Week 5 Reflection

Week 5 has finally come to an end and I have mixed emotions about finishing the course. I am happy that the course is done and over with however I am disappointed that I did not get to learn more about action research. As I reflect, I wonder what could I have done differently to produce higher quality work. Did I work hard enough? Was enough effort put into my action research plan? These are just some of the questions running through my mind at this particular time. There are four insights from this course that really jumped out during recollection time. The first is something I have discussed on Week 5’s discussion board that we learned through our readings in Week 4. We learned about the 3 strategies: Force Field Analysis, Delphi Method and Nominal Group Technique. The reason this caught my attention is due to the nature of the process and how it is very closely related to many business analysis tools. I come from a business background and anytime I show a connection with education and business, I automatically tune in closer and observe their similarities. The Force Field Method was my favorite strategy because it is very closely related to a SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces in the business world. I feel that I learned more about the strategies used to support action research than what is action research. The second insight to this course was the in Week 3, when we had to develop our own action research plan using the Action Planning Template. The reason why I remember this section is because I remember putting a lot of effort in to my action research plan. Tool 7.1 from the Harris text was a very easy template to follow and its ease of use reduced much of the anxiety I had carried leading up to planning our own action research. I had to complete a technology internship plan for EDLD 5306 and I have to say it was way more complicated than this template. Discussion boards are becoming one of my favorite ways to acquire new knowledge. I remember taking online classes in my undergrad and would hardly ever check the discussion board for ideas and assistance. However, in this course it is the first place I check. I feel that the other student’s comments are very helpful to me and they present a lot of insight to the subject. I feel strongly about discussions boards because I am taking the same courses with veteran teachers who have been in the field for many years and have very useful knowledge and experience. For example, in week 2 of the course I posted in the discussion board my initial plan, which had many flaws from the beginning. I didn’t realize how bad it was until a very intelligent student by the name of Lorraine Lambert posted a very honest response. She wrote the following on my idea about using kindles in the classroom:

“This is an interesting idea. I like the different features of these "readers" that allow you to tailor the reading experience to individual students' needs, from the simple (changing font type and size) to the more complex (text-to-speech).

I think, however, that you will have naysayers right off the bat. Here are some things that occurred to me as I read the above:

- The money spent on the TI calculators may be the very excuse used to not purchase the

Kindles.
- The Kindle may be considered a "one purpose" tool, not versatile enough to warrant the cost and planning required for implementation in the classroom. I admit that I thought the iPad would be a better solution because it allows a much greater variety of uses in the classroom. Of course, then your cost goes up considerably!
- What grant opportunities are available to help with your project?
- While considering the "special" needs of some learners, you can also look at those that need enrichment. Your successful readers can also benefit from the Kindle and the many free books available. They could be encouraged to read 2 books to compare and contrast them, maybe as a small group book study-type activity, for example.”

Had it not been for her response, my action research would have been shot and I would have had little time to recover and create a new action research by week 4. As a result of this post I immediately changed my topic. The last thing I would like to praise and recommend for its continued use is the use of blogs. I first learned about using blogs in my first class last month. I have since then had all of my Keyboarding students open their own blog to reflect and make their own online portfolio. Blogs are incredibly easy to use and serve an extremely important purpose in reflection. I have frequently looked back at my posts to re-read and even copied and pasted some of the data for use in later works. Best of all its not plagiarizing because it is my own thoughts that I had stored away to help me in the future. This course met my expectations as I recall back to the introductory statement of the course syllabus. The last sentence of the opening paragraph states that this course and program will help students “develop dispositions and habits of mind needed for self learning and lifelong learning that will equip them to encounter problems and change with confidence” Arterbury & Jenkins, 2010). I can honestly say I am better prepared and alert on the fact that problems will occur frequently in administrative positions and these tools will help them become better at our positions through the continuous process known as action research.

Sources:

pp. 91-103 from

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., and Combs, J. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps to improve our schools. Eye on Education Press.

