Action Research Plan Reflection

Upon beginning my action research course, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought I was going to research on a designated topic and present a report at the end of the course.  I never expected to learn all that I have learned and comprehend the benefits of action research.  As the weeks passed, I obtained a better understanding of the process and was able to narrow down my topic.  One of the biggest problems I encountered was that I wanted to do too much at once.  I forced myself to narrow down my topic and be very specific so I can conduct an effective action research project.  I have so many other topics that I want to research, but will be taking it one at a time.  The biggest surprise I got from learning about action research was the beneficial use of blogs.  I had only once participated in a blog before and I really didn't know what I was doing and now I feel that I can effectively navigate and obtain highly knowledgeable comments from my peers that will continuously help me improve my project.

"Update Action Planning Template" Ready to Begin

Below is my updated Action Planning Template.  Changes were made based on peers' suggestions and site supervisor concerns and recommendations.  They helped me address areas of my action research that I hadn't explained clearly or emphasized.  I feel more comfortable and confident of having addressed all areas needed to make my action research project reliable and effective.  Please read below and leave any comments or suggestions you might have.  I appreciate learning how others view my plan and take your suggestions into consideration.  Thank You!

Action Planning Template
Goal: Incorporating Brain-Compatible Strategies in the Classroom to improve student comprehension and knowledge retention as well as reduce behavior problems.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.Meet with content area teachers to discuss basics of action research	Focus Group: Hazel Valverde M. Placencio N. Esparza         R. Rodriguez        D. Caldera	1 day	Time after school	Teachers agreed to participate in the action research Project
2. Literature Review	Hazel Valverde	4 weeks	Research materials such as books, journals, articles, and blogs	Review material extensively to learn about and document on brain-compatible strategies
3.  Create a baseline for evaluation and a method for measurement	Hazel Vaverde	3 days	Literature review findings Action research plan	Identify what constitutes positive and negative results and method of measuring results.
4. Teacher self-reflection	Focus group teachers	1 day	Self-reflection survey	Teachers reflect on their teaching style to find areas of need
5. Meet with teachers to discuss action research goals	Focus group teachers	1 day	Time after school	Understand teachers’ needs with classroom management and engagement techniques
6.  Present brain-compatible strategies to focus group educators	Hazel Valverde Focus group teachers	1 day	Presentation source such as hand-outs, powerpoint Time after school	Teachers fully comprehend strategies to be implemented and ask questions if clarification is needed
7.  Practice strategies to learn and understand	Focus group teachers	3 weeks	Brain-compatible learning strategies, classroom instr. time, continuous support and guidance	Teachers review and practice strategies to learn and gain confidence about strategies.
8.  Implement and document on brain-compatible strategies	Focus group teachers	1 school semester	Brain-compatible strategies, classroom instructional time, means for documentation such as a teacher journal, blogs, etc…	Teacher field notes, discussions, interviews
9.  Post-Implementation Survey for focus group teachers	Focus group teachers	1 day	Post-implementation survey Time after school	Teachers reflect on their “new” teaching style after incorporating the strategies and find new strengths and areas of needs
10.  focus group teachers conduct a class discussion on strategies and document highlights of discussion	Focus group teachers and students	2-3 days	Focus group teachers and students Time in class Means for documentation	Teachers explain to students about strategies that have been used in the classroom for the past semester.  Students and teachers analyze ways strategies were used and their perceived effectiveness.
11.  Post-implementation survey for students	Focus group teachers and students	2-3 days	Focus group teachers and students post-implementation survey for students	Students analyze the unique attributes of their teachers and their ability to learn in that class environment.  What specific attributes did they find useful?  They will synthesize information from their previous discussion with the thoughts provoked from the post-implementation survey.
12.  Analyze the  effectiveness of the brain-compatible strategies and generate a report	Hazel Valverde	4 weeks	all documented qualitative and quantitative data gathered throughout the action research project	Results are compiled and evaluated to show if student performance increased and misbehavior decreased
13.  Disseminate and Post action research plan/project report in Google site and Hazel Valverde’s Action Research Documentation Blog, email to Marcia Tate	Hazel Valverde	1 day	Action Research Plan, Action Research Process, Google Site, Weblog, email	The plan and project are displayed and accessible to be viewed and analyzed by others
14.  Present findings to administration for possible adoption by entire staff if results are transferable and useful to student learning	Hazel Valverde Socorro Middle School Administration	1 day	Action research project, Meeting time with administration	Admin finds results from the Action Research Project useful to improve campus needs and implements strategies campus wide

Action Research Questions

The action research will be addressed by a main inquiry and smaller, more specific sub-inquiries.  The primary wondering is:   What is the effectiveness of brain-compatible strategies to learning?  The sub-topics are more in depth.  They are as follows:   How are the brain-compatible strategies effective in increasing student engagement in the learning environment?  How are the brain-compatible strategies effective in increasing instructional time in the classroom?  How are the brain-compatible strategies effective in reducing off-task behavior? 

