Hardware Difficulties

While starting the implementation of my action research project on September 18, 2012, I ran into a problem with finding laptop computers for my students to use. The campus I work on does have several computer labs, but I did not want to take my students to a computer lab. I wanted to start the project with my students being in their won classroom environment, which is more comfortable for me and them. Also, I encourage the students to use multiple types of resources when researching information; therefore, I point them in the direction of dictionaries that I have in the classroom and the textbooks. So, in order to maintain my style of teaching, I signed up on our school program, eduphoria, for a laptop cart that was located in the Freshmen wing.

On the day that I was to start using the laptop cart, I could not find the cart. However, an ipad cart was in it's place and I was not allowed to use these technology because I had not been trained to use the ipads. When I asked what happened to the laptop cart, the technology person on our campus stated that it did not exist anymore and had been removed from the campus. However, the technology person and I went to our curriculum administrator and found another laptop cart from the vocational department that was not being used. But the obstacle were not totally alleviated with this transition because two days into my use of the cart and implementation of my action research, another teacher had signed up for using the vocational laptops, which I was now using because the Freshman cart no longer existed. This problem was cleared because I happened to be in a training on that day and students are not allowed to use the laptops without teacher supervision. So we were both able to get the use of the laptops.     

In conclusion, as a core teacher and a grad student, this scenario is very frustrating to me and calls for solutions. I teach social studies and our department does not have a laptop cart for use. We are required to teach the technology skills as required by the state and federal government but are lacking the necessary hardware. Also, as a grad student, I am having a difficult time procuring the hardware to do my project applications. Solutions to this would be to find ways for funding so that students have the supplies that they need, which is fast becoming a laptop computer. I have resulted to allowing students to use their smart phones in order to do research in class, then have only one or two days of actual computer use for web 2.0. While I am sure that my campus is not the only campus in the state of Texas having this issue, it does bring to light the gap between the accountability and standards that the government expects schools to maintain but do not find the funding to provide the tools.   

Snags in Action Research due to CScope

We left the 2011-21 school year with the loom of CScope curriculum hanging in the air. Upon our return we find that it is true. Our campus will be following CScope. This decision by our administration has decidedly put a cramp into my action research plan.

CScope curriculum are lesson plans in a can, as I call them. The curriculum is all planned, labeled, paced, and resourced for the teachers. While administration understandably sees this curriculum as a positive tool for keeping all teachers on the same academic rigor, I see it as being pigeon-holed and having my creative wings clipped. Also, I have had the rug pulled out from under me on two years of work with Project Based Learning that I was trained for at Manor New Tech High School's Think Forward program, which I was going to incorporate into my action research technology project. Needless to say, I have run into a snag.

However, as a good teacher does, I am following the CScope curriculum and manipulating the activities to play nicely with project-based learning and my implementation of Google into the classroom. Last week, on September 18, 2012 I started an activity about Gilded Age Society, and used the performance indicator as my assessment. The performance indicator called for students to create a storyboard to show how technological innovations and scientific discoveries of the Gilded Age affected society in urban and rural areas. Instead of the physical storyboard, I had students create a presentation in Google Docs. For the students who had Google accounts, I paired them in groups of four and introduced the web 2.0 feature through Google Chrome.

A positive note about the CScope curriculum is that the curriculum offers a variety of online resources for students to use when researching information. Therefore, I instructed the students to use these resources because they were researched as being viable. However, students were having difficulty with some of the vocabulary used in the articles; and not the historical jargon as expected but words and phrases such as "hotly debated" and "dominated."  This is where I directed students to dictionary.com for answers, or found myself teaching reading skills about context clues to eleventh graders. Definitely not what I expected.

