I have been doing a lot of thinking and collaborating this week on my action research plan. I am thinking that while my current plan has a lot of value, I am thinking that at this point I may go ahead and revamp it and switch gears. My degree is going to be in Instructional Technology Leadership and after attending the WOW! academy this past week and knowing that there is technology in our current newly adopted curriculum that is currently not being implemented, my site supervisor and I believe that this is where my focus should be. 

http://prezi.com/yldt6osnxu_t/wow-tools-2012/
cel.ly

Here are some technology tools I am being introduced to. Just thought I would pass it along :-)

I have to say that as a whole, I learned a lot about action research. The Dana text helped me to learn more about why I need to share my action research and how to go about reflecting and making changes. This text has also helped me to know what kinds of things to look for and questions to ask to help focus my research project. I have also learned more about reflection and blogging through my fellow classmates and have enjoyed their comments on my progress thus far. One of the biggest moments of clarity for me during this course was learning through the interviews and texts that I could use the work of other researchers who have had the same questions. I came with the belief that it would be “cheating” to an extent to use anyone else’s ideas, when in fact it is not. They have done the work tested it and it worked for them, so I should not try to “reinvent the wheel”. I also feel that I still have a lot to learn which I think will start to iron out as I begin the literature review of my action research.

Here are my responses to the comments I have received on my blog thus far. Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback!

Comment 1: Martha MartinezJune 28, 2012 1:46 PM After reviewing your Action Research Plan it seems that parental involvement is a big problem. And I wonder about: Does their cultural background influence their participation? Are their communication barriers for these parents? Is your study taking place in a public, private, or charter school? What are the activites that are taking place at school and that parents are not participating? Are the activities during various times of the day, that would be flexible for parents? How are parents being informed about these activites? (communication) These were just some of my wonderings, I hope they help you in your action research project :) Reaction: My response to these six areas are: Yes I do believe that their cultural background influences their participation; however, the only way I know to address this is to ask the parent panel how best to help them stay connected with their student. Communication barriers are indeed a factor for these parents and with the addition of another bilingual administrator and with the help of the current bilingual staff I hope to address this issue. (I found out first hand last year how important it is to make sure I have everything I send out translated) My study is taking place in a public school. The activities that are taking place with little parental involvement are: conscious discipline information sessions, literacy and math nights, and in the year before last we had literacy and math functions during the school day that had low participation. I plan to address the hour of activity with the parent panel. This is something that I hope to improve upon this year. I hope to make sure that the meetings and activities are posted clearly on the website, board at the front of the school. I hope to get participation from fellow teachers by getting the information on their webpage and monthly home to school calendars. I also hope to find out from the parents at the beginning of the year about what their preferred method of contact is and go that route rather it be telephone, email, or note home. Comment 2: ACelesJune 27, 2012 10:12 AM Charity, After reading your action research detailed outline, I think you have a solid plan to back up your action research. Parental involvement is an important factor in each child’s success in every area of life: academic, social, spiritual, athletic, etc. Because most parents are so busy in their daily activities that can be overloaded and challenging, it takes away valuable time to get involve in their children’s academic endeavor. I can speak as a parent of three, respectively in elementary, high school, and recently in community college this summer. As a teacher as well, I understand how frustrating it can be sometimes to setup a conference with the parent of a student who is failing or sleeping in class (which is so common these days) or one with behavioral issues and the parental support is either lacking or inexistent. Sometimes, some parents get excited and get involved in the lower grade levels of their children’s lives and drop the ball as they get older. I hope your research results and recommendations go beyond pre-k and kindergarten levels. You have the ball rolling, keep up the good work and press on Charity! Reaction: My response to this is that I do hope that this is something that can be beneficial for grades beyond pre-kindergarten. However, at this time I plan to make no adjustments as my campus is strictly pre-kindergarten. Comment 3: lidane85June 27, 2012 7:09 PM Charity, You were one of the four blogs I recorded to visit throughout this course. I am interested in your research because I work at the primary level and parental involvement is key for students' success at any grade level. I think you are right on track with your plan. I have worked for two different districts and we have had math/literacy nights for parents at both. We have done them several different ways, so let me know if you need some ideas or want to run any ideas by me. I noticed you said you would consider your plan successful if you had 20 parents out of 400 participate. I was wondering if you had a baseline to work from. Has your school not had any kind of parent involvement or just very little? I know it has been helpful at our schools to offer food and a movie or activities for the kids while the parents participated in the training. We have also had training where the parents make things to take home to work with their child at home (flash cards, patterning, etc...). We still offered the food and care for the other children in the household. I hope some of my ideas helped. Please, let me know if I can be of further assistance. I think your project is looking great! Reaction: My answer to this is to include researching past experiences that our campus has had providing food at various functions. I know they have not done it the two years that I have worked there, but I don’t know about before my time there. As for make and take we have tried those, but we have not asked the parents the types of things that they would like to make which is something that I plan to address in the parent panel discussions.