Action Research - Are you ready for some action?

Action research. The mere thought of the words brought “oxymoron” to mind. As a high school student, research meant poring through books and articles in which your findings focused on knowledge for the sake of theory. That certainly did not mean action. My outlook on the subject soon changed after viewing the videos, searching the web, reading and discussions with fellow educators. I learned that action research is a personal journey that one can take in order to bring about change. I discovered that my principal had been conducting action research during our faculty meetings and know I feel more inclined to fully participate when asked. Action research is not just for administrators. Teachers and other campus faculty can also use this form of inquiry. I like the fact that you are in charge of the project – you choose the subject, population, setting, time frame and data. The subject is one that is very personal to you and there are many opportunities to document your wonderings, personal views and experiences. Subjects can include teacher retention, professional development, technology use in the classroom or classroom management. I also appreciate that action research is flexible. You can change the direction of your plan depending on your discoveries and take it further when you are done. When you come upon a stumbling block, you do not have to give up your action research. You can continue even if it means a drastic change in the design of the plan. The learning does not have to stop. You do not have to set aside a specific time to carry out your plan. You can design your plan to take place during a typical day which is perfect for teachers. Depending on the plan, there are more than enough types of data you can use to help in your discovery. They include standardized tests, student work, field notes, interviews, journals, various literature, surveys and technology. There are also various strategies that can be used to sustain what you have discovered to be working on your campus or sustain improvements that you will make based on your plan (Harris, 2010, page 94). Because you have used layman’s terminology throughout your plan, it is easy to share your results with others. This is highly encouraged when using action research. Why would you conduct an action research plan if you did not plan to allow others to gain knowledge from it? When sharing your outcomes, not only would you have gained but your campus, community and other schools. I became comfortable with most of the design aspects of action research but did find myself wondering about data collection and analysis. I feel I need to work on which data to use for my action research plan and whether they are the correct forms to use. Perhaps I will start an action research plan to discover appropriate data to use during action research plans.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools, 8 Steps From Analysis to Action. (pp. 84-86). Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education.

Ipods in the Classroom

I went to my district Ipod training on Monday. We learned how to upload various media and got some ideas of how we can use them in class. We ended the day getting 9 Ipods! I spent the whole day Tuesday finding things to put on my Ipods. I've got nursery rhymes, videos about alliteration and rhyming and various songs about shapes, numbers, letters and school. My PK students can use them to reinforce those concepts throughout the day. I also plan to have my students also use them to take pictures and videos to create vocabulary projects to share with the other PK and K classes. I'm SO excited!!

The Letter S

Goal: To increase PK students vocabulary scores on CIRCLES test by allowing them to use various forms of technology to create vocabulary activities.

Activity 1: Provide background information for action research project to principal and reading coach.
Background Information:
District Improvement Plan goal is to upgrade and integrate technology into instruction.
Campus Improvement Plan goal is to have 90% of K-3 students developed in all areas of TPRI. One area that is extremely low is comprehension which is directly affected by lack of vocabulary knowledge. In 08-09, 66% of students were developed. The 09-10 goal was to have 70% of students developed.
Campus Improvement Plan also stated that they would like to have technology integrated into 70% of instruction. However, the only forms of technology mentioned that a student might actually use was digital portfolios and the ActivBoard.
Resources: CIRCLES data, district and campus improvement plans
Timeline: August 2011
Responsible Person: Bobbi Prince
Process for Monitoring Achievement: feedback from principal and reading coach

Activity 2: Train students in the use of various forms of technology.
Resources: Digital camera, computer, internet, Ipod
Timeline: Begins August 2011 and continues as needed
Responsible Person: Bobbi Prince, Margie Gonzalez-aide
Process for Monitoring Achievement: Observation, Student projects
Assessment Instrument: Student projects, oral descriptions of how to use technology

Activity 3: Use digital camera, Animoto.com, Photo Story and Ipods to create themed vocabulary videos.
Resources: Digital camera, computer, internet, Ipod, Photo Story
Timeline: Begins August 2011 and continues as needed
Responsible Person: Bobbi Prince, Margie Gonzalez, Elda Mancha-Instructional Technologist
Process for Monitoring Achievement: Student projects, oral descriptions of how to use technology

Activity 4: Assess student knowledge of vocabulary
Resources: Student projects, ActivBoard flipcharts, Power Point slideshows, picture cards, CIRCLES assessment
Timeline: weekly throughout the year
Responsible Person(s): Bobbi Prince, Margie Gonzalez
Process for Monitoring Achievement: oral assessment using student projects, ActivBoard flipcharts, Power Point slideshows and picture cards; use CIRCLES assessment three times during the year (beginning of year in September, middle of year in January and end of year in May)

Activity 5: Review data
Resources: student assessments, student report cards, CIRCLES data
Timeline: Begins August 2011 and continues as needed
Responsible Person(s): Bobbi Prince, Michelle Martin-Reading Coach
Process for Monitoring Achievement: The PK teachers will meet once a week for grade level meetings and review progress concerning vocabulary development. Once each CIRCLES test is given, the reading coach will provide comparison data to the principal and each teacher. This staff will then review the data together.

Activity 6: Share data and student projects
Resources: student projects, CIRCLES data, action research results
Timeline: May 2011
Responsible Person(s): Bobbi Prince
Process of Monitoring Achievement: Feedback from principal, reading coach and any other faculty/staff that hears the data. This will be done at annual Technology Fair, end of the year meeting and summer staff development.