Week 5 Assignment for EDLD 5326

I have completed the first few steps of my action research plan. My plan consists of tracking progress for 17 teachers and trying to make them more effective teachers.  I have met with each teacher to explain the purpose and background of my action plan.  These meetings were multi-purposed.  Each one was approximately 30 minutes long.  In attendance was myself, each teacher (one at the time) and my Principal.  The meetings were a success.  The teachers are aware that I have the full support of my principal, they are aware that this is only meant to help them, and they were able to ask questions.  The most common question was, “Why me?”  I chose teachers from every grade level, every background, and every experience level.  My end goal is to find out what makes teachers more effective but the action plan is to increase teacher effectiveness. In addition to the meetings, I have also observed each teacher’s classroom teaching skills twice.  The first observation was a 10 minute walk-through while the second observation was a 30 minute full term observation.  After the 10 minute walk-through, I met with each teacher in passing and sent them an e-mail about what I saw and what we need to work on together.  After the 30 minute observation, I met with each teacher during their conference time and followed up with an email as well.  Next I am having the teachers write up two areas in which they would like to improve the most.  We will discuss what they need to make this happen.  This will include supplies, professional developments, and/or learning opportunities like best practice observations and observing other teachers in other schools.

Week 5 Post

After reflecting on the last 5 weeks, I couldn't help but have the majority of my experiences be out-shined by a few major insights. 

I desperately needed to be forced to utilize these great tools that Google shares with the human race like blogging.  Prior to this class I thought blogs were areas for people to complain about their life, job, or family.  I also thought that blogs were only for observers and not doers.  My impression was that bloggers were teenage girls with a crush on the flavor of the month teen heart throb, winy nerds that want a voice that is louder than the one they own, or housewives that found a way to communicate with other housewives.  Well, my eyes were opened.  I saw how powerful a blog can be when used correctly.  If you fill a blog with great material and distribute it to great people, readers will visit, view and add to the contextual power of your blog.  A great blog could be the largest, most powerful professional learning community ever.   The opportunities are seriously endless.  For a blog to get to that point would take a long time and need tons of support but that doesn't change the possibility of it happening.  This class has definitely changed my perception of blogging from whiny to useful.  A great blog could definitely be a game changer.

The field supervisor was another game changer for me.  I watched Mr. Bain on August 5^th and couldn't help but notice his communication skills.  He had charisma and poise.  He had it all.  No matter what occurred during the conference, Mr. Bain stayed calm, didn't let his negative emotions show, and kept the conference going while the rest of us fumbled around.  Mr. Bain started the conference off with technical difficulties which he was transparent with us and revealed them.  He logged off and came back on with a headset, recognized it, and moved on.  The man is a professional.  I couldn't help but to sit there while I watched a man that has a job similar to the one I want to have one day and he was unstoppable.  He was proficient, inter-personally  everywhere that I am not.  When others would mess up or have difficulties of their own, Mr. Bain would say something to make light of the situation, make the person in need feel comfortable, and carried on the conference without a hitch.  That was 45 minutes of my life well spent. 

The next moment that was well spent time was that of interacting with my peers.  My main concern about online classes was lacking the interpersonal relationships with my classmates.  I know this isn’t undergrad anymore and I am not looking for a study buddy but I really wanted to get to know some other people that share my interests in my chosen profession.  The discussions have interaction but it is one sided unless you find your discussion post, read the comments, and e-mail someone back and forth.  The blogs rolled everything together for me.  My Gmail is connected to my phone and it would notify me if someone commented on my blog.  I found myself answering the questions and re-commenting on other posts.  This was the interaction I was craving. I couldn't wait for responses.  I actually had a nice back and forth conversation with one of my peers through the blog.  

The final insight I will mention was the most important.  Learning how to create and fine tune our action research plan is, undoubtedly, the most useful tool I currently have in my tool belt.   Understanding how to plan for an action research plan will remain at the top of my list until I actually complete my year-long plan.  This bit held insight on how I will be able to get better at my job.

Week 4 Blog Post

My site supervisor did not have any revisions that she wanted to make to my action research plan.  She did ask me to aware of my time restrictions throughout the year.  I am at an elementary school so there are a lot of days that have alterations made to the schedule such as assembly days and student performance days.

I would like any tips or revisions that you see as a fit adjustment.  Please comment below on any suggestions that you have.

Week 3 Post.

