Action Plan still in Progress....

So my action plan is still in its early stages and I already see that I am going to have to make some changes. I gotten back some really great feedback from site supevisor as well as my classmates from Lamar. So that is uplifting...but, I am kinda worried, it doesn't seem like there is enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished and everyone is so busy. But, I will stay positive and stay the cousre because I can make this happen and I do have great people who are supporting me in this journey. Here is a snip-it of my site supervisor suggestions on which action plan to go with.

Mrs. Hernandez felt all (3) plans were great. But, she didn’t specify which one she wanted me to work on. So I had to send an e-mail asking which one she wanted me to work on. I was shocked at her response she requested me to complete the third choice, which was the Vanguard School-wide project which was her least favorite of the three. I wondering why she would pick that, but, I didn’t question her in the e-mail. I just went with her request. Finally after some thought I came to a conclusion. It gave me more time for a successful implementation. Everything would be carried out for next school year, which would give everyone ample time to adjust to the expectations. I saw her on Saturday; she came in my room to see if I needed anything since we are holding Saturday tutorials. She asked if I understood why she chose the 3^rd option, I told her yes, to give everyone enough time to buy-into the program and understand the expectations and she said yes. She made it very clear before she left that she liked all three ideas but, this one was more obtainable for me at this time. She said she liked everything about the action research plan and to get with administrators who are tied to my grade level and department and to find agreed upon dates for implementation and send the revised plan to her for approval.

Action Plan in Motion

Action Research Project Process Overview: How can the Vanguard Department, work together to implement a unified project for all grade levels in the Vanguard program to promote College Readiness, Community Involvement/Support and Culturally Diverse learning appreciation for the upcoming school-year 2013-2014? Setting the Foundation: Through our special department meeting (Vanguard) earlier this year, Mrs. Rosa the magnet coordinator spoke about us doing a project for the TPSP. I felt that this project could have more of a meaning to all those involved if it was interconnected to all core subjects. If this was done, then the community could also be involved as well to make the project feel more significant to the students who would then take more ownership of it. Our goals and objectives are the following: To improve the services that we provide for our gifted/talented population. To promote college readiness by providing necessary skills for productive research and intellectual curiosity through analyzing and synthesizing. To provide the skills necessary for public speaking and presentations. To make all core subjects learning interconnected with the project at hand. To get the community involved and to support our GT population educational endeavors through the Expo held at Burbank at the end of the school year. To integrate technology and our cultural diversity into the grade level project/department-wide program.   Analyzing Data: Use of variety of data gathering methods such surveys, excel spreadsheets and electronic searches over TPSP type of projects can help improve any ideas on making this a successful endeavor. So that students are successfully conducting research as well as fulfilling the intellectual mind. These findings will hopefully give us examples of other schools that have successful planned out the necessary steps to carry out the implementation of school-wide project based learning goal by using the following: Computer Labs and Library Survey Monkey for Surveys Excel to gather and organize data HISD Online Resources such as Pro Quest, Thomson Gale, World Book Web and ect Create a Graph (Website) Interviewing relevant sources   Develop Deeper Understanding: Initial data gathering will lead to more ideas for implementation as well as questions on how we can make this process more efficient and more conducive to our overall goals as a Vanguard Department. This will eventually lead us to reflect on what we could have done better or done without and still get the same outcomes or better outcomes in some situations. Engage in Self-Reflection: Did we communicate effectively our goals and objectives as a collective whole? Did we include our student’s interest when formulating the Project Expo? Did we provide all the necessary resources needed for the students to be successful? Did we stay on track with the deadlines needed for the successful planning for Project Expo to be implemented efficiently? Was everyone input validated in regards to Project Expo creation? Was the data used in a timely manner to drive further phases of the implementation of Project Expo? Exploring Programmatic Patterns: Miscommunication can cause a big problem, so staying on top of the deadlines will eliminate a lot of things from falling underneath the rug, so to speak. So e-mailing and face to face conversations will assist in that matter. Also making sure everyone has a schedule and weekly reminders of what will be coming will also be helpful. Review the goals weekly to make sure we are staying the course and updating each other when we see a conflict arising so, we can be proactive. By following this tentative schedule should help us stay on the course: December 17th- 21st 2012 (Hold a small meeting with all parties involving the Vanguard Department about the proposed plan and the expectations and the goals we are trying to achieve as a team) January 14th-18th 2012 (Another meeting to discuss our project ideas and how we will implement the project deadlines, judging and expectations) January 21st-25th 2012 (Survey will be sent out for students on interest level on certain topics and project ideas) Week of January 28tht  (Survey will be sent out via e-mail to all parties involved in the Vanguard Department to confirm on the finalize Project concepts and tentative due dates) Week of February 11th (Vote on grading policies/rubrics, research paper criteria, sources cited criteria for example How many primary and secondary sources should a student have? And materials/supplies that will be needed for each core subjects in order for the students to be successful via e-mail Week of February 25th (Bring all information gathered and collected to Hernandez for final approval before I compile the material into a packet for the Guidelines for Burbank’s Vanguard Project Expo) Week of March 25th (All parties will view the document for the final time, to see if any changes need to be made or corrected via e-mail) Week of April 8th (Send schedule for lab time or library time needed for the next school year to Carranza and Gonzales for preparation of Project Expo, those proposed schedules need to be sent to me as well) Week of  May 27th (Meeting for the Finalization on all loose ends of the Project Expo and explanation of what we will be doing for each of our core subject in details which will be videotaped)   Determining Direction: In order to launch my action research, I need to make sure everyone attends the 1st meeting face-to-face, so everyone understands the goals and expectations of Project Expo. I need to make sure everyone has their input because I need buy-in from everyone and everyone has to do their part in order for this to be a successful event. Students will be given a calendar of deadlines that they are to meet as they complete their project throughout the school year Periodically throughout the school year, the students will take surveys on their feelings of their progress on their project, how they think it’s going and even concept questions for each core subject question to check for understanding Students who have a little more difficulty focusing will have a mentor, just like in a college for those who need a little more support and guidance. Vanguard teachers will take survey periodically to evaluate the success of the Project Expo and note suggestion along the way for implementation for the next school year.   I need to make sure everyone have the necessary resources to be effective which will include a tentative schedule of things to come. Also using the following criterion for grading students products will come from the following: The use of the scoring dimensions of TPSP: Content Knowledge/Skills Analysis and Synthesis Multiple Perspectives Research Communication Presentation of Learning Effective use of survey to organize our data and using that data to drive our next plan of action Effective use of deadlines to keep on track for both students and teachers Taking Action for School Improvement: All parties of the Vanguard Department will be assisting in this endeavor. Each person will have a role to play but, the main persons are the following: Hernandez for approval for actions taken in regards to Project Expo All Vanguard teachers implementing ideas and approval for the overall set-up of Project Expo Rosa/Perret for making sure all resources are provided for us and the students and assisting when necessary Carranza for Technology Gonzales for Library Services Singleton for organizing, putting together and overseeing that everything runs smoothly and to communicate all new information to everyone via email or during face-to-face meetings and to put the Project Expo Guideline Booklet together Sustain Improvement: Even though Project Expo is focusing on just Vanguard Department at this point, I would like to include the Dual Language as well as Excel to participate to make this a whole school event. This will help promote a more positive school climate/culture which is promoting education and college readiness. This is allowing everyone to have the same opportunities and not just a select population.

