Action Planning Template

In the past few years I have struggled with students not turning in their assignments and parents not taking responsibility for their student’s irresponsibility. That has led me to do an action research project on strengthening teacher/parent/student communication to promote academic success.  Last year I questioned many teachers about their strategies concerning this problem.  Chad Bender, who is our technology specialist on campus, talked about a classroom website, Facebook and Edmodo.  He felt as though he had a very successful year due to the added communication. 

I have already had several people suggest that I use Reminder101 as my technology resource so I am looking into that as a possible communication tool.  I really like the ease of Reminder 101 but have not made up my mind yet. 

Action Planning Template
Goal: To increase communication with parents and students through the use of technology.  This technology will give them access to classwork and grades in order to help students stay more organized and turn things in on time.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Make a survey to give parents at the beginning of the year.	Kelly Rodriguez	August 2013	Internet resources, articles, peer teacher ideas	The survey
Give parents and students a survey on access to technology and what kind of communication they would like from their teacher.	Kelly Rodriguez	August 2013  - September 2013	Survey	Results from Parent/Student survey
Set up Edmodo account with information requested by parents and students.	Kelly Rodriguez	September 2013 – December 2013	Computer and Edmodo Account	Keep track of parents and students that are using Edmodo. Are students turning assignment in on time?
2nd survey for parents and students to find out what is working and what is not	Kelly Rodriguez	January 2014	Survey	Results from parent/student survey
Using the information from the second survey, I will add or delete items to the classroom Edmodo account.	Kelly Rodriguez	January 2014 – May 2014	Edmodo and computer	I will monitor the Edmodo account to see if the site is used more often.  Are students turning assignment in on time?
Compile Data and see if communication with parents and students helped in assignments being turned in.	Kelly Rodriguez	May 2014 – June 2014	All data since September 2014	Compare data from the beginning of the year.  Was there a significant change in assignments being turned in on time with communication through technology?
Share results with others including site supervisor	Kelly Rodriguez	June 2014	Results of action research plan with graphs and/or documents to back up the results	Final product to share results

Reflection on Week 2

The more I read about action research the more I realize that it is an integral part of helping students succeed.   I also learned that studying the data is an important part of the project. Everything that I listened to and read stated over and over that looking at the data is extremely important.  Finding what exactly needs to change in order to help our particular students is going to come from our data. Looking at what will apply directly to our students' learning is going to keep us interested in continuing our research as well a keeping us more focused on the end result.  Luckily in this day in age technology gives us access to all of our data immediately so there is no excuse why shouldn't look to that data before any decisions have been made.  Lastly, many school districts have completed research projects on the exact or very similar inquiries that will be beneficial to my students.  There is no reason for anyone to do research on a problem when somebody else has already done the leg work. 

I am getting excited about my action research.  I am hoping that through technology I will be able to keep the parents up to date and keep my students on the right path.  I have been researching ideas for communicating with parents online and have been given ideas from my classmates.  The two I have been looking at are Edmodo and Remind101. 

My Action Research Idea

The last couple of years I have struggled with students not turning in their assignments.  Many of the parents were supportive of my efforts but there were others that were upset that they hadn’t been contacted often enough and would blame me for the problem.  I had a classroom log that students wrote down their daily assignments, negative behavior was documented, and parents were to sign daily.  On the last discussion board I explained that parents signed the assignment sheet on the way out the door in the mornings or when their students were asleep.  The intent of the assignment sheet was to inform the parents of their student’s progress but this goal was not being met.  The purpose of my action research would be to answer the question:  How can I increase communication with parents and students through the use of technology to give access to homework, grades and school notices in order to put students on the right path to success?

There will be several people that will benefit from this action research project.   My goal is to find ways to help the teacher, the student, the parents, and the administration.  Teachers are continually looking for innovative ways to keep students successful.  An online program, like Edmodo, would allow the teacher to post classwork, homework assignments, and due dates.  Not only would students benefit from having this at the touch of their fingers because they would always be able to access their assignments, but parents would be able to access it at their convenience keeping them informed daily.  The administration would benefit because the teacher would build a higher level of trust with the parents giving them confidence in the teacher’s ideas and concerns. 

What is Action Research?

Looking at the title of this research describes what exactly action research is.  It isn’t the kind of research that I did when I was a senior in high school.  (That was a long time ago!)  Adding the word action to it defines what this type of research is.  If you are participating in action research you will be working and learning through the whole process.  This type of research is perfect for a school setting because there are constant problems that arise during the school year in the classroom and on the campus as a whole. That is why the staff within the school that work with the students day in and day out are the ones that understand what problems they face and are best equipped to research, collect data, and implement changes that will benefit the school as a whole. Teachers or administrators who are participating in action research find a problem in their school or classroom and research according to their findings.   Action research is a continual set of spirals consisting of reflection and action.  The teaching professionals in this type of strategy collaboratively find problems within their classroom or schools, they pose questions that would help them to discover insight into the problems, collect data found from readings and inquiry, analyze the data, and share the data that they have found which in turn would set up a new set of problems that were in need of improvement.  This type of research gives principals and teachers an opportunity to make changes in the educational system.  Action research expands teacher’s knowledge and will keep professional development as an ongoing process.  Dana (2009) states that action research “can lead to meaningful change for schools and all the people who inhabit them-principals, teachers, and students”. (p. 11)

Professional learning communities would be the perfect time to use action research.  Meeting with teachers on a regular basis to discuss the problems as they arise would ensure that we dealt with and found solutions to the problems.  Teachers that continually research and look for better ways to handle situations, improve test scores, strengthen motivational strategies, acquire more parental involvement, implement technology, etc. would connect the principal and teachers.  Working together collaboratively would make a common bond that sometimes is lacking in today’s school environment.  Collaboration amongst teachers is important because it brings different ideas, different research, and different plans of action to those in their group. If used correctly, PLC’s would not only benefit the growth of student learning but the growth of all involved in our school because it promotes professional development.

 

 

 

 

Dana, Nancy F. (2009).  Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action

      researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. 

How Can A Principal Use a Blog?

Educational leaders can use blogs in several ways.  Blogs are an easy way for principals to quickly write down their thoughts or findings in whatever research they are currently undertaking.  It also isn’t difficult to add texts, images, and links.  If the blog is an open blog then other people can add information they have found that might be relevant to the studies being done.  They don’t have to be used only as a research tool.  Principals could use it as a diary.  It is an easy place to write down daily events and daily thoughts from their school day.  What a great way for a principal to see the growth of their school and their ideas.  Since these blogs are a continuous flow of entries he/she can go back in the past to see what has happened and what was done about it.  Students look at many  principals as someone who has an office on the other side of the school and they don’t have much interaction during their school day.  The students know that the principal is a person of authority so imagine if that principal is seen writing every day.  Imagine if that principal expresses his love for writing and explains what can be gained through it.  Principals can set in motion a practice for every day writing simply because he/she is writing. 

Dana, Nancy F. (2009).  Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as

     action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.