On My Way!

I am excited and feel ready to start my action research plan.  I've begun taking baby steps.  I've spoken to a group of colleagues that have agreed to participate as my focus group for the action research project.  Not only will they help me accomplish my tasks, they will also learn about something that interests them along the way.  I am very thankful that they have stepped up to the plate and hope that this will be a positive experience for them as well as for me.  I plan to facilitate all skills and resources that they will need so they feel supported and guided.  I will take them step by step towards the implementation process, but before that, I have to provide them the knowledge of the strategies they will implement.  I already purchased Marcia Tate's  book Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites, where I plan to extrapolate the strategies that will be used.  I will also actively search and analyze additional sources as to not base my entire research of literature review on one resource.  I will begin reading Marcia Tate's book asap to discover the brain-compatible strategies.

Process for creating the Plan

It feels satisfying to have completed my Week 3 assignment for EDLD 5301 Research.  I had to think and write and edit and revise, then think and write again, until I was able to create an action research plan that fullfilled my own expectations.  All the parts of the assignment helped me create a clear picture about the direction I want my action research to take.  Much of what I wrote was repetitive but that forced me to make sure not to contradict myself. 

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Incorporating Brain-Compatible Strategies in the Classroom to improve student comprehension and knowledge retention as well as reduce behavior problems.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.Meet with content area teachers to discuss basics of action research	Focus Group: Hazel Valverde M. Placencio N. Esparza         R. Rodriguez        D. Caldera	1 day	Time after school	Teachers agreed to participate in the action research Project
2. Literature Review	Hazel Valverde	4 weeks	Research materials such as books, journals, articles, and blogs	Review material extensively to learn about and document on brain-compatible strategies
3. Teacher self-reflection	Focus group teachers	1 day	Self-reflection survey	Teachers reflect on their teaching style to find areas of need
4. Meet with teachers to discuss action research goals	Focus group teachers	1 day	Time after school	Understand teachers’ needs with classroom management and engagement techniques
5.  Present brain-compatible strategies to focus group educators	Hazel Valverde Focus group teachers	1 day	Presentation source such as hand-outs, powerpoint Time after school	Teachers fully comprehend strategies to be implemented and ask questions if clarification is needed
6.  Practice strategies to learn and understand	Focus group teachers	3 weeks	Brain-compatible learning strategies, classroom instr. time, continuous support and guidance	Teachers review and practice strategies to learn and gain confidence about strategies.
7.  Implement and document on brain-compatible strategies	Focus group teachers	1 school semester	Brain-compatible strategies, classroom instructional time, means for documentation such as a teacher journal, blogs, etc…	Teacher field notes, discussions, interviews
8.  Analyze the effectiveness of the brain-compatible strategies and generate a report	Hazel Valverde	4 weeks	all documented qualitative and quantitative data gathered throughout the action research project	Results are compiled and evaluated to show if student performance increased and misbehavior decreased
9.  Disseminate and Post action research plan/project report in Google site and Hazel Valverde’s Action Research Documentation Blog, email to Marcia Tate	Hazel Valverde	1 day	Action Research Plan, Action Research Process, Google Site, Weblog, email	The plan and project are displayed and accessible to be viewed and analyzed by others
10.  Present findings to administration for possible adoption by entire staff if results are positive and useful to student learning	Hazel Valverde Socorro Middle School Administration	1 day	Action research project, Meeting time with administration	Admin finds results from the Action Research Project useful to improve campus needs and implements strategies campus wide

What's so special about action research?

This week I learned about the importance of action research for both personal and professional growth.  It was a little overwhelming to learn about the plethora of possible topics in the education field but at the same time insightful that whatever passion I have, there is something I can focus on and dig deeper to understand.  It's odd because action research is very personal because you experience the process personally, while also being universal because you gather data from a variety of sources and your findings can be used openly by all.