This class seems....................

My 5301 research class seems to be spawning new forms for tracking student performance on my campus. As previously posted I have created a form to track students loss of seat time. I submitted the form to my principal and she asked for a few minor modifications. I made the final corrections and provided the attendance clerk with several copies of the form to begin tracking students that are missing seat time. This afternoon the principal was looking over the simple form I created and made a new set of suggestions. This time she asked I move some columns around and change a few headings. This time the form will be used to track conversations administrators have with students. These are not your typical write-up situations, but rather tracking conversation dates and topics with students. this will help eliminate redundant correspondence between staff and students. There will no-longer be the line "didn't we talk to you about this already". Any administrator can pull the alphabetized, grade level binder and retrieve past conversations. It can be a useful tool to help stay consistent with students. Believe it or not many students need consistent input in order to succeed.

Do you agree? What could we do different? What have you tried on your campus? 

My action research project has come together

Keep my fingers crossed and read my reports

I am pursuing an action research project that will help my campus track students that are missing seat time. I created a form based off a meeting with my principal; I then made revisions based off of our continued conversations. The final draft will be used by the attendance clerk to mark students as: tardy 1^st period, absent the entire school day, or leaving school early, and the reason for time missed. The goal is to locate students that are habitually missing seat time due to the three previous responses. I will reflect on the number of students that are listed and compare these students lack of seat time and grade performance. This will allow me to establish a suspected correlation of low grades and missed classes. I will also be able to help show students that being late disrupts class and affects other students. Lastly I wish to compare student’s reasons for missing class and formulate rebuttals that can be used to redirect students. An example of a rebuttal would be telling a student that can’t get their ride to leave on time, their correlating bus number.  We could then sign an educational contract that would encourage the student to utilize their provided options. This is a work in progress and I will need to view a few of these forms filled out to reflect and determine the best direction to take. With this information all members of our educational community will benefit. Teachers will be less likely to be disrupted first period. Teachers will also be able to have more students in the same class on the same lesson due to increased attendance. Students will benefit from better grades due to more seat time and participation. The campus will ultimately reflect better attendance scores. Lastly the administrators will have a tool that can be used to stay informed about student attendance beyond the conglomerate of reports this single form replaces. I have the full support of my principal and the attendance clerk. It was imperative that these individuals be willing to help in order for this to be successful. I will meet with my principal with updates and suggestions on a regular basis.

My Action Research Topic

After tonight's web conference I wanted to blog about the topic my principal and I discussed this week. We have struggled to understand why our student’s attendance has begun to suffer. This school year started out with satisfactory attendance percentages, but lately they have plummeted.  As I met with my campus mentor we discussed campus issues and possible action research topics. Needless to say the conversation evolved into an action research project that will involve staff and students. My principal, who is my mentor, has allowed me to begin creating a form that will track student tardies, absences, and leaving campus early. The registrar’s office will mark students accordingly on a daily log and provide the information to the principal and myself. I am also creating a questionnaire that will inquire about the reasons behind the lack of attendance.  This questionnaire along with the log will allow staff to reflect on recurring themes that students use as justification for missing school. My job is to formulate rebuttals that can be used to redirect students and help encourage better attendance. For example a student that chronically misses due to appointments could be asked to schedule new appointments after school hours.  The information collected will be used to further develop a plan that can be used to benefit all the members of our campus. Our ultimate goal beyond improving attendance is to implement a form students will need to complete in order to leave early, arrive tardy, or miss school. When the form is turned in, an administrator can use our formulated methodology to redirect students and increase their seat time. This is a work in progress and reflection on results may take me in a whole new direction, but this is a start.

How we as educators can use blogs

I can see how blogs would create a collaborative atmosphere that spans the globe. A blog can expanded our human resources beyond the limitations of distance. It is very easy to bounce ideas off of hundreds of educational leaders in a matter of minutes. Blogs also give a fresh perspective that can assist with formulating new solutions. It gives educators an outlet to ask what tools have been used to solve an issue and what successes have followed. It’s also a good source to help build confidence and realize we are not the only ones facing issues in the field of education.

My understanding of Action Research

Action research is not a sedentary approach where the participants merely sit and listen; it is a truly active participation that is formulating a solution to a given problem (Dana, 2009). Action research forms living documents that evolve and grow with input from active members of the committee. The pattern of reflection and action is repeated several times thus resulting in a clear understanding of what needs improvement and what progression to take (Dana, 2009). Clear indicators of the achieved goal are created by shareholders. This allows members of an action research team to properly evaluate the outcomes and further reflect on possible improvements. It is this cycle of collaboration that empowers members of the team and provides them with the tools to address a common issue. All too often, we as educators are given the latest fad and encouraged to plug it into our classrooms. This does not always work due to limitations that include program creators that are unfamiliar with district staff or community demographics. Action research breaks the mold and allows active and reactive changes to a plan through inquiry and feedback. The textbook went on to address PLCs within the education system. I have been a member of a freshmen PLC on a traditional high school campus. From my experience, I have seen the power of action research as employed by a collaborative committee. Our PLC team tracked student attendance and weekly scores on core subject test. Our goal was to understand attendance trends and how they affected scores, and then formulate a possible solution. PLCs are powerful tools that refocus on a desired result by evaluation all aspects of a situation. Members of a PLC are driven by continued improvements or identifiable problems. It is up to the team to continue nurturing the plan and taking necessary action. This is totally different from an outside expert that has good intentions but very little working knowledge of all the intricacies of each district’s makeup. It is our reflective actions that help elicit desired reactions and outcomes.

 

References

Dana, N. (2009). Leading With Passion And Knowledge, The Principal as Action Researcher. (p. 4-9). (ISBN 978-1-4129-6705-1)

Test Test 123

I want to see how the page looks with a post on it. 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()