In conclusion, though I had worked for two years on project-based learning, I find myself in the shoes of a new teacher with a totally new curriculum and trying to keep my action research plan in motion. However, as a leader I am setting an example and following the curriculum set forth by the school, but just weaving my aesthetic into the curriculum. By doing this, I am diversifying the environment of my classroom and showing the adaptability of a good teacher and CScope curriculum 

Action Research Draft

Implementing Google Features for Educational Purposes

Christy H. Weeks

Lamar University

The need for this paper was determined through research on new technology standards directed by the federal government and the state of Texas. Other needs for writing this paper include new research methods for students to find information, because the state of Texas is no longer funding textbooks; and to develop collaborative, project based, work habits that mirror what they can expect in real life situations. Another need that Google fulfills is the need to communicate with student, parents and the community about educational happenings.

            Goolge offers features such as Google Chat, Goolge Sites, and Docs, which support collaboration in real time; and also Blogger and Wikis, which supports collaboration in the form of peer review. Google Calendar offers communication with students and parents by way of information and procedures. For research, Google offers Google Scholar, which is a collection of scholarly journals that students can use as a guide for reputable resources. All of these features are provided to the public at no cost, which helps with the lack of funds that public schools in the state of Texas are experiencing; and satisfy the technology requirements for federal and state standards. 

To follow the best practices for education and student learning, students are given the opportunity to use the Google features. Students are provided the knowledge level of Google through a lecture and example workshop taught by the teacher in order to get them started. Once the students have been engaged in learning with Google, they are given specific assignments that facilitate exploring and applying the features from Google. Students work collaboratively in a project based classroom environment, while learning real life procedures through problem solving with technology. Communication and procedures flow freely through Google Calendar or the class Wiki, where the lesson plans and assignments are posted; and through Google Chat, where conversations of collaboration are stored. Assignments can consist of building web pages, writing research papers, posting to blogs, creating a wiki, and even presentations.

The vision for creating a classroom run through Google features was communicated to colleagues, the technology department, and to the superintendent of the school via a staff development day presentation. In the staff development, Google was shown to the audience as a tool for education for teachers and students. The point of view of Google’s features was given to the audience from a teacher’s perspective and from a student’s perspective. Thus, this allowed the audience to see the exchange of  communication as well as application.

At the beginning of the project, I was allowed to use my classroom as the test for implementing the Google features, and gather information. However, I have run into a snag with a new curriculum that the superintendent has designated, Cscope. While my principal has informed me that I can use the new curriculum as a resource, I believe that I am stuck with further implementation of Google. One of the promising aspects of the Cscope curriculum is that the curriculum has provided online resources for the students to use that are reputable and reliable. This is a big contribution to research and all sites can be posted in a class wiki or website. However, by providing student with the resources that they are to use for finding information, this limits the new kind of literacy that students must develop in discerning a good web resource from a bad web resource.

In order to solve the conflict that has arisen, I have started to merge the two curriculums. Cscope resources should not be ignored, but being the teacher I am able to add the requirement of having the students find a set number of resources outside from the ones provided. This will not only help them to develop research skills, but also build an education data base for future referencing.

Students can use the features in Google any place that an internet connection can be found. Students who do not have the internet in their homes always find it to use at a friend’s, a neighbor’s, or relative’s house. Another obstacle is finding the hardware for students to use while in the classroom.

With more time, as I have it, I can work out the obstacles and gain a better graps of what it will take to further implement Google into the classroom for education.     

           

Internship Reflections of Two Web Conferences

 

Reflecting upon the web conference scheduled on Wednesday, August 29^th:

            The first web conference was very helpful in my switching focus to taking a leadership course. From the technology courses that I have been taking thus far in my EdTech program. It also was very helpful for gaining an understanding on what the cource is all about. During the conference I commented on the fact that I was having difficulty with getting administration to give methings to do for hours. By Dr. Martin pointed out that I should nto wait for administration, but stick to my internship plan. I was also confused about he hours that we were neededing for the internship. This web conference cleared my misconceptions about he two. I had been viewing my internship as tasks and the hours requirements as separate issues, when in fact they were on n the same. I was to follow the tasks from my internship plan and provide allotted time of doing those tasks. I had not been waiting around for administration, as Dr. Martin had thought, but I had actually been very active in fulfilling each experience on the internship plan. After meeting with my mentor I discovered that I have completed almost all tasks at my half way point in the program. The web conference helped me to clarify and revisit my internship areas for completion.

