research project with my principal, we came to an agreement about the topic.  At first, I wanted to research RTI - Response to Intervention.  This is an area of particular interest to me since I am a teacher in Special Education.  I have been a teacher in this area for 23 years (25 total years in education).  I have become somewhat frustrated with the referral process and the identification of students who receive special education services.  In my current district where over identification has been a concern, it seems we have completely gone the other way and are not identifying students who may truly need the extra services.  There has to be a balance between the two!  We are "dumping" students who have never been in general ed. into classes without the proper assistance or training of the general ed. teacher.  My frustrations could go on and on....

So, I thought that making sure teachers were trained in appropriate documentation of the Tiers of Intervention would enable us as a campus to make good, solid special ed. referrals.  While my principal agrees with me that this is something we need to do as a campus, this might not be an actual "research" project.  So, we sat down and discussed this issue so more.

We began talking about student motivation.  How do we motivate students to do well in class?  On a test?  In their behavior?  How do we move students to find that doing well and taking pride in a job well done is reward enough?  This discussion continued into our PLC meetings with the different grade levels.  After hearing teachers voice their concerns about motivating students, my principal looked at me and said "there's your action research project".  So, I will be looking in to different ways of motivating students to do their best.  He also wants me to also look at how teachers are motivated.  What makes a teacher strive to do his/her best in the classroom?  Some interesting findings I'm sure await me!

So, what have I learned so far about action research?  It's a lot of work!  However, it's a very necessary part of being a great educator as well as administrator.  No longer are we able to teach with out looking at data and applying it in our classrooms.  As educators we have a responsibility to look at students as individuals and help them become successful, lifelong learners.