Lambert, L. (Sep. 6, 2010). Action Research Topic. Message posted to: https://lamar.epiclms.net/Learn/Player.aspx?enrollmentid=1416043

EDLD 5301 Research Syllabus by Dr. Elvis Arterbury, Dr. Steven Jenkins & Dr. Gary Martin.

Week 4 Challenges

What specific challenges do you foresee in implementing your action research study?
1. TIME TIME TIME. Time is the biggest constraint I can foresee in my action research. I am very squeezed for time myself as a classroom teacher, department head, campus technology coordinator and Lamar student. When will I find time to work these teachers one on one? Will these teachers be willing to work with me on their time off like their conference or after school? Their willingness to participate is a crucial aspect of this research. If teachers participate in my research will it affect their preparation of students for TAKS testing?

2. Second challenge stems from the first one, TIME. Although our mentors signed that they will continue to support our research on campus, I am afraid that my research will disrupt teaches valuable time and resources that could be used to prepare students for TAKS. I know for a fact that TAKS training prevails over any other training on our campus. Being shut off by teachers and administrators is my second challenge I may see once I start the action research.


How do you plan to address those challenges?
1. The only way to combat the issue on time is finding ways to become more efficient. In other words don't waste any time. Any opportunity that I get to perform research, I will take it. If that means arriving to school a whole hour earlier, staying after school an extra hour or skipping lunch. I have seen it done before by other teachers so I am sure I can manage. As far as teachers willing to work with me will depend on the relationship that I have with them. I will have to develop an incentive program for these teachers. Nothing big but something that will entice them to participate fully. One of the ways I usually respond well to is Food. Yes, that's right food. I will buy lunch or dinner for those participants willing to stay and participate in my study. I am also going to buy inexpensive items such as flash drives to give to those teachers willing to participate.

2. The second challenge is a tough one. The only way I can address that issue is by making certain that ALL lessons I create for teachers are relevant and have an element of TAKS preparation embedded. The teachers need to be reassured that the training will help them become more effective teachers but also that it will not hinder their performance towards TAKS. That will be my selling point to teachers and administrators. This is going to be tough!

Action Research Plan Draft

Click on Photos to see larger view

or you can download a copy in PDF format at my Wikispace page

JOEY's WIKI

UPDATE: New Action Research Topic

The research topic I have chosen is the following:

How can I assist our campus teachers overcome their reluctance of using the mobile laptop carts? How can we use these mobile laptop carts to become more effective teachers that will improve student achievement and overall learning?

The previous topic I had chosen about the Amazon Kindle had to be abandoned due to my lack of planning and the feasibility of the project.


If you wish to read the previous topic please follow this link: Action Research Topic

Lessons from Week 2

Looking back at week 2, I made a few mistakes that could cost me serious points in my grade. The first mistake I made was not scanning through the week 2 assignment and scheduling what needed to be done in a timely fashion. I say this because part 3 of week 2 assignment required me to have had an interview with my mentor and I didn't even look at this section until Sunday. This meant is was too late for me to have an interview since we were off today (Labor Day). The second mistake I made this week was selecting a action research topic. I had a marvelous idea about improving literacy through the use of an emerging technology known as e-readers. I decided to research costs and how it would be implemented however I lost hold of reality. I say this because the start up of this project costs a whole lot of money which would make this project or research not feasible. I have updated my blog and discussion board to reflect the change of topic. We are just in week 2 of this course, so I am glad I made these mistakes early and hopefully I have learned my lesson for the upcoming weeks.

Action Research Topic

Action Research Topic:

I decided to address the issue of literacy. Our campus has seen a decline of literacy amongst students for several reasons. One of the most obvious is that books and reading in general compete against a very powerful force known as the internet and what it has to offer. Many students prefer to play games on a computer or game console as opposed to read a book, like the old days. As a result of this decline, the TAKS scores on our campus are very low compared to national and state levels. I started to think about how adults keep up with books nowadays and noticed that many people including myself have switched to electronic text or electronic books. One product many people use to keep up with their favorite books is the Amazon Kindle. Sony has their own version called the E-Reader and other companies like Apple are including it for free on devices such as iPods, iPhones and iPads. Most books are available via electronic texts and are available for instant download. So, here it is...my research topic question: "Can new emerging technologies like the Amazon Kindle in the classroom help and interest students to read once again? What kind of effect would it have on campus TAKS scores and how else would the school and students benefit from using this technology?"