Reflecting upon the web conference scheduled on Wednesday, September 12th:         

Web Conference for Week 3 was not as informative as previous conferences. Perhaps it is because students were not asking relevant questions. Plus, I had difficulty signing onto adobe connect, and was even booted off once. However, I would like to have had more information on the things that we were supposed to do for week 3. I had the initial reaction that this week was a work week with discussion, but no true assignment to submit. Though I have read and kept abreast with announcements, overviews, videos, and reading; I still feel lost and overwhelmed on what to do. On the other hand, having a designated time to chat with peers and have a professor available to answer any questions brings a sense of community to those of us in the program. This is good for building trust and sharing information as needed.

NETS Self-Assessment Survey Reflection

Though I know that I have improved with my knowledge of educational technology, standards, and integration into the classroom. I find that I sell myself a bit short on what I know. However, while taking this self-assessment survey, I did answer a judge according to the best of my knowledge, however short it may be.

First, I found  that I believe that technology implementation into the classroom is very important for students. However, I do not believe that I am as proficient as I would like to be. For example, after taking the survey, I realized that I am very weak in the area of having knowledge about funding. This has a coincidental twist because I am currently needing more hardware for my classroom and department so that we may have technology for our student to use. While NETS, the State of Texas, and new Cscope curriculum all call for more technology; I do not have readily available access and would like to obtain it. Therefore I believe I had start with researching funding.

Second, for Digital-Age Learning Culture, I believe that I am minimizing my abilities, or being realistic about the inhibitions that lacking in hardware is putting on the digital culture in my classroom. I rated myself as proficient, but with one very weak (in promoting and participating in global communities).

Third, I found what I consider to be discrepancies. Because I have not had the opportunity to exercise recruiting and retaining competent technical personnel; I rated the importance high and my abilities at very weak. A second discrepancy is is in reference to excellence in professional practice. I find it very difficult to stay abreast on technology trend when funding for everything is low and trend come and go; and are often a gamble.    

Competent, Not So Competent, And What I need To Do To Cure It It

The skills I posses lead me to believe that I am a natural at building trusting relationships in the work environment, but I am not so good at seeing conflict as an opportunity.

As a leader I am definitely transparent. I gather the facts, share the information that I have gathered, gather more information on finding solutions, and share that as well. I believe that a leader should inform their colleagues about every aspect of the decision-making process, and explanations for solutions and policies / procedures. On the campus where I teach I have a reputation as being a leader with a direct approach. I am the department chair of a core subject and I lead that department with modeling and doing what I can for my colleagues.

In the area that I am not so bold is through dealing with conflicts. I do not feel comfortable in the middle of a tense situation where emotions are running high and reasoning is low. Conflicts should be seen as an opportunity to get the facts and solve the issue, which is what I must do in order to become a more competent leader and put out fires when conflicts arise.

Therefore, I must work to experience conflicts as an observer. I must take note of how experienced leaders sort through the emotional display and identify the facts so that solutions can reached. 

Designing My Digital Self

    This class helped me to grow as a student and a teacher. I found a new confidence in my technology skills and knowledge because of this course. This course helped me to view technology as an application, a tool, and as a product.

    Before taking this Digital Graphics course I thought that graphic designers just piddled with things until they looked good; and in order to be a good designer, a person simply had to have good taste or talent. But I now know that there is an art and a science that goes into graphic design. C.R.A.P. is a nice acronym, because not only is it catchy due to being vulgar; but, after employing the elements, I know what the acronym stands for. Graphic designers use Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity to make visuals that are appealing to the eye artistically, while also implement relaying information. The four principles, though not necessarily defined, have been used for hundreds of years, which I learned by studying visuals in The Book of Kells, an ancient text. However, recently, I used my knowledge to help a friend. She is starting her own business and is making business cards. She said to me that she does not like them but doesn't know exactly what she doesn't like about them. I took one look and started to see where words were out of alignment and contrasting colors were not creating the effect that she wanted to portray for her business. As for the classroom, I plan to teach my students about the four principles of design because it is knowledge that can be applied in different ways. Therefore, C.R.A.P. is timeless in its uses and applications; and still provide the same exchange of art and information.

