Reflections....not found in just mirrors

As I began this course, I can honestly say that I had a few fears or apprehensions. It may have been just me but when I saw the term 'research', it brought back memories. Memories of countless hours spent in a quiet, drab library. Buried under a mountain of books. Researching some topic that was given to me, not picked by me. So, of course, I was not looking forward to this course. Now, however, as I made my way through this course I discovered that it was something quite different. Something that could actually bring about answers and real benefit to your school or district. I feel like it is something that will just become a new way of going about my daily routine. Posing questions or wonderings on a daily basis. Collecting relevant data. Being able to correctly analyze that data. Reflecting on a consistent basis. Sharing the findings to all stakeholders.  When done correctly, this can be a powerful tool. I feel like this is an important tool for all educators and leaders in every school and something that I will continue using in the future. Well, that is week five in the books. This is your friendly BB, signing out. Come back soon. Same time, same station.

Moving Forward With My Plan

In the words of Albert Einstein, "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?". I thought that was an interesting and very purposeful quote for the time and place we are all in right now. As I have been putting all this together, I have been able to visit with my site supervisor almost on a daily basis. This has been a tremendous help. He's the kind of guy that I feel like I could go to with any problem. As we have been talking he's given me some good input and insights. The only real revision though was the use of an early survey and interviews instead of just the ones that I was going to do at the end of the year. He thought this would be another way of gathering some real good data. So far I feel pretty good with my plan as of yet, but if there is anything that any of you see as a problem or a question about something, feel free to leave your comments and feedback. It is always welcomed and wanted. Blog on.

BB's Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: I want to evaluate our new teaching method, 'The Fundamental Five' to see if it gives us the results and improvements that it proposes.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Survey a random set of students at the beginning of the school year.	Brent Barnett and students	Sept. 2013	Printed survey or online survey (such as Survey Monkey)	Analyze surveys- qualitative data
Survey all teachers at the beginning of the school year.	Brent Barnett and faculty	Sept. 2013	Online survey (such as Survey Monkey)	Analyze surveys- qualitative data
Interview a selected group of teachers and administrators at the beginning of the year.	Brent Barnett, selected teachers, Alan Nickson, Mark Stewart, Wes Chandler, and Chris Baloglou	Sept./Oct. 2013	Developed, preplanned interview questions	Study interview questions, compile, and analyze- qualitative data
Survey a random set of students at the end of the year.	Brent Barnett and students	May 2014	Printed survey or online survey (such as Survey Monkey)	Analyze surveys- qualitative data
Survey all teachers at the end of the year.	Brent Barnett and faculty	May 2014	Online survey (such as Survey Monkey)	Analyze surveys- qualitative data
Interview a selected group of teachers and administrators at the end of the year.	Brent Barnett, selected teachers, Alan Nickson, Mark Stewart, Wes Chandler, and Chris Baloglou	April/May 2014	Developed, preplanned interview questions	Study interview questions, compile, and analyze- qualitative data
Look at data from discipline, school wide and in my class, from this year compared to the last few years.	Brent Barnett and Mark Stewart	Sept. 2013-May 2014	Online data, written discipline logs	Analyze data- quantitative
Look at data from benchmarks, district common assessments, and state tests this year compared to the last few years.	Brent Barnett and Chris Baloglou	Sept. 2013-May 2014	Online data, test scores, common assessment scores, benchmark scores	Analyze data- quantitative
Focus on my classroom to see if there is better retention/achievement through relevance, rigor, engagement, involvement, and better overall classroom management.	Brent Barnett	Sept. 2013-May 2014	My classroom, classroom discipline data, student scores, benchmarks, assessments, teacher logs and observations.	Analyze data- both qualitative and quantitative

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

Week 2 Reflections and Learnings

Hey everybody out there in radio land. I think there was a lot of good information that came out of week two. One thing that I really gathered is the usefulness of blogs. To be really honest, I really didn't know exactly what a blog was or why I would ever need one. I'm not technology illiterate but I really never had any need to figure out what it was exactly, much less think I would ever need it. I had always heard about it. Blog this and blog that. As I see now though, it could be a very useful tool for any educator and/or leader. It is a way to get your thoughts out there and hear the thoughts and ideas of others. Especially in a class setting like this. It's just another way of communicating ideas and thoughts to your fellow followers. Say that five times fast. Another takeaway that I got from this week is the never ending ideas and wonderings that I would have throughout my day at school. The more I read, the more things I would look at and question. It just really opened my mind to some endless possibilities for action research.

Action Research Experience

When I heard the term action research, I was a little unsure and uneasy about what I was about to get in to. I think I was probably like most of you. The word research conjures up thoughts of sitting in libraries going through tons of books or on the Internet searching for literature, lots of writing and typing. Then I started reading about it and its not as scary as I had once feared. To me, action research should be something that all people in education, or at least all administrators, should be doing on a regular basis. The first part of action research is questioning. As leaders of our schools, we should be always asking those nagging questions about how we can improve or continue growth in our school and community. Next we must collect as much relevant data as we can on the issue or question that we are concerned about. After you have collected all the data, it must be gone through and analyzed. Along with our data collecting, you will need to read good, relevant literature. As the plan is put into action there may be times where change is needed. It's always a good idea to take a step back and ask yourself if the plan is working. Are we getting the results we are looking for? Lastly, the practitioner must share their findings with others. This type of research is ongoing and is a great way to bring about change and collaboration with fellow educators.





As I began reading about action research, I also started to search for some examples of ways of using this inquiry in schools and classrooms. I began to see that it can be used in almost every situation. School leaders can use this in leadership committees for all school improvement projects. It can be a tool to look at different teaching methods, classroom management, types of instructional materials or methods, in looking at different types of assessments and the way they are reported. If there is a problem, question, or wondering, then there is a need for action research.