Week 2

I conferenced with my site supervisor and we decided to do my action research based on after school tutoring.  Our question:  Will our after school tutoring help increase our benchmark scores for those students who scored below standard on our October reading benchmark?  We are hoping to see an increase in scores.  If we see increases, I would like to conference with the tutoring teachers and discuss what strategies were used during tutoring that they felt were effective in increasing benchmark scores.  If we see increases, I am hoping we can model future tutoring sessions after the current tutoring sessions.   

How can educational leaders use blogs effectively??

I thinking blogging is a very useful tools for educational leaders.  For instance, it is a great place to write your thoughts/express ideas pertaining to your school.  If you are doing any action research inquiries, you can post questions/concerns.  Blogging is a great tool for feedback.  Educational leaders from across the world can give you feedback about anything that may need to be addressed with your school or curriculum.  If you work together with other principals you can share ideas with each other.  I think the biggest advantage of blogging is the ability to link with educational leaders across the world and share ideas with each other.  

Action Based Inquiry

I hear the word "research" and I turn into a sour grape because most of the research has come from an expert, from a far away land, that has no clue where my kids come from, how my kids learn, or how I teach my students.  So, being a good teacher I take all of this useless information, crumple it, and throw it into the recycling bin and save a few more trees from being cut down.  However, as part of my master's program for educational administration, my second class is research and we are focusing on completing an action based research plan.  As I am reading my articles, I am saying, "This is awesome."  " What a great idea."  " We do this with our leadership teams."  "No wonder we have PLC's at our school."  So why does action based research/inquiry make so much sense to administrators and educators?  One, the problem identified for inquiry is one that you feel needs to be addressed in your classroom or in your school.  Two, you get to create a strategy/plan that will hopefully improve the problem identified in your school/classroom.  Three, you get to collect the data based on pre/post assessments, common assessments, and observations you have made in your classroom.  Four, you get to analyze the data collected for any trends or patterns.  Five, you get to make changes to your teaching strategies, that will help improve student learning.  Six, you get to share your results with your administrators/teachers or if you blog, you can post results on your blog for the entire technological world to find.  To me, the most positive aspect of action based research is the ownership of the plan/inquiry.  You are in charge with some assistance from facilitators.  You get to see what is working and what isn't working.  Action based research is an outstanding way to reflect on your teaching strategies in order for your students to be successful in your class or in your school.