     When creating the web page through collaboration, I had the smoothest experience with this project coming together than previously. Perhaps it is because this is the third time for a group project and all things are easier with repetition; or perhaps now I have learned how to collaborate, what connective reasoning actually is, and the expectations of web 2.0. I worked with two other students on the required six pages for the web site. We divided the work equally, each taking two pages. Then we used Google Docs to keep a running tally of our collaboration and communication. I learned and shared information with my co-workers. For example, I learned about an extra step that needed to be done when saving an animation onto the webpage, which I had not figured out on my own. In the past, when I couldn't figure out a step by myself, I took the deduction in points because in my mind the assessment was about what I could perform alone. However, web 2.0 is all about the sharing and exchanging of ideas and information in order to make a better product on the whole.
     The next week, I then turned around and shared this new knowledge and eye-opening experience with my colleagues at a technology conference. While teaching a class to my peers, I was able to pull up the Google website that my group had created, as well as the document that provided information on how we collaborated effectively. At one point on the document a partner and I were typing at the same time and we made reference on the document that we could see the other person typing in real time.
     Another way that I used building the website to change my use of the internet was by searching for information that was already out there. I was responsible for the "How To" page on animation for our web site. I searched YouTube videos and tutorials to show how to use two new animation sites. I realized that my experience with YouTube was a productive, learning, and thoughtful. By watching the YouTube video, I could pause, rewind, reference, skip, and basically alter the information to fit my needs.

     In the future I would like to do more research and learning about how games are used in the classroom. I have heard about Call of Duty missions (which is not classroom appropriate to play, but students refer to the game) and Oregon Trail, but I would like for more interactive games to be implemented for high school level students. For example, a game about the struggle for civil rights, or building a government, or maybe being able to virtually play with chemicals to provide a reaction. I have already had many ideas on how to implement building websites for my students. This can be done cross curricular, can be for subject information, or even student centered learning. I would like to research more on how to be sure that students are collaborating appropriately with each other and be better able to monitor. I know that the history of a document can be traced, but using web 2.0 productively can be a challenge for the teacher; even though there is responsibility  that is to be placed on the students.

     This course was not difficult by way of skill and product, but it gave me the push that I needed to flip my way of thinking about using and implementing web 2.0 and technology into the workings of my classroom. Whether the workings be about the house keeping chores, student collaboration, or even products. I now have ideas to do, try, and share.                

Reflection for Assignment 5.9

            My action research project began with my wanting to incorporate Google and its Web 2.0 features into my classroom while earning a training certification in Google. As this have progressed, I did not receive my Google Training Certification because of missing a testing score under 2% of what Google considered passing. Also, I could not attend the designated day to make up the test score because of health issues and a doctor’s appointment that I had scheduled. I updated my blog on my own on March 2^nd so that I would be able to give advice on the Google Training and document what had happened during the session, but had set a goal of making up the exam on my own in order to receive the certification. But, as luck would have it, I was not able to take the Exam and therefore I missed my certification by 2%.

            However, this has not stopped me from learning more about the Web 2.0 features on Google, reaching to incorporate them into my classroom, and teach my colleagues about Google’s features. Our campus has opened the teacher accounts for Google’s education program and I have started moving my lesson plans to calendar. I am also slotted to work a training day for our campus in order to give them an idea of how to navigate Google and use their features in the classroom.

            On another point, my internship is still progressing. I have researched other school’s LMS’s, created collaborative projects, and even served as a Vice-Principal for a day dealing with mainly discipline issues. One of the reasons that I have not done more toward my internship is because I did not have enough hours to be considered for duties, and then school ended for the summer. However, when school starts back in August, I will have many more opportunities.     

