Post Conference Reflection

Taking part in the conference on the day before everything was due was very difficult for me.  I have been very confused about my assignments and was looking forward to the conference on Thursday so I could get some clarification.  This week has possibly been the most stressful for me so far.  I am not used to waiting until the last minute to finish my work.  I hope next week our conference will go on as scheduled.

There were a few questions that I had answered when I attended the conference on August 31, 2013.  I was confused as to what a wiki was and in the first part of the conference Dr. Abernathy explained to us that our Google blog is considered a wiki.  She went on to mention another site that could be a wiki called Weebly. 

Many of us were confused about our wiki and what was to be put into it.  Dr. Abernathy explained that we should be writing about what we knew before, what we had learned through the readings, videos, and articles and what we plan to use from it. 

There was confusion again about the assignments because there weren't a lot of steps or details written out for us.  Dr. Abernathy explained that we needed to read the directions and whatever we felt were the steps we needed to take would be exactly what we should do.  That was very confusing.  Her explanation was rather vague but my classmates were commenting in the chat log and through all of our discussions my team and I have come up with a plan of action.

We discussed our Facebook page and the link was posted in case someone was not part of it yet.  Our Facebook page has been a great place for answers and collaboration with the others that are pursuing the same degree.

The most exciting part of this course was figuring out what my research project was going to be about.  I had already decided what I wanted my inquiry to focus on but I wasn’t sure what exactly my steps were going to be.  The collaboration that I have had throughout this course on my blog as well on the discussion board has assisted me on the path I have chosen to take on this project. 

There are so many different action research projects that one can take on.  Throughout our reading assignments we read about different projects and their outcomes.  These readings gave me ideas and guidance to help me with my project.  Once this project is complete I will continue to put action research practices into play.  I will continue to be an active participant in the improvement of my classroom and campus.   Through my reading assignments, I have learned that collaboration will make my research more meaningful and will give me more paths on which to make my students more successful.   There are many different types of strategies in which successful schools are using to research and implement improvements in our school.  Those strategies all use collaboration with their peers as the underlying foundation of their group. 

Once I have followed the steps of my project I think that I am going to take it one step further.  I am a parent as well as a teacher and I have felt somewhat cut off from my older student’s school.  I would like to continue researching other ways in which I can strengthen communication with parents.   Because I consider myself a strict teacher I would love to research different kinds of discipline strategies and maybe even tie it into my previous project:   Does strong teacher parent communication reduce discipline problems in the classroom?

My school is a zoo right now.  My principal and assistant principal were removed from our school and placed on other campuses.  They have set up an interim principal (our principal that retired 2 years ago) to take over until a new principal has been hired.  We have interviewed principal prospects but won’t find out until next week if the superintendent will actually hire one of them.  I have gotten the thumbs up from the principal and assistant principal that were moved but they are gone now.  So, I took my action research plan to our interim principal this week.  If nothing else, I can describe the steps of my action research plan without blinking.  Mrs. Krabill, our interim principal, had some suggestions and reminded me of a few things.  One of the things that she reminded me was that  I need to print out the electronic guidelines and make sure that every step I take is allowed by HCISD.  She sat down with me at the computer and showed me exactly where to find them.  I brought up the fact that I was tossing around the idea of using Edmodo or Remind101.  After I explained both of them to her she requested that I use Edmodo because parents and students can respond back to me.  She explained that since I am working on communication that I should take into account that parents might want to contact me and that would be an easy way to do it.  She also stated that if it is successful then I might be able to add video of me teaching a new subject, and add a link to my email.  Mrs. Krabill and I discussed what questions I might want to add on my survey and recommended that I send out the survey both on e-mail and a paper copy for those who do not have access to a computer.