MY Week 2 Reflection

This week was extremely busy. Okay! Alright! EVERY week is extremely busy. While my two daughters (Kadence Lorelei (Age 3 1/2) and Keian Melodi (Age 2)) and my husband are extremely supportive, I wonder how I will keep up with everything once school starts in a few weeks and our role as educators continues for a new school year.

Watching the interviews of the school administrators was very educational. Their insight and suggestions toward action research will be very beneficial as we commence. The focus should be the needs of our school and our students. This learning was at the forefront during my action research topic decision.

This week I learned that there are nine areas of passion that are prime driving forces for many school administrators and the success of an action research project. My action research topic falls under more than one! It can be classified under Individual student(s), School culture/community, and School Performance.

My site supervisor and I met, in person, to discuss my action research topic and my internship plan. He is SUPER excited to embark on my action research journey with my first topic of choice. Yippee! Please see my research topic below.

Action Research Topic:
How does being in an extracurricular activity, in high school, affect a student's academic performance (grades), behavior, tardies, absences, and referrals versus students who are not involved?

Educational Leaders Use of Blogs

The use of blogs by educational leaders is extremely advantageous and useful. It can be a valuable resource and support system. It allows an educator to share their learning; thoughts; ideas; experiences; strategies; perspectives; successes; challenges; failures; and findings with other educators, the school community, the school district, and a varying audience on a global level. It also lets the educator simply journal and document inquiry for later reflection. It enables immediate feedback and collaboration without boundaries. This can spark change, inspiration, and creative learning environments. The end result that we all strive toward is student success. Educational blogs are a driving force to assist in this pursuit through our professional growth and development.

As an administrator, you can use blogs as a live news feed to relay information, answer questions, get data collection and analysis, and get feedback efficiently. Effective communication is thus enabled amongst followers keeping them involved and informed. Followers would include teachers, administrators, students, parents, and the school community alike.

MY Thoughts on Action Research

Oh, how I dread research...or so I thought.

I learned a vast amount of information about action research (administrator inquiry) after reading the required readings for Week 1. Action research is different from traditional research. According to Dana (2009), action research "refers to the process of a principal engaging in systematic, intentional study of his/her own practice and taking action for change based on what he/she learns as a result of the inquiry” (p. 2). Action research is very practical. It is based on specific needs for the improvement of a school campus/climate and keep it well balanced. It is research that takes place within the school opposed to outside research being implemented within the school. As educators, we have been using this valuable form of research all along, to some extent, because we constantly identify problems, research solutions, and then finally apply the research and implement new practices in an effort to improve our classroom. These steps are followed by evaluating whether or not the strategies and new practices were effective and if beneficial change took place or new measures need to be taken. Action research requires reflection. This promotes growth, important feedback, improvement, and "allows best practices to flourish" (Dana, 2009, p. 14). Action research provides a way for teachers and administrators to collaborate toward our goal, which is improving student achievement. It is through ownership during the process, because we are self-reflecting, which can be difficult for educators, as well as learning from each other that will bring forth the best results. I believe that what makes action research so powerful is the fact that it gives each one of the people involved first-hand information and ownership making it personal, which elevates its importance to those involved. As teachers and administrators, we are truly "the people who work in the trenches" (Dana, 2009, p. 5). The most effective results will surface when collaboration is prevalent. We are life-long learners and have to model this to our students and each other. Successful leaders lead by example. Throughout this process, I plan to post thoughts and information that illustrate my active research, data, findings, continuous administrator inquiries, and improvement in order to be an effective leader and help provide a school environment that encourages successful teaching and learning for both faculty, staff, and students.

There are endless ways that teachers and administrators could use action research. Personally, I plan to use action research to conclude if being in an extracurricular activity, in high school, affects a student's academic performance (grades), behavior, tardies, absences, and referrals. By the end of the school year, I hope to have enough evidence to determine if there are any effects on each of these aspects of a student's school life due to them participating in extracurricular activities.


Reference:

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal As Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.