WebConference Reflection for July, 2

I do not like reading and writing reflections from these transcripts. They are a jumbled mess of questions, no answers, new questions, comments, still no answers to the first question, a comment on the comment, and then an answer to the question with a one work answer. To e these are not useful for getting information. emailing the professor or IA is much better for getting answers because the answers will be direct and correct. If it werent part of the course I would not participate in reading transcripts from the conferences, or participate in the web conferences at all. I have found them to be more frustrating then informative and the trade of amping my anxiety just isnt worth it.
Students should stay on topic when typing in the comment box, and moderators should answer questions presented. This is not IM or Chat, but a session that is to be on a controlled topic.

I am still confused on what we are to submit for week 5 since I have done the work already in previous weeks.
 

WebConference July1st Reflection

For this web conference reflection I had to read the transcript and listen to the recording. As students typed questions about their projects, Dr. Abernathy answered on the audio. This proved to be useless for me becasue the audio stopped playin about 3 minutes into the recording. However, I proceeded to reading the transcript and saw that there were a lot of questions that I would liked to asked and had answered. Questions such as: are we to submit 3 web conference reflections and a course reflection? Also, seems like a lot of students were having difficult weather during that time becasue they were exchanging storied on the newsfeed.

Reflection of June 16, 2012 Web Conference

Most web conferences that I have attended, or listened to the recordings of, have a lot of technical difficulty that causes me to be come frustrated. There are a lot of "I cannot see you," "I cannot hear you," "Can you see me?" from the participant's side of the conference. I find this frustrating because I am not engaged, but instead, just a viewer. This makes me think about the students in my classroom. How many times have they been just a viewer of something that I have created, such as a PowerPoint, or something that other students have created. In my classroom, I love project presentation day! But as the years have gone by I have found that my students are more and more apathetic about project presentation day. Therefore I am proposing a remedy to this situation by having my students publish their creations online or share their creation with another group for feedback and critiques. My role will be to funnel the critiques into relevant and focused topics.

Also on this web conference I received information about the previous assignment and the nest assignment. I learned that my making a podcast was alright even though the assignment sheet said to make a video podcast, which is called a vodcast. On the critical side, I now believe that I made my podcast too long and may have to trim more with editing, but that shouldn't be an issue because I learned a lot about the editing software while using it.

And the last thing that I learned from this web conference is that there are specific resources on the Resource section of our course ware that will help us with the group project. I had been quite confused because both of my mentors had to do public service announcements for their group project, but we are doing a lesson. So, having some referencing really helped to cut my confusion.      

Action Research Project: Google training

I have completed the first step of my action research project which was professional development in taking Google training. Since Google promotes collaboration, the sessions pushed participants to lean on and encourage your peers, while also building each person's knowledge and confidence.

Each day we participated in two sessions, one before lunch and then one after lunch. Trainers from TCEA gave us a crash course in two different Google Apps, and then we were given an hour and a half to take an individual sixty question exam. The exam is randomized, but allows examinees to search within their Google Apps Training Modules, your own Google account, the information site that the TCEA has comprised, and to ask each other for help. Though it seems like this should be pretty tame, this test is difficult. Words, phrasing, specifics, lists, are tricky and can be interpreted in different ways depending upon a person's understanding and perspective. Examinees can spend several minutes searching or discussing a question or answer choice. Plus, an 80% is an acceptable score but anything under is considered failing.

On the first day we took the two most difficult exams, Administration and Docs. Administration gives an over view of what the Administrators who maintain an Google Educational School Domain can set up, restrict, allow, etc. To pass this exam you really needed to change your perspective from being narrow in application to general in practice. I passed this exam without much collaboration with a score of 86%; however, the TCEA trainer had given us a whole lot of information before the exam, which helped direct my searches. In the afternoon, we took the Docs exam. I will say up front that I did not pass this exam with a 78% (80% is considered passing). Because of the intensity and variety of Docs, I did not seem to know where to focus my search and did not recognize the terms in most of my questions. I did not lean on my peers for help and this was a big mistake. Because some of us knew Docs better than others, I should have gotten those who had finished their exam to help me search and collaborate on questions that they had already discussed. I became frustrated and finished the exam on my own. Later, when asking my peers questions about the terms that I did not recognize, I learned that my exam seemed to center around spread sheets,which I do not have experience with, but had I collaborated I would have been able to at least focus my research and pass the exam. On the other hand, I decided that by not passing the exam I could add to my action research plan by taking the exam again after seven days but within ninety days, per Google requirements, and reflect upon the necessary steps to achieve the certification on my own.