Action Plan in the Making

Well I have read some interesting examples of the many different indivduals and the birth of their inquiry questions. Inquiry questions are based off the needs of the school. The interviews were also thought-provoking and it gave me a different outlook on education. I have come up with a few action research plans of my own and I am very excited to get started on at least one. It sort of gives me a sense of purpose. So let's see how it goes...until next time!

Educators and the Use of Blogs

Educators can use blogs to collaborate ideas, solution to problems that have already been experienced. Blogs can be used to share best practices and its a place just to share the successes and yes, even failures. Sometime, its helpful to be able to share the failures because sometimes people on the outside can give you a different perspective on the issue. Educators can help each other set-up theoretical situation just to practice the action research method. Not everyone is gifted at posing questions and finding solutions, so its helpful to hash out problematic situations and pose a question for that area, and start looking for ways of improvements.

Action Research "What did I learn"!

Action Research....What does it mean? What is its purpose? And why do I need to know this information? These are the questions that pop into my mind when I saw my first assignment for the week. I will be honest I wasn't so excited about this assignment. But, as I read the information, I was shocked to see that maybe the grass is not so green on the other side. You know the dark side (Administrator) side of the educational realm. As teachers, we are all consumed by the daily needs of our students, parents, and administrators that we forget that, they too are going through the same issues.

 Action Research is sort of a prescription, it diagnoses the issues at hand, and then analyzes the data that backs up those issues and then devise a way to correct those issues or at least make some improvements to the diagnosed problem. The key word is "action" a hands-on approach to get the problem solved. There are (3) ways to practice action research within the educational setting and that is through university coursework, many times these leadership courses embed action research within the course material. Another area to practice action research is within the superintendent/district meetings. This is a grand opportunity to put all the principals’ thinking caps together to come up and formulate questions to a present day problem or upcoming problem and start coming up with action plan to rectify the situation. The last avenue to practice those action research skills is through the leadership teams that are housed within your own school. These individuals will assist you in decision-making process, sharing problems and possible solutions that are occurring throughout the school and even sharing responsibilities.

 I also learned there is a definite difference between action research and traditional research. And that traditional reseach is not benficial for the educational setting. I know that during my internship, I will be using action research method to assist me on solving issues or at least make some improvements within my school and not just as administrator in training but, as a teacher as well. I know I will need a action research plan for the implementation of a project-based curriculum for the iPad pilot program.





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