Lessons Learned Week 2: Real Life Research Action Examples

This week I learned about some of the areas that are frequently identified by many school leaders as needing further research. Some of those areas are staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, individual students, school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice or equity issues. Each area is like an umbrella with many different topics that can be important for action research. Some examples of the wonderings I had were:
How can the elementary school principal best facilitate teacher professional development that promotes the professional growth in both veteran teachers and first year teachers?

How can the staff at my campus integrate technology across the curriculum?

What kinds of support can a principal provide for new teachers to succeed and remain in the teaching career?

These were only a few examples of the many wonderings I had when learning about the various areas of action research.

Analysis-How educational leaders might use blogs

Educational leaders might use blogs in a variety of ways. Blogging can be used to share research with colleagues near and far or it could be used for a presentation to be shared internally with your campus or district. Blogs can also help in sharing insights, ideas, and issues in a forum where other educational leaders can read, comment, and contribute to. Blogging gives educational leaders the opportunity to reflect on their own practice which can help educational leaders become more intentional about what they do.

Action Research-What I have learned

What I have learned about action research is that it is a very reflective process. Action research can be used in many educational settings such as in university coursework, superintendent/district meetings, leadership teams, and professional learning communities. School administrators use action research to help them become better leaders and to improve student learning in their school building. Where as other types of research focuses on outside groups, action research focuses and happens on your campus. The process of action research is that of a cycle. The administrator will begin by reflecting on his/her practice and then gathering data through input, scores, interviews, journals, surveys, etc. This is most beneficial when done collaboratively with a group of staff from the campus. Together they can help identify a wondering or area in need of improvement. Then the search begins through literature research to find a possible strategy that might help make improvements in the identified area. A plan of action is created and the strategy is implemented for a specific period of time. After which more reflection is required to determine how successful the strategy was in making improvement in the identified area. Thus the process repeats itself in a cycle that begins and ends with reflection.
As a current classroom teacher and student in a Master's program for Instructional Technology Leadership, I feel I would best be able to use action research to reflect on how well I have implemented the use of technology in my classroom. There is definitely room for improvement in terms of technology integration in my classroom with my students. I would say that my wondering includes how to better integrate technology for instruction and for student's to use effectively and efficiently. Thus begins my search through action research!