On the second day we took exams on Gmail and Sites. I was beating myself up a bit about not having the necessary score to have passed the Docs exam, but my colleagues helped me to find out the information about taking the exam again, and reassured me that they would help me to pass it the next time. This built my confidence and I was able to go on to the next exam, Gmail. The TCEA trainer warned us that because a lot of people use Gmail, they think that they know the exam well, and do not read the questions carefully then fail the exam. The exam had a lot of questions about how to do specific things, such as the difference between Contact Manager allowances within the school domain versus an individual account outside of the domain. I gained a lot of knowledge about how to personalize my Gmail with gadgets and labs. I passed this exam with an 88% by collaborating with peers and respecting the exam by reading carefully per TCEA's advice. I also made an 88% on the afternoon exam over Sites. Another aspect that helped me pass the exam is being familiar with Sites through the Masters in Ed Tech Leadership, I did not find this exam to be difficult. I was able to answer questions about embeding codes, and questions on defaults, such as public view, because of the first class Concepts of Educational Technology.

On the third day we took exams on Google Calendar in the morning, then Other Tools in the afternoon. Google Calendar was quite a difficult exam. This exam covered sharing your calendar in most questions, and the questions were tricky with the wording. It was on this exam that began to get the hang of searching throughout the Google Apps for Education Module. I started to read more and more of the information, which cause me to lag behind my peers. I also learned to listen to the people who were sitting around me when they read their questions under their breath. Since I had been reading a lot of information, I began to help them answer their questions, but it was at my own expense because the test was timed. Google believes in collaboration and my buddies came to my rescue when I saw that my time was running out and I still had a lot of questions to answer. As my colleagues finished, they came to help me. This truly built a team spirit and everyone accomplished their individual goals while supporting others and helping them to achieve as well. I passed the exam with 88%.  After such a positive experience that morning, I breezed through the last exam. My confidence was high, I felt like a necessary part of the group, I had mastered a skill, I had learned new features, and I now knew that Google can be tricky. The last exam process was a-buzz with searching and talking and questions and learning and mouse clicking. This exam seemed to pull all of the elements together, not only the information, but also the members in the training sessions. The atmosphere changed. I finished this exam in the quickest time and scored my personal highest with 90%.

Though I did not get the ultimate prize of achieving the certification, I did gain. I learned that I like collaborating and I see value in it. Perhaps not necessarily for learning facts, but for encouragement and support, definitely. I also value the team atmosphere that was achieved during the session. I can see how by each member working on their own but helping others can improve the whole group, and vice versa. And, lastly, I did gain knowledge as well as skill from this professional development session.     

Revised Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: How will Project Based Learning through an online medium affect the development of new curriculum that meets state technology requirements; enhance critical thinking skills while maintaining subject retention; and reinvigorate, enhance, or transform the traditional classroom environment to be more conducive for student/teacher collaboration?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Attend Professional Development for Google	Google Trainer Christy Weeks Kristine Brown	Feb. 29, 2012 Mar. 1&2, 2012	Facility Computer Information and experience with Google products	Certification Examination Gaining New knowledge and uses for Google Relevant information for classroom use
Develop Curriculum to include Google programs	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown	Mar. 3, 2012 through Mar. 18, 2012	STAAR Standards for high school U.S. History course as well as technology skill requirements.	Transferability for all tech. skills Transferability for all social studies classes Reflection upon
Implementation of new curriculum into classroom	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown Participating students Participating teachers	Mar. 19, 2012 through Apr. 10, 2012	Laptop computers for students Internet access Google Accounts for students	Reflection and Interviews with participating student Reflection and Interviews with  participating teacher Reflection upon adjustments Reflections upon classroom environment Administrator Walk-Throughs Student assessments in traditional and nontraditional forms
Reflection upon project	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown Participating students Participation teachers	Apr. 11 – 13, 2012	Reflections taken during implementation upon participation, adjustments, and classroom environment Administrator Walk-Through Assessments Student Assessments	Satisfaction of: data sources, consistent timeline, relevant and workable adjustments made, changes in classroom environment Further Research: personal expansion of curriculum, achieved implementation all STAAR requirements, need more data for conclusion,

