Action Research Plan

I teach 1^st – 5^th grade GT and I have a different grade each day. I only see my students once a week so communication with the parents can be a little difficult. I would also like a way to share what we’re doing in class using pictures as well as comments. I use a calendar that stays in the students’ folders but it is more for important dates. I have used a newsletter in the past. However, it is very time consuming and most of the time I find them in the students’ folders weeks later. Many people use Facebook and I believe that the parents would find it easier to stay up to date using this particular type of social media.

Is communication between the parent and the teacher enhanced with the use of Facebook? 

 

Action Research Plan
Goal: Enhance parent/teacher communication with the use of Facebook.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Survey parents about availability of internet, use of Facebook, and thoughts on parent/teacher communication	Jodie Allex	September 2013	Parent letter and spreadsheet to track answers	Results from survey
Find articles from educator websites and journals that relate to parent/teacher communication	Jodie Allex	September 2013 to November 2013	Internet resources, district personnel, conversations with other teachers and parents	Interpret data relative to an elementary classroom
Set up & begin using class Facebook group	Jodie Allex	Late September 2013 to May 2014	Letter to parents explaining how to access the group	Monitor the number of parents who joined the group
Survey parents about the use of the Facebook group: satisfaction with information & ease of use	Jodie Allex	December 2013	Parent letter and spreadsheet to track answers	Results from survey
Make changes to amount of postings & pictures based on the results from the second survey	Jodie Allex	January 2014	Spreadsheet from second survey	Monitor Facebook group to see how many parents log on
Final parent survey about Facebook group	Jodie Allex	May 2014	Spreadsheet from final survey	Compare results from all three surveys
Share results with other teachers and site supervisor	Jodie Allex	August 2014	Results of action research plan	Feedback from other teachers and site supervisor

Passions of Research

I learned this week that there are nine different passions, or areas, that can be the starting point for your inquiry question. I think my action research project about parent/teacher communication can fit into more than one of those areas. As I was reading the text this week, I saw many good examples of action research, and several things popped out at me that I thought were important to remember. First, to be an effective leader you must be willing to set an example. If you want your teachers to continue learning, then you must show them how. In each of the nine passions, there were examples of principals leading the way in inquiry. I'm sure we can all think of leaders that would be good examples of this and a few that would not. Another thing I found important was the willingness to self-evaluate. It's hard to realize that you're not always as successful as you had thought or hoped in a certain area of teaching. The great thing about action research is that the goal is not to find fault or lay blame but to find a better solution! This leads to the cautionary note by Dana (2009) to "be careful not to focus your wondering on controlling or changing other people's practice" (p. 64). How true is that?! Mainly I realized how many different "wonderings" and questions there are to research, and that you might start in one direction but end up going in another. I like the idea that it can be fluid if needed.

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

Action Research Project

I would like to research how the communication between the teacher and the parent could be enhanced by using Facebook and Edmodo. I'm specifically looking at an elementary setting. We all know the importance of communication but with time constraints on both the parents and the teacher, it doesn't always happen. Some teachers might be reluctant to use Facebook because of privacy concerns. I previously thought that using Edmodo might not really work for elementary and I thought that Facebook might take more time than it's worth. I feel like all of the teachers on my campus will benefit from my research because I will be able to share what really worked. I also think I can share what I find out with the staff development director for our district. I will be working with her next summer on a different project, but this information would fit right in with what we are doing with some technology and I would be able to share with teachers from other schools. The parents would also benefit from my research because it will enable them to keep informed of what's happening in their child's class on a regular basis. I will benefit because the research will hopefully give me two more ways to truly show what's going on in my classroom.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

There are many ways an educational leader can use a blog. Besides using it to keep thoughts and questions together about a particular topic, a principal can receive feedback on those same thoughts and questions because the blog is instantly on the Internet. A blog is a great way for a principal to be in contact with other administrators from different parts of the country. A blog also allows the principal to see his or her own progression of thoughts and decisions which then gives an even greater insight into their own administrative practice. One thing that makes a blog extremely useful is the fact that you can add links to other web pages or images like charts and graphs to the data you are collecting.

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

What I Learned

I was not familiar with the term action research but now I understand how useful it can be. It is very important for a teacher or administrator to take time to reflect on teaching practices, leadership skills, or other issues that arise in a classroom or school. Action research starts with that reflection and continues with the systematic and intentional study of those practices or skills (Dana, 2009). The process allows for a better understanding of those practices: what works and what doesn’t. It also helps to bring about useful and important change. I like the idea that action research is more personal. It involves the people that are actually part of the situation. The teachers and administrators that are actually working with the students have input. I’m looking forward to the collaboration that can come from action research. One way I can use it in my classroom is to look for ways to enhance the curriculum through the use of iPads. I don’t want to just put them out there for the students to play on; I want to be prepared with some good educational ideas. Other ways we can use it in my school are for discipline and motivational strategies for the students. We had some big discipline problems last year and I think using action research to address those issues would be extremely helpful. Although, the process seems daunting and time consuming, I think action research is worth it. If done correctly, it forces you to look at your practice as an educator and then make the necessary changes to improve.

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