Action Planning Template
Goal: To Increase Teacher Effectiveness
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Determine selection group of teachers.	Josh Turner	8/4/13 – 8/26/13	2012-2013 STAAR, Stanford, APRENDA, and District Assessment data.	I will choose a high, medium, and low performing teacher from each grade level, EC - 5 based on last year’s data.
Notifying and preparing teachers	Josh Turner 21 teachers	8/26/13	E-mail	Each teacher will be asked to provide a personal action plan describing areas that they would like to grow, trainings they would like to attend and professional learning communities in which they plan on participating.
Beginning of the year conference	Josh Turner 21 teacher	8/26/13 – 9/30/13	Time with teachers Computer with internet access	I will conference with each teacher to approve of or reconfigure their personal action plan.  I will also inform them on who they will be observing, both vertically and horizontally, throughout the year, process their personal developments they would like to attend, and provide ideas for professional learning communities if they are not familiar with them.
Peer Observations	All teachers	Monthly	Time with teachers	Every month, each teacher will observe another teacher that teaches their subject horizontally, along the same grade level, or vertically, a grade above and below their grade level.
Observations	Josh Turner 21 teachers	9/2/13 – 10/31/13	Time with teachers	I will conduct multiple 30 minute observations on each teacher and appraise them based on a rubric in each teaching area.
Post observation conference	Josh Turner 21 teachers	9/2/13 – 10/31/13	Time with teachers	I will hold a conference with each teacher after each observation to discuss their appraisal and review their personal action plan to determine if it remains sufficient.
Middle of the year conference	Josh Turner 21 teachers	11/1/13 – 11/29/13	Time with teachers Computer with internet access	I will conference with each teacher and find out which professional developments they have attended, how the put what they learned into practice, and to demonstrate the evidence of the new techniques.  We will also discuss the pertinent data that has been accumulated at this point (i.e. District assessments, peer appraisals, and my appraisals).
Observations	Josh Turner 21 teachers	12/2/13 – 5/16/14	Time with teachers	I will conduct multiple 30 minute observations on each teacher and appraise them based on a rubric in each teaching area.
Post observation conference	Josh Turner 21 teachers	12/2/13 – 5/16/14	Time with teachers	I will hold a conference with each teacher after each observation to discuss their appraisal and review their personal action plan to determine if it remains sufficient.
Staff developments	Entire Faculty	Monthly	Time with teachers Education Weekly Necessary supplies	The teachers will participate in an interactive staff development that is based on best practices, and the latest research from Education Weekly.  These staff developments will be conducted by an administrator or a consultant
End of the year conference	Josh Turner 21 teachers Principal	5/19/14 – 5/30/14	Time with teachers Data from STAAR, Stanford, APRENDA, and District Assessments Data from appraisals	I will quantify data from observations and conference with all 21 teachers that participated in the action plan, along with the principal, and show them the results.  We will discuss these topics.  Did the actions that took place throughout the year show a growth, decline, or immeasurable teacher effectiveness? How could we change the Research Action Plan for next year? Does the teacher feel confident in their newly learned abilities? Was all of this worth doing?

Week 2 Reflection

This week I really enjoyed the brief interview with Dr. Kirk Lewis.  On the surface the interview wasn't extremely informative, however, there was one statement that, I thought, knocked it out of the park.  It was near the 4:30 part of the video when he shares his advice.  Dr. Lewis' advice is to figure out what is practical to you.  This hit me like a ton and a half of bricks.  I've taught at several schools in different areas and each "stuck in a rut" teacher or admin will say the same thing about some data or research that is being used on their campus.  The stuck teacher will always say, "That doesn't apply here." or, "We are different."   Yes, that is partially true.  Dr. Lewis is saying that by doing onsite action research, you can avoid that thought because the research is done on your campus, by your faculty, and about your students.  So, it DIRECTLY applies to you.  

an analysis of how educational leaders might use blogs

• Next write an analysis of how educational leaders might use blogs – 25 words or more are recommended.

Educational leaders could use blogs in many ways but the most useful will be self-reflection.  Using a blog to track stages of actions, almost like a diary, so you can always keep track of what stage, or accomplishment you have done.  Blogs never disappear which means you will always be able to back track so you can learn from your past experiences.

what you have learned about action research and how you might be able to use it.

• On the screen provided, write a description of what you have learned about action research and how you might be able to use it. This description should be at least 200 words. 

I have learned that action research is an in-depth approach for an administrator to complete local problem identification, study, and problem solving, through his/her administrative team and teachers.  I will be able to use action research in many ways.  The first I have decided upon is to grow teacher effectiveness. This may seem like a broad topic but I feel it can be done in a year using action research.  To clarify, I will use data to find out where the teachers are according to the state and district findings.  Next, I will involve the teacher and ask him/her where they think they need the most help.  Then, I will observe their classroom multiple times without warning while trying to identify if the areas they want to work on are truly what needs to be focused on and while doing this, I will identify, demonstrate, and suggest workshops on the specified growth areas.  This will be an ongoing process thus creating a living document that provides feedback and evidence of growth.  Lastly, we will compare the previous year’s data to the current data and see if these areas of growth made an impact on the student success rate.  This will document the growth of teacher effectiveness.