Reflection for Week3

Though I am on week four, I am writing week three's reflection because week three's progress makes more sense to me now that I am working through week four. In week three I was able to organize my thoughts and get to the specifics about what I would do for my research project. But my notions seemed vague and I found myself repeating information. However, since getting more clarity on the fact that this project will be ongoing and like a living document that must be tended, maintained, and adjusted for; I am actually getting becoming more focused upon what I should do in my project. I know that I am going to develop new curriculum in my classroom using Google, and that I will be gathering all kinds of information along the way, but I have not yet thought through what my goal will be. A colleague suggested that I should add my goal to my action research plan template, and because it was good advice, I am reflecting upon what my goal is exactly and how will I know when I have gotten there? I know that I want to further my student's 21st century skills in technology, and further my classroom to meet technology requirements as designed by the state, but I am still asking myself how will I know when I have reached these goals. Will it be when I have integrated the skills with the subject matter? will it be when I assess the students on the knowledge that they have acquired? will it be when the students fill out a refection paper for me giving their thoughts and opinions about the unit? By asking these questions I am still inquiring, which proves to me that this project is progressing and living as I implement, reflect, and solve.   

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal:
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Attend Professional Development for Google	Google Trainer Christy Weeks Kristine Brown	Feb. 29, 2012 Mar. 1&2, 2012	Facility Computer Information and experience with Google products	Certification Examination Gaining New knowledge and uses for Google Relevant information for classroom use
Develop Curriculum to include Google programs	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown	Mar. 3, 2012 through Mar. 18, 2012	STAAR Standards for high school U.S. History course as well as technology skill requirements.	Transferability for all tech. skills Transferability for all social studies classes Reflection upon
Implementation of new curriculum into classroom	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown Participating students Participating teachers	Mar. 19, 2012 through Apr. 10, 2012	Laptop computers for students Internet access Google Accounts for students	Reflection and Interviews with participating student Reflection and Interviews with  participating teacher Reflection upon adjustments Reflections upon classroom environment Administrator Walk-Throughs Student assessments in traditional and nontraditional forms
Reflection upon project	Christy Weeks Kristine Brown Participating students Participation teachers	Apr. 11 – 13, 2012	Reflections taken during implementation upon participation, adjustments, and classroom environment Administrator Walk-Through Assessments Student Assessments	Satisfaction of: data sources, consistent timeline, relevant and workable adjustments made, changes in classroom environment Further Research: personal expansion of curriculum, achieved implementation all STAAR requirements, need more data for conclusion,

Choosing a Topic Reflection

I was going to do a project on the change from traditional textbooks to ebooks and the complications of funding, hardware, lack of core curriculum, and adjusting to the needs of my school. But...I was wrong. While I am still interested in gathering information about the change to ebooks, I have decided to focus more upon implementing Google into the classroom. An opportunity has popped up for me to become a certified Google Trainer. While I do not know if this is a big deal, I do know that it is an opportunity that I would love to take. I have been bouncing around the idea of leaving the education world academia and entering the training world of business when I finish this program. I saw Google as a vehicle to be used for both classroom and training. Therefore, I am striking out on a new action research venture. I believe that this will serve both purposes of being a leader and integrating technology. Plus, I can gather information on implement a new type of setting in my classroom which can be applied to business, hopefully.

