In reflecting on this last week, I think that for me, the most interesting part of my assignments was listening to the video interviews.
Dr. Briseno was very down to earth. I liked how Dr. Briseno stated that they always look at the
data before making a decision, however that the identity of the student
was very important to him and that you could not necessarily get the whole
story on a student on just data alone.
I also thought that it was very down to earth of how he mentioned
that he would encourage his teachers and administrators to research on the
web to see if other districts had encountered the same issues that they
were dealing with and see if the same method could be used to solve their
problem. Lastly, I like how he
encouraged his teachers to meet with each other to discuss problems in
their classroom and what they did to solve it.
The other video that I enjoyed was watching Dr. Kirk Lewis. Dr. Lewis was interesting in the fact that he and his staff
received that grant from the gates foundation, which required them to do
lots of research. Dr. Lewis
mentioned that even though they were not on the university level as far as
research goes, that his staff and teachers did a fantastic job of
collecting and analyzing data. Dr.
Lewis had research at every level.
I liked how Dr. Lewis also utilized research from other districts
and would analyze that data to see if any of it could be applied to any
issues that they were encountering.
The thing that I liked the most about Dr. Lewis was that he had
practical approach to his research in what was going to work best for his
students, teachers, and staff. He
ultimately wanted his students to benefit from the research that they conducted.
These interviews helped me to gain more insight into action research, and showed me the actual benefits. It had an even greater impact coming from educators in the field that were using these tools everyday. All of this makes my action research even more real to me, and I am starting to better understand how the final data will have an impact at my school.
I enjoyed watching the videos and listening to how to use action research. It's always nice to see real people use the knowledge vs. reading something in a book. I documented the same people in my assignment. I liked Dr. Briseno's comment about "don't re-invent the wheel". With the amount of technology today, information is readily available to us.
ReplyDeleteI agree getting to watch these men talk about their idea of action research helped me better undstand what we are doing and was to get the most out of our own research.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I learned the most from the interviews. Listening to Dr. Chargois opened my eyes to the importance of research on the campus and classroom level. One of the most powerful statements that are sticking with me is “The old adage of saying if I only touched one kid I’ve done….no sir that doesn’t work under today’s accountability”. I think it was an honest statement. It is alright to acknowledge you made a child feel better about them self, but it is always important that student progresses academically. Until the laws change about testing, this is a fact of education, student achievement is critical.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this! I have unfortunately, heard teachers with my own ears say that they did reach one child that year and that was go od enough for them. My heart broke for those other 29 students who didn't have a significant education that year. It was as if the goal was one child and it inspired mediocre teaching at best.
DeleteI also enjoyed the videos and selected the same two individuals for the week 2 assignment. I agree with Danelle that it was nice to hear that action research wasn't about reinventing the wheel. I also like your action research topic. I had brought a similar question to my site supervisor, but it was denied due to lack of resources/funding. There are several other people who have chosen to research some aspect of tablets/ipads in the classroom so I think you will be able to share your thoughts, ideas and findings with them. I will continue to follow your posts. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGood points, Scott! The interviews were helpful in understanding the importance of data and the work that goes into collecting data. It will be interesting to learn the outcome of your action research plan.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed Dr. Briseno and how he said that every student was very important to him and that you could not necessarily get the whole story on a student on just data alone. I really feel that this is true and that there is always more to a story then just data. I enjoyed reading your week 2 blog and will continue to follow your post.
ReplyDeleteI also think that I gained more insight from the interviews than the reading. To me, the leader interviews just gave action research a more approachable and untimidating view. I specifically liked what Dr. Briseno mentioned about going to google and looking up different action research projects that have been conducted already and trying to replicate those results in your campus. You don't have to spend time thinking up of ways to conduct your action reserch, it's all there for you to search.
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