Web Conference Reflection

Unfortunately, due to my internship activities, I am never at home during the scheduled times. I read the chat script for the most recent web conference. The chat script left me incredibly confused. I have many of the same questions regarding graduation, taking exams, and our action research plans. I see the questions posted; however, I could not follow where the answers were provided. To be very honest, it was a little frustrating. I have not had much contact with Lamar or an advisory. My original advisor left very soon into the program, and I have been working through the courses somewhat blindly. I have one more course to complete and then my comprehensive exam. I still need to complete my action research and complete TK20. While I have been completing logs and reflections, I have not submitted anything to TK20. I might delay taking my last course in order to make some progress on my action research and portfolio.

Teaching and Learning

As educators, our primary concern should be teaching and student learning. Ultimately, learning is the goal of schools. The state of Texas understands the importance of technology and education. There are numerous applications for technology in the classroom. Technology can make teachers more efficient, students more engaged, and community members better informed.

The Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) Chart evaluates technology implementation within schools. The STaR Chart uses four key areas to evaluate progress. I believe that Teaching and Learning is the most important area of the four. Teaching and Learning evaluates six sub-areas. These sub-areas include patterns of classroom use, frequency/design of instructional setting, content area connections, technology applications TEKS implementation, student mastery of technology applications, and online learning. My campus has made some improvement in Teaching and Learning. My campus earned a cumulative score of 15, garnering an Advanced Tech designation. The lowest sub-area score is online learning. My district has not embraced online learning. There are numerous professional development opportunities within the district, and teachers have been reluctant to participate in online learning ventures. The second lowest sub-area score is in content area connections. My district is beginning to create technology professional development specific to content areas. I believe this will help increase scores in this sub-area. In the state of Texas, campuses overwhelming earn a Developing Tech designation.

I believe teachers would most benefit from opportunities to collaborate with common content area teachers. Many teachers across the district are incorporating technology in new and innovative ways. These teachers should have the opportunity to share their knowledge and success. We have the resources within my district, we need to create a forum to although teachers to collaborate and learn from each other.

Texas STaR Chart Presentation

Texas s ta r chart

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Daily! Action Research in the Classroom

        I think educators conduct action research daily on a much smaller scale.  As students struggle, teachers make modifications and accommodations to encourage future success.  Conversely, when teachers have success they remember strategies and techniques that helped provide this success.  I think the component usually missing from this type of classroom practical research is the share piece.  Often, educators struggle to find time to complete their various commitments.  This causes teachers to work in isolation rather than collaborate and share their practical research experiences.

The Plan!

Research Question: In what ways can I, as classroom teacher, increase student attendance?

For several years, attendance on my campus has been the lowest in the district. Poor attendance impacts my campus in numerous ways. During these difficult financial times, districts struggle to find or recover additional sources of revenue. One source of lost revenue is student absences. Another consequence of poor attendance is poor grades and test scores. When a student is absent they miss valuable instructional time. This information is necessary to perform well on unit, semester, and standardized exams. Absent students create an additional burden for teachers. Teachers must provide make-up work or create alternative assignments for absent students. This task adds additional work to an already stressed and overworked teacher.

My research will focus on students who are chronically absent. Chronically absent is defined as a student with two or more absences during the first nine weeks. I will use attendance data in my class to identify my target population.

My ultimate goal is to increase student attendance in my classroom. I hope to identify chronically absent students using attendance data. Encourage all students to complete a questionnaire. Analyze this data. I will contact chronically absent students and their guardians and conduct an in-depth interview with the help of our campus Attendance Officer. These in-depth interviews can take place during home visits, parent-teacher meetings, or phone conversations. From this information, I will make several adjustments during the third and fourth nine weeks. I will then analyze attendance data for that time period and conduct exit phone interviews with students and parents. I hope to present findings in a district blog and during the 2011-2012 teacher in-service week.

Week Two- Check

I just finished my week 2 assignment.  I am finding that I am spending a considerable amount of time reading, writing, and reflecting.  Research has always been a scary word to me.  The actual word makes me anxious.  However, I am finding that as I read and learn more about action research that it's not so scary.  Action research consumes my thoughts.  I think about properly defining and posing my question and what the research component actually look like.  I will continue to work through my thoughts and update you on my progress.

Blogs and Educational Leadership

The blog is an extremely powerful tool.  Blogs can provide insight into the mind of the administrator.  The administrator can use the blog as a forum to reflect and sort ideas.  The blog can also serve as a tool to communicate with faculty and the community.  There are endless applications for administrators and blogging.