Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: The goal of this action research project is to figure out which way of communication with our parents is the most effective. Question: What policies and procedures are in place at IDEA Quest that facilitates communication from school to home, and which is the most effective?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. I will survey teachers on my campus to get feedback on what they feel worked best for them.	Dianne Rodriguez	August 12th/August August 16th	Survey- either online on paper.	Teacher Feedback
2. I will survey my 7th grade parents on Meet the Teacher night on what way of communication is the most effective for them.	Dianne Rodriguez, 7th grade team members	August 23rd	Survey	Parent Feedback
3. I will gather info and use the top 3 that I will keep track of throughout the year.	Dianne Rodriguez	September 2013 through May 2014	Collect information and put into an excel spreadsheet.	Teacher /Parent Feedback
4. I will share my findings with my team teachers and administrators, so the most effective way of communication can be utilized from this point forward.	Dianne Rodriguez	May 2014	Document all findings and share with staff.	Team Teachers and Administrator Feedback

Week 2 Thoughts

Week two was a bit lengthy and dragged some, but I will focus on the positive of my week.  I am very fortunate to have a site supervisor that supports me as a person, and also is very excited that I am pursuing my Masters in Administration, because he would like me in an instructional coaching position very soon. 

I was fortunate to meet with not just my principal, but also my two assistant principals during this discussion time/meeting. It was a great advantage for me to listen to them bounce my ideas off of themselves and eventually settled in one that would be useful to our school and that I could apply to my grade level. They went through each topic and went through how each of those programs ran, and what really was the most beneficial for me to do that would relate and give some light to a much needed situation on our campus. They really didn’t bump heads on the final decision on what I should do my action research project on, so after weighting in on the pros and cons, we decided on the parental involvement topic. 

My question will be What politics and procedures are in place that facilitates communication from school to home? 

I am motivated and anxious to get started on this, and can only hope that this motivation and excitement continues to follow me through this research adventure. 

Action Research Knowledge

In my readