End of Another Class- My Reflection

I started this class not knowing what action research really was.  I was nervous when I read I would be creating an action research plan, but quickly discovered the process was not nearly as difficult as I thought.  I learned by reading “Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher” by Dana, that action research has many steps involved in it and it requires time and attention in order to be successful.  I learned that much thought and consideration is required when deciding the topic you want to delve into.  It is important to always keep in mind that as an action researcher our goal is to improve our staff, students, and overall climate. 

The text, “Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools” by Harris, was an excellent book to use to guide me through the process of creating an action research plan.  It clearly lays out for you the steps that are involved and required to carry out an action research project.  The first task I had to undertake was to pick the topic and goal for conducting this action research. I thought it was going to be easy to pick a topic but it proved to be a little more difficult than I had thought.  I had several ideas and had to carefully consider each one and decide which area I thought would be most beneficial to my school.  In the end I decided to work on discipline and set my goal to reduce discipline referrals in 1st grade.  If this can be accomplished, than I can focus on implementing management programs across the grades to help with discipline. After choosing my topic and goal I had to write down step by step what I intend to do this year to work on discipline and how I plan on monitoring what is being implemented in the 1^st grade classrooms.  Once I wrote my draft action research plan, it was incredibly helpful to receive input from my colleagues via my blog.  My fellow classmates helped me to review my action research plan.  Suggestions were made which allowed me to add important information to my action research plan.  I never realized how helpful being a “blogger” can be!  I also think the discussion board forum is a great resource.  It allows us another way to communicate with one another.  We get to discuss our projects, ask questions, make suggestions, and support one another as we progress through this course together. 

After the final draft of my action research plan was written, the process can now truly begin. The data needs to be closely followed, much reflection must be done, and whenever applicable, changes will need to be made.  I learned that this process is not always problem free, one has to be flexible and aware that sometimes change is needed to make something better.  Conducting the action research allows us to learn more about our chosen topic and a chance to decide if what we are doing will truly be beneficial to those around us.  Whether it is successful or not, much will be learned by this process and hopefully we will all be walking away having done something to better and improve our school.