During week 3 of action research, I have gained a broader perspective on what this project will entail. My plan to address the nutrition choices and needs of the WHS students and faculty will be a long and tough road. I will have to look at numerous current policies and guidelines in order to help in the best way possible. There are many steps I will take in order to utilize all my resources for research including my principals, peers, students, and government agencies. Gaining the opinions, perspectives, and rules I will need to help bring more nutrient dense food choices to WHS will be a challenge but a challenge that I hope will help to create a more nurturing environment to all at WHS. I have also discovered this week how I will use surveys to gain opinions of the students and faculty at WHS to make this endeavor more meaningful to the students and my peers. By conducting surveys I hope to engage the students and faculty in a way that gives them a feeling of self worth. I want them to feel as if they had input in the decision of what types of nutrient dense foods that will be offered at WHS.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Week 2 thoughts
In week two, I learned about new ideas for action research. Our schools currently have multiple areas of concern with which the practice of action research can help greatly. I have been able to look more deeply into what action research practices are, and what other school district's have done to improve aspects of their campus'. I look forward to finding out new ideas to help my school run more efficiently and improve the overall campus environment for students and faculty.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Topic: Educational uses of Blogs
Teachers may use blogs to develop an open line of communication with students and parents using the internet. By utilizing blogs in education students can take the classroom anywhere, whether they are on vacation, an extra curricular activity, or perhaps snowed in for four days. Teachers can use blogs to share ideas and collaborate with faculty at their district, campus, or other campuses across the world. Blogs can be used by students to answer questions about assignments, or see how their class score on a quiz/test averaged with other class periods. Blogs can be used in many positive ways by teachers and students to facilitate a better learning environment for everyone.
Topic: Action Research
Action Research
I’ve learned that action research is a helpful tool for administrators to use in developing better plans of action for their campus. It can help administrators grow closer to their faculty by organizing groups to come up with solutions and new practices for the campus. Action research can help administrators and teachers to better understand what is happening on their campus, and provides a decision making process that helps to guide instruction on their campus. It is also a form of continued professional development that helps to improve teaching and learning, and put the administrator in a guidance position to help their faculty in the implementation of new teaching principles. Action research also helps administrators and faculty to be more open to new ideas and ways of thinking forming more diverse educators who are striving to achieve the same goals. This creates a team atmosphere among faculty members, and this thought process starts to transcend from one classroom to the other. Action research brings the faculty together so that instead of being one teacher with 250 students, they are team teachers that are teaching the entire student population. Another aspect of action research is the reflective time an administrator must take in order to evaluate what’s best for the campus. In the book, Leading with Passion and Knowledge, Dana (2009) a story about regular exercise is compared to inquiry. In this situation Dana describes inquiry as something that must be scheduled into your day, week, month, and year in order to better facilitate a positive learning environment for students. This is what we must all do, never settle for what we have done, but strive to do better every day for ourselves, our students, and our community.
I’ve learned that action research is a helpful tool for administrators to use in developing better plans of action for their campus. It can help administrators grow closer to their faculty by organizing groups to come up with solutions and new practices for the campus. Action research can help administrators and teachers to better understand what is happening on their campus, and provides a decision making process that helps to guide instruction on their campus. It is also a form of continued professional development that helps to improve teaching and learning, and put the administrator in a guidance position to help their faculty in the implementation of new teaching principles. Action research also helps administrators and faculty to be more open to new ideas and ways of thinking forming more diverse educators who are striving to achieve the same goals. This creates a team atmosphere among faculty members, and this thought process starts to transcend from one classroom to the other. Action research brings the faculty together so that instead of being one teacher with 250 students, they are team teachers that are teaching the entire student population. Another aspect of action research is the reflective time an administrator must take in order to evaluate what’s best for the campus. In the book, Leading with Passion and Knowledge, Dana (2009) a story about regular exercise is compared to inquiry. In this situation Dana describes inquiry as something that must be scheduled into your day, week, month, and year in order to better facilitate a positive learning environment for students. This is what we must all do, never settle for what we have done, but strive to do better every day for ourselves, our students, and our community.
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