It would be difficult to reflect on everything I've learned in this course but I do want to point out three topics that were of particular interest to me.
Lectures:
The most useful lectures that I found in this course were the interviews from Week 2. I enjoyed how Dr. Jenkins explained the process of action research and gave examples of purposes for action research. I noticed that he mentioned how easy it is for the researcher to become out of focus and I quickly realized this when planning my action research on how to help ELL students, in English, in the area of reading. During this course, I attended two workshops held by my district that touched on my topic but were mostly about the different models available for the Dual Language Program. I was extremely interested in the Dual Language topic and because the Dual Language Program and ELL students are closely connected, I found myself focusing my action research plan on how Dual Language can help ELL students. Once I realized that I was getting off topic I had to go back and make some significant changes to my plan.
Also, during Week 2 I enjoyed the interview of Johnny Briseno, Principal of Rancho Isabella Elementary in Angleton ISD; because he gave me insight on what a principal might do when conducting action research. Mr. Briseno made me realize is already unofficially conducting action research every day. He also used the phrase, "Why reinvent the wheel?" which helped me realize that the answers I may be looking for may have already been researched by someone else. The only thing needed is to use Google or Ebsco to find the resources that I need.
Assignments and Activities:
The most enjoyable assignment I had in this class was creating the SIP/PIP plan using the template provided to us. By creating this plan, I learned that action research requires a plan for implementation that includes seven important factors: Outcomes, Activities, Resources/Research Tools Needed, Person(s) Responsible for Addressing Activities, Time Line, Benchmarks/Assessment, and Revisions based on monitoring and Assessment.
I really became interested in making my plan after Dr. Garza, the Director for Multilingual and Migrant Education for Port Arthur ISD, provided me with excellent sources for conducting research on best practices for teaching ELL students. I also attended two lectures given by Dr. Howard Smith of UTSA, which gave me more insight on why our Two-Way Immersion Program isn't as effective as we would like it to be, leaving more parents of ELL students to choose the general education classroom rather than a bilingual classroom. By having this knowledge, I was able to focus less on wanting to improve the Two-Way Immersion problem and focus more on improving instruction for ELL students in the general education classroom.
Although I have completed my SIP/PIP plan, I know there will probably need to be changes to it as I conduct my action research plan. I am somewhat nervous about the response I will get from teachers regarding my suggestions for instructional changes/improvements, but I also realize that this is part of the learning process of being an administrator.
Readings:
I thought that our text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana, was extremely insightful. Throughout the text, examples were given from other action researchers. I especially enjoyed the action research performed by Donna Stoicovy in which she describes her school as being built on twenty-two acres of wooded land. Principal Stoicovy knew that her school setting offered a unique resource for meeting the Pennsylvania Academic Environment and Ecology Standards and that students and teachers could become involved in much more engaging instruction by utilizing their setting rather than using the traditional textbook (Dana, 2009, p.36). This particular research project caught my attention because we, as teachers, are always looking for better ways to engage our students, especially in Science. This principal took a simple idea and made learning fun for the students, and teaching fun for the teachers, simply by creating and planning curriculum around the school yard. Although there was a lot of work put into the action research plan, I learned that action research doesn't have to be boring or complicated.
Overall, I found this Research course to be extremely insightful and I know I will be referring back to the information learned here throughout my coursework and into my professional field as a school leader.
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