Well...now what?

After our web conference tonight I began second guessing my previous decision for action research.  I am very interested in the topic of self-contained vs. departmentalized classrooms, but I am having a hard time understanding how I will collect my data and which areas I should look at.  Since we have a high population of at-risk students, my focus has now turned to what motivates students to read?  Even with a current incentive program in place we still have many students who choose not to read.  I want to know what methods the teachers are using to motivate the students and which methods are more effective than the others.  Student and parent surveys would also give good insight into the different methods of motivation used.

Self-Contained...Huh???

Understanding Self-Contained Classrooms in Public Schools

This article gave me a different insight into how self-contained classrooms are identified.  Our school clearly labels self-contained by only meaning you teach all subjects.  This article described self-contained classrooms as classes for those students who need interventions or specialized classes just for GT. 

Action Research

When I first learned that our second class would be dealing with research I cringed as I'm sure a lot of other classmates did as well.  What I quickly realized, though, is that action research is what I've been doing in my classrooms for as long as I can remember.  In my current position as our school reading academic specialist, my job insists of addressing problems on a daily basis in regards to our students with reading difficulties.  I have to determine why students aren't reading on grade level.  My inquiry into the problem begins.  I discuss the student with the teacher to find out as much information as possible.  I use data from past and current grade levels to look for patterns or trends in the child's learning and discuss my findings with the teacher, our Academic Coach, and our district dyslexia specialist.  The teacher and I meet together to form a plan and implement interventions that will target certain areas for the child.  We continue to monitor the student through bi-weekly fluency and running records to track growth.  As the teacher and I come together to evaluate our plan, we make changes as needed if the child is successful and showing growth or if they are still stagnant and not progressing in the plan.  The information we gain while working with the child is then shared during our collaboration time so that other teachers who might have a child with the same difficulties in reading can learn from the experiences we had.  We continue to keep the child on the plan developed and monitor their growth through the RTI progress.  "Inquiring professionals seek out change and reflect on their practice by posing questions or "wonderings," collecting data to gain insights into their wonderings, analyzing data along with reading relevant literature, making changes based on new understandings developed during inquiry, and sharing findings with others," (Dana 2009, p. 3).  Action research allows teachers and administrators the opportunity to look at why they do what they do and determine if their plan of action is effective.  If it isn't effective, steps are put into place to alter the plan and continue monitoring its progress.  If a teacher just goes into a classroom to teach and give grades and then leaves it at that, then they will never learn to determine why students are performing or learning the way they are.  As educators, we should always have that "I wonder" question looming in the back of our mind.  Only then when we begin to dig deeper will we have a true understanding of the effectiveness of our teaching and leadership skills. 


References:
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

How Leaders Might Use Blogs

Leaders using blogs is a great way for communicating with a network of other educators and leaders.  Blogs are a way to communicate current school issues, school action research information, school successes, etc.  Networking with a variety of others opens the lines to an endless supply of advice, validation, ideas, contacts, and more.  As a leader, leading by example is something I believe in.   Communicating through a blog to teachers, parents, and students, you show them that learning is life-long and the lines of communication are open. Those reading the blog have access to school calendars, upcoming events, school successes, etc.  Leaders can also use blogs as a self-reflection tool as they lead their school.  Reflecting on implementation of practices, staff trainings, school issues, etc.  allows the leader a series of dated events that tracks the school's progress.