Leaders who blog

Leaders who blog can write what they want to want write. Leaders can reflect on the things that are happening in their professional daily lives. By reflecting upon their profession, leaders can create a running archive of the day to day ups and downs happening daily.
Leaders who blog can read the blogs of other leaders. The other leaders may or may not be in the same profession, and thus give variety or commonality, to the topics that leaders blog about. Variety can be found in the way that different professional leaders react or adjust to situations; while commonality can occur between blogging leaders who share a profession. In either case the leaders can see that they are not alone in their situations and can even learn from each other.
Leaders who blog can gain information, share information, write what they want to write.

Lights, Camera, Action Research in Action

The scientific method is a research direction that most of us learn in middle school. Everyone knows the drill of hypothesis, experiment, then outcome. Well, in the field of education, educators have begun applying a similar research method to improving their campuses but calling the procedure action research. According to Nancy Fichtman Dana, action research "focuses on the concerns of practitioners and engages practitioners in the design, data collection, and interpretation of data around their question" (5,Dana). Therefore, action research works from administrators posing questions or identifying issues, and can be adjusted to fit any scenario.

In the past, administrators would attend professional development seminars to learn about ways to make changes to their campuses, deal with situations, or make improvements. Attendees were expected to implement the things that they learned and everything would be alright in the land of education. However, presenters at the seminars perhaps worked under controlled settings, may have never lead their own campus, or, in some circumstances, the topic of discussion would not apply to attendees' school because of the differences in size or socioeconomic status. Action inquiry alleviates the unknowns of professional development. Instead of running a program based upon the experience of someone else, administrators are expected to create their own experiences through action research inquiries, information gathering, implementation, and reflective deduction.

Administrators use action research in a systematic manner to address the needs yo their campus. After an issue has been identified, the principal asks himself/or herself questions that can be presented to their own campus. Faculty and staff are encouraged to be part of the process because "a leader's role includes strengthening teacher's self confidence and self efficacy through action" (Ringler,2007). Teachers are a vital part of the information gathering step of action research by giving first hand accounts, advice about curriculum, and different points of view about campus traditions and changes. Principals contribute to the information phase by supplying faculty with ideas on new information that may appear in journals or come from other districts in their ares. This exchange of information is important for completely answering the inquiry presented so that solutions are well rounded. Implementation occurs when everyone agrees to maintain the standard that has been presented in the inquiry phase. All members of the group try the new solutions for a time, but also agree to meet again, consistently and repetitively, in order to reflect on any adjustments that may need to be made in order for the campus to move in the same direction.

Reflection is a critical stage of action research because thinking about the issues to be addressed can happen on individual and group levels; but can also occur at the end or the beginning of the process. By reflecting individually at the beginning of the action research process, administrators are gaining "ability to think more deeply about a problem, and the ability to take action or make adjustments accordingly" (Brown& Flanary, 2005). Therefore, leaders are becoming better at fulfilling their prospective roles. By having reflection within a group at the end of an action research project, teachers and administrators can gauge if the program was successful, or perhaps that the program should be adjusted in the next year.

Since educational standards are always changing, disciplinary action is always occuring, and improvements in all areas of a school are pressing, administrators can use action research to formulate procedures through inquiries to address all. Perhaps test scores need to be improved, or student tardiness is an issue, or peeling pain is an eyesore and an embarrassment for the community to see; action research can be applied to every situation. According to Nancy Fichtman Dana, "an inquiry stance is synonymous with professional growth and provides a nontraditional approach to administrator development that can lead to meaningful change for schools and all the people who inhabit them" (Dana,11).

Therefore, by forming groups that include the people who have an interest in the improvement in the district, action research can cause positive change.

Brown, F., Danzig, A.B., Flanary, R.A., Martin, G.E., & Wright, W.F. (2005). School leader internship. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education Inc.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ringler, Marjorie C. (2007). Action research and effective instructional leadership skill for suture public school leaders. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 4(1), 27-37.