Reflection on creating my plan

I am excited and nervous about starting my action research plan.  I am concerned about the timing of the school year, but it might be a wonderful way to bring in a new semester!  My teaching team is ready to get started and they are here to support me during this project.  I am ready to get results, but I know that good research takes time.  I am working on creating documents to use for data collection.  This is going to be a neat experience for me!

Action Research Plan

I have reviewed the 8 steps from the Harris text and have concluded that my plan already addresses all of these elements. Action Planning Template Goal:  To implement the classroom management plan described in the book, Time To Teach:  Encouragement, Empowerment, and Excellence in Every Classroom, and evaluate ways that this classroom management plan improves student behavior and increases instructional time in the classroom. Action Steps(s): Person(s) Responsible: Timeline: Start/End Needed Resources Evaluation Read the book, Time To Teach:  Encouragement, Empowerment, and Excellence in Every Classroom.    Debi Dodd November 28, 2011 to December 4, 2011 Time To Teach:  Encouragement, Empowerment, and Excellence in Every Classroom By:  Rick Dahlgren and Judy Hyatt After reading the book I will develop a synopsis for my teaching team. Share the synopsis of my reading to my teaching team Debi Dodd December 5, 2011 to December 8, 2011 The synopsis of my reading Discuss with my teaching team areas of concern about the classroom management plan Come up with a plan for implementation of this classroom management plan Debi Dodd, Julie Griffith, and Molly Radford December 11, 2011 to December 16, 2011 Documentation of our proposed plan Coming up with a consensus with my teaching team for implementation Select a date for implementation of the classroom management plan Debi Dodd, Julie Griffith, and Molly Radford December 16, 2011 to December 16, 2011 A draft of proposed action for implementation Coming up with a consensus of a date for implementation Implement the classroom management plan Debi Dodd, Julie Griffith, and Molly Radford TBD Resources from the book and documents created by my teaching team Meet with teaching team at the end of the first week to discuss concerns/success Meet with teaching team weekly throughout the remainder of the year Debi Dodd, Julie Griffith, and Molly Radford TBD Resources from the book and documents created by my teaching team Go over data collected weekly to adjust our plan of action Have an end of the year conference with my teaching team Debi Dodd, Julie Griffith, and Molly Radford June 1, 2011 to June 1, 2011 Data collected by all parties from the date of implementation Come up with areas that need improvement prior to implementation the following year Write up a summary of findings Debi Dodd June 2, 2011 to June 16, 2011 All data collect from date of implementation plus notes from weekly meetings with the team Use my written summary to answer my inquiry questions Share my research project with the faculty on my campus Debi Dodd August 2012 to August 2012 during Staff Development My presentation Use comments/ideas shared during the presentation to determine if a campus wide implementation is feasible

Classroom Management

I am relieved to have a fianl decision about my action research project.  I have decided to focus on classroom management.  I will be working with my site supervisor and my assistant principal on the details of this project.  I will be reading the book, Time to Teach:  Encouragement, Empowerment, and Excellence in Every Classroom.  After reading this and discussing my plan with my site supervisor and assistant principal, I plan on putting this into action on my team.  My wondering is:  Does applying this classroom management plan improve student behavior and create more time for instruction?  I plan on sharing my results with the staff.  I am nervous and excited about getting started!

Analysis of educational leader blog use

I believe that blogging would be extremely beneficial to educational leaders.  I think that they could use blogs as a reflective journal.  It would allow for any leader to gain additional insight with comments from colleagues that blogs allow.  Blogs would also be useful tools for leaders to share with faculty and staff. 

Action Research

I have learned that action research is a hands-on approach to inquiry.  The teacher or administrator would define the research topic, read books or articles pertaining to the topic, and collect data.  The next step would be to propose an action plan and set guidelines for the plan.  A timeline would be set for follow-up, and then results would be determined.  A great advantage to this type of inquiry is that it benefits all stakeholders.  Teachers are able to reflect and adapt their instruction to become better teachers.  Students are given the opportunity to improve their learning through quality instruction.  Also, action research provides an opportunity to share information with other teachers and administrators.  This allows for teachers to have a resource for additional ways to improve student achievement campus wide.  Teachers also have a voice in policy making at the campus and/or district level.  The process of reflection during and after the research is profound in aiding teachers to make better choices in their classrooms.  Administrators benefit in the same way that teachers do.  Although this type of inquiry takes time (and training), it should be considered when dealing with problems/challenges in the classroom.  I have found in my readings, that when action research is implemented in schools, it provides teachers a chance to brainstorm ways to improve all issues in the classroom.  Action research is an excellent way to provide meaningful professional development in an educational setting.