Week 5 ... OVER!

Glad to be done with another class and move one step closer to being done. I know that I have learned a lot from this class and still have a lot more to learn. I cannot wait to see what the next class has in store for me. I know it will probably be a huge challenge trying to juggle class work and homework with work and grading papers but I am ready for the challenge. I am looking forward to the next class!

Week 4 Summary

This past week was a good week to review and reflect on all the different ways we have learned to improve on our Action research plans. I really enjoyed learning about the different ways to find out about problems and needs and different ways to address them. In the text from Harris I found it very interesting the different strategies we can use to help us with the ARP. I think I really enjoyed the Nominal group technique. The reason I enjoyed this technique so much is because it talks about discussing the needs of the group or campus first and then after all needs are displayed then it is time to see which needs are vital and important and which ones can be put on a backburner for the time being. I think too many times in staff meetings when something like this is attempted the first need addressed is usually talked about for too long. I think this can cause those in the meeting to become drained and not be able to discuss the other needs. With the Nominal technique all the needs are addressed first and then after that we discuss the needs that everyone will be affected by. I got some great comments on my ARP and would love even more to continue to improve and better the plan. Thanks!

Action Research Template

Action Planning Template
Goal: To show that students involved in after school programs will have better grades.
Will students involved in extra curricular activites have better grades in academics and behavior or will it be the same as those not involved in extra curricular activities?
Action Steps:	Person Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End:	Needed Resources:	Evaluation:
Selecting the 50 students involved in the study. 25 students in after school programs, and 25 students not in after school programs.	Myself, and a few classroom teachers.	First two weeks of school.	Data to see which students are involved in after school programs and which ones are not.	Review the students involved and create a spreadsheet to keep track over the next year.
Check progress of all students involved.	Myself, and a few classroom teachers.	At the end of every six week period.	Report cards to check for behavior grades as well as academic grades.	Record progress of students grades in spreadsheet.
Observe students in their classroom.	Myself	Observe every student twice throughout the entire school year.	Access to classrooms provided by teachers and site supervisor.	With each observation I will record my findings in the spreadsheet with their grades.
Conduct a student survey	Myself, along with a few classroom teachers and my site supervisor.	Second to last week of school.	Questions for a survey, as well as students being available.	See what students have to say about programs and see if they think it helps them.
Analyze Data	Myself, along with a few classroom teachers and my site supervisor.	Last week of school.	All data collected from report cards and data collected from observations.	Review to see if students involved in after school programs truly have better grades or if there is no difference. If students who are involved in after school programs do have better grades then steps would need to be taken in another research to try and get students involved who have not been involved to see if it improves their grades.

Reflection from Week 2

One big thing I learned from week 2 was from when I got the chance to meet with my site supervisor. Each time we get to meet and discuss different topics I always feel like I learn many great new things to  use for the future and even for things I am doing right now. My site supervisor is not only a great principal but also a great leader and I wish more could see it. I learned from her that she not only knows how to be a great leader but she also is helping me to become a great leader. Many of us can be great teachers but we truly become great when we are able to show and share our great theories and ideas with others and help them become great teachers like us.

Gunnar Tietge

Action Research and Analysis

Action research was something that I knew of but I suppose I just did not know the correct terminology that was associated with it. I have learned that action research is similar to the traditional educational research in that the end goal is to find a better way to achieve their task. Many times we do something well and do not really worry about making it better. However, great educators are always striving to be better and action research allows them to become better by conducting research to bring about change. I think I can use action research in my field by allowing outside researchers (peer teachers in the same music department) to help me find ways to improve my after school extra curricular activities and help raise attendance. There is usually a lot of excitement at the beginning of the year for after school clubs but then half way through the year there seems to be a lack of excitement. I would like to do an action research with others to see why this may be.  I think part of the reason might be that there is a break half way through the year and everyone becomes drained and look forward to those few weeks off that they forget about everything else and just countdown the days until they can have a break. It would be interesting to see if the reason behind the lack of excitement is because of the daily routine weighing down on students or because of another factor.

Educational leaders might be able to use blogs to share experiences and life lessons with other educational leaders that might not get shared other wise without the use of technology.