Action Research Plan Template

My kindergarten students come into my classroom with a short attention span. Part of our curriculum towards the middle of the year requires us to have our students sit and write for 30-45 minutes on their own. Even with guidance, many children have a difficult time staying engaged in their writing for this amount of time. Using Schlechty’s Design Quality of “Novelty and Variety” I would like to find ways to increase my students’ engagement in writing. I would like to incorporate technology aspects into the “Novelty and Variety” to meet the technology standards.

References

Schlechty Center. (2009). Schlechty Center. Retrieved July 23, 2013, from http://www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/free

Action Planning Template
Goal: Increase student engagement through the use of “Novelty and Variety” during writing time.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Assess student engagement during traditional writing time	Katie Gould	November 2013- January 2014	Spreadsheet to track student engagement	Results from tracking student engagement
Research ways to add “Novelty and Variety” to writing time	Katie Gould	November 2013-January 2014	Internet resources, books, conversations with others, other resources I find on the topic	List of ways to increase “Novelty and Variety” to writing time
Implement new ways to add “Novelty and Variety” to writing time	Katie Gould	January 2014-June 2014	iPad, computers, and other materials I find from my previous research	Keep documentation of the ways I try to add “Novelty and Variety”
Assess student engagement during writing time with “Novelty and Variety”	Katie Gould	January 2014-June 2014	Spreadsheet to track student engagement	Results from tracking student engagement
Compare assessment of student engagement from traditional writing time to “Novelty and Variety” writing time	Katie Gould	June 2014-August 2014	Spreadsheets with student engagement information	Draw conclusions from comparing spreadsheets and post results of action research plan
Share results with others including site supervisor	Katie Gould	August 2014-September 2014	Results of action research plan  and graphs or documents to back up the results	Final document or product to share results

Narrowing Down a Topic--- Week 2

This week I have really focused on narrowing down my action research topic. I knew I wanted to do something with student engagement, but was struggling with how to incorporate the technology aspect I needed to include. My principal encouraged me to use Schlechty's Design Qualities to help me narrow down my topic. The school district has been pushing the staff to use these qualities to increase student engagement. After reviewing them (http://www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/free <-- you can find them here) I chose to focus on "Novelty and Variety". This allows me to compare technology options to more paper/pencil options and see if giving them variety increases student engagement.

I then chose to narrow it down to just writing time as well. I teach kindergarten and it is very difficult to ask a five year old to sit and write for 45 minutes. If I can add some variety, including technology options, to my writing time, I think I can increase their engagement in writing. Writing is very important in kindergarten along with reading and I would love to have my students more engaged in writing. I also want to show them there are many ways to write and I hope to find ways to allow all my student to love writing. I am waiting to hear back from my principal about her thoughts on my ideas.

Uses for Blogging

Blogging is a great tool for educational leaders. It is a great collaboration instrument and can be used to share work with others and receive others’ comments and feedback. It provides a larger audience than would not normally be available and can be seen by people who are not even in the same state. Blogging also allows for reflection and allows you to go back and look at previous posts as well. When others comment on your posts it may open your eyes to ideas you had never even thought of. Blogging allows for many opportunities. This information was supported by the following source:

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, a Joint Publication with the American Association of School Administrators.

Action Research

Action research is a process used to implement changes in a school. It begins with identifying a problem that needs to be fixed. For my own classroom, it may be how to increase student engagement or how to increase literacy rates. Once the problem is identified, you seek out relevant information on the topic and read through previous research done on the topic. You look for ways to make positive changes in the classroom that would lead you towards fixing the identified problem. After analyzing the results of those changes made in the classroom, you share your results with those around you.

I am looking forward to choosing an action research project to start on in the next couple of weeks. I am always looking for ways to improve my classroom. This will allow me to feel more confident in my teaching and provide my students with a better experience in my classroom. It allows me an opportunity to model life-long learning for my students as well. Classrooms are a great place for action research, but there are other areas it can be used in as well.

Action research is not just for classroom teachers to use with their own students, it can also be used in other ways. Principals can collaborate during district meetings and choose action research projects for their schools. Principals can also collaborate with staff members to choose inquiry topics for the school. Groups of teachers can work on an action research project together. It provides a great platform for collaboration among educators and a great way to deliver positive change for the school. Action research is a great tool for my future use in education.

The information I learned about action research was found from the following sources:

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, a Joint Publication with the American Association of School Administrators.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. P. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Ringler, M. C. (2007). Action research an effective instructional leadership skill for future public school leaders. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 4(1), 27-42. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/AASA_Journal_of_Scholarship_and_Practice/Spring-07vFINAL.pdf#page=27