Reflections on My Action Research Plan, Week 4

This week my principal and I met to discuss my action research plan. He approved my action research plan (there is a link to the plan in my previous post), and we discussed some of the challenges I'll face. My biggest concern at this point is time. I'm wondering how I'll have enough time to keep up with this project, as well as my other responsibilities. I'm also concerned about the biology team having enough time to meet regularly and complete this project. I don't want to overload them, especially at the beginning of the school year. I am going to phase my project in, so that it won't be completely up and running until October to try to alleviate some of the stress on the biology team members. I think my project will be beneficial in the long run, but it is going to be difficult to get teacher "buy in" in the beginning. Wish me luck.

My Action Research Plan

http://www.magnoliaisd.org/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=R29hbC5wZGY6Ojovd3d3MTAvc2Nob29scy90eC9tYWdub2xpYS9pbWFnZXMvYXR0YWNoLzEyMTAyLzMzMzlfMTIxMDJfYXR0YWNoXzUzODkucGRm

Week 2 Action Research Reflections

This week's assignment helped me realize the many ways that action research can be used as an administrator. Some areas that are ripe for inquiry include staff development, school culture, social justice, individual teachers, individual students, etc. As an administrator, it will be difficult to manage all of the aspects of the position, but action research can help one to improve in each area so that the job is less overwhelming. I think that action research should be viewed as a tool for administrators versus another task that they have to complete.

Benefits of Blogging for Education Leaders

Educational leaders can use blogging to assist with action research. Blogging allows one to write down their reflections, just like journals, but also allows for the incorporation of pictures, videos, links, and more. The first step of action research is reflection, and a blog serves as the organization system for it. Blogs also allow educational leaders to communicate with each other. Other people can comment on blogs and discuss ideas and thoughts. Blogging can be an effective collaboration tool that assists with action research.

Action Research as it Relates to Me

Action research can be a valuable tool for educators and administrators. It is a systematic approach to effecting change and improvement. Action research begins with identifying a problem or question to be answered based on studying one's own practices. Then, the researcher must collect data through various means including, but not limited to observations, surveys, and literature reviews. After the data has been collected and analyzed, the researcher takes action to make improvements based on the results learned from the data.
Personally, I can use action research in various settings. As a teacher, I can use action research to directly improve my teaching practices, which in turn, will improve student learning. As a teacher, I must consciously observe my practices to determine areas of needed improvement, and then effect the necessary changes to ensure improvement. I can also use action research as the acting department chair at my school. I can model and encourage the use of action research to engage my department members in active learning based on collaborative inquiry. As a department, the members can act as a professional learning community that seeks to improve teacher practices and student learning based on experiences, using the action research approach. As an administrator, action research can not only be used to improve one's leadership and management skills, but can also be implemented throughout the school to improve the campus as a whole through professional learning communities and leadership teams. In education, teachers and administrators are always seeking improvement, and the use of action research in various school settings can increase the rate of improvement.