This research topic plan I believe is reasonable and feasible. The cost of the Amazon Kindle is about $139 not including bulk or education discount. We have 8 Reading teachers including ESL teachers. If they each had a class set of 35 @ $139, the total cost to purchase these e-readers would be about $38,920 (not including any type of educational discount, assuming that there is one). This is a relatively low price considering our campus just spent about $80,000 on TI calculators to help students with Math. The price does not include class sets of books to load on the device but after looking around online, many popular books are available for as low as $6. If the school would buy class sets of these im sure they would get them at a fraction of the price. In addition, according to Amazon, these are the following features of the kindle selected: High contrast screen, different fonts, weighs less than a paperback book, battery life up to one month on a single charge, stores up to 3500 on one device, built in wifi for instant download of books, fast page turns, dictionary built in, highlighter, lookup, big selection of books, FREE out-of-copy books (over 1.8 free), free books samples, and Read-to-Me (text-to-speech) feature. Source: Amazon

Just reading those features, you can clearly see how it pays for itself and addresses many issues such as ESL readers with the text-to-speech feature, larger font to address educational modifications for those who need it, you can make notes and highlight and even use a dictionary that is built in students don't know what the word means. Incredible, is the word I would choose to describe this product. My question is simply, why hasn't anyone at my campus thought of this before?

It is easy to see that the students will benefit from the study as well as teachers. Students may develop a renewed love for reading and maybe even some adults (teachers). This topic is future focused and there is a simple way to test it's effectiveness. Currently, we are not using these devices. Once they are purchased and used campus-wide for 3 years, we can look at teacher reflections, student input and surveys about the use of the device and lastly State exam scores to determine it's overall effectiveness.

Since we don't currently have this on our campus or district, please feel free to comment if your campus has had any experience with this technology in the classrooms. Any input would be appreciated!

Educational Leaders and Blogs

The internet has evolved very rapidly in the last 15 years. We used to use it for simple research and accessing data. Now we use it for just about everything. We make reservations online, buy all sorts of items, apply for jobs, and pretty much anything you can think of. Weblogs or blogs for short have become increasingly popular due to their ease of use and versatility. We can post ideas at an instant and have feedback from just about anyone who is interested in what you have to write. You can easily connect with those blogs you like by being a follower or joining their network. The best part of blogs is that they are free. Who likes free? Educators love the word free. Educational leaders such as principals, superintendents and technology leaders have jumped on the bandwagon and have started using Blogs to become better leaders. Many principals around the nation have used blogs to post their thoughts, ideas and experiences (Dana, 2009). As a result, principals can now share with other leaders in a very informal manner and achieve unprecedented results. Principals who choose to follow and join the blogs can asynchronous access the blogs and contribute ideas or suggestions without having to be anywhere near geographically. One principal, David Truss, has been able to transmit his ideas online for others to read and also for his self reflection (Dana, 2009). Some of those ideas may have been lost forever in his mind had he not posted them on his blog. The support one receives on a blog can lead to collaboration of ideas that can truly make a difference in leadership decisions. Blogs allow you reach specific audiences with permission (closed community) or can be put out there for the whole world to read (open blog community). Blog also serve another purpose. They may be able to capture lightning in a bottle. Blogs are a great place to collect your data. Author Nancy Fichman Dana explains that "blogs can capture their thinking as an inquiry unfolds." This allows for continuous learning because a principal can access his or her collection of data rapidly to make better informed decisions as well as share them with other colleagues who may be in dire need of the data. The author believes that this is crucial to the "evolution of your inquiry" (Dana, 2009). I think the question most educational leaders should be asking themselves is "why haven't I started a blog yet?"

Sources:
pp 87-89 & 149-151 from

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.