“Nothing within a school has more impact upon students in terms of skills development, self-confidence, or classroom behavior than the personal and professional growth of their teachers. When teachers examine, question, reflect on their ideas and develop new practices that lead towards their ideals, students are alive. When teachers stop growing, so do their students (Barth, 1981, p. 145).”
Effective and successful principals use action research as a tool to make effective changes, make improvements, produce academic achievement and promote “Lifelong Learning.”
As future administrators, we will face the daily challenges to impact student’s and teacher’s learning. Foremost, we must take charge of our own learning and as the “head learner,” we must lead by modeling the process to faculty, staff, and students.
Action Research will help us as school leaders, improve our campus, but most important, achieve student academic success for all students. We have been given the skill and knowledge to develop and how to implement our Action Research study.
In reflecting, I’ve come to the conclusion, that our discussions have been more than just collaboration among classmates and colleagues. We have made friendships without having met face to face. We listen to the words we read each week in our discussions and relate just as if we were there face to face. The distance that separates us is
inconceivable because there is no distance when we all communicate. We share and respect one another’s thoughts and views. Most of all, I think we listen with our hearts.
We are Life Long Learners!
Barth, R. (1981). The principal as staff developer. Journal of Education, 163(2), 144-162.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Improving the Collegiality at My Campus
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Here we Go!
What a week this has been! Those templates gave me a bad headache and long hours without sleep. I felt overwhelmed and a little confused.
The purpose of this action research project is to improve a positive school culture through collegial relationships. Collegial relationships that will help our teachers through collaboration, building trust and growing professionally will prove beneficial to all stakeholders. Improving collegial relationships among our teachers at our campus will be our first step towards having a school culture that will be effective in promoting parental participation and achieving academic success for all our children.
There will be three teacher surveys that will be created through survey monkey and teachers will be asked to login in to survey monkey.com and take the surveys on line. The time frame for the teacher surveys will be from the first nine weeks of school, in January, and after May 18th when the eighth graders finish TAKS testing. The student surveys will be will be a paper and pencil survey and distributed through our Focused Advisory Class. Eighth grade students will be given two surveys. The first survey will be during the first nine weeks of school and the second after TAKS testing. The second survey will also be given to seventh grade students. I will ask the math department to help me with the student surveys. The students will make a graphical display from the results of the data.
A small sample of student and teacher interviews will be conducted. I am not sure which teachers will be selected or whether to randomly select the sample. The interview questions will be created about school culture and our site supervisor’s input will be sought out. It will prove beneficial to have the full support of the administration in getting the teachers to participate in completing the surveys. Data from the teacher and surveys will be collected, compared in a graphical manner.
Observations will be conducted during the school day and on team building activities. The first observation will be on August 17, 2010, our first in service day of the 2010-2011 school year. Our teachers will not be aware of the action research project that I am conducting. There will be four other Early Release Professional Development Days in which I will continue my observations on our team building. I will reflect on my observations and my reflections will be used for questions on my teacher interviews. Data will be collected on my observations on team building and participation.
I am most excited about our teachers reading Todd Whitaker’s book entitled, “What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most.” Teachers will be asked to read designated chapters per month and do a reflection by blogging and make an effort to read other blogs from colleagues. At this time, I am not sure whether to have teachers reflect with in their perspective teams or reflect with other teams. I will collect some data from the participation on the blogging.
The purpose of this action research project is to improve a positive school culture through collegial relationships. Collegial relationships that will help our teachers through collaboration, building trust and growing professionally will prove beneficial to all stakeholders. Improving collegial relationships among our teachers at our campus will be our first step towards having a school culture that will be effective in promoting parental participation and achieving academic success for all our children.
There will be three teacher surveys that will be created through survey monkey and teachers will be asked to login in to survey monkey.com and take the surveys on line. The time frame for the teacher surveys will be from the first nine weeks of school, in January, and after May 18th when the eighth graders finish TAKS testing. The student surveys will be will be a paper and pencil survey and distributed through our Focused Advisory Class. Eighth grade students will be given two surveys. The first survey will be during the first nine weeks of school and the second after TAKS testing. The second survey will also be given to seventh grade students. I will ask the math department to help me with the student surveys. The students will make a graphical display from the results of the data.
A small sample of student and teacher interviews will be conducted. I am not sure which teachers will be selected or whether to randomly select the sample. The interview questions will be created about school culture and our site supervisor’s input will be sought out. It will prove beneficial to have the full support of the administration in getting the teachers to participate in completing the surveys. Data from the teacher and surveys will be collected, compared in a graphical manner.
Observations will be conducted during the school day and on team building activities. The first observation will be on August 17, 2010, our first in service day of the 2010-2011 school year. Our teachers will not be aware of the action research project that I am conducting. There will be four other Early Release Professional Development Days in which I will continue my observations on our team building. I will reflect on my observations and my reflections will be used for questions on my teacher interviews. Data will be collected on my observations on team building and participation.
I am most excited about our teachers reading Todd Whitaker’s book entitled, “What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most.” Teachers will be asked to read designated chapters per month and do a reflection by blogging and make an effort to read other blogs from colleagues. At this time, I am not sure whether to have teachers reflect with in their perspective teams or reflect with other teams. I will collect some data from the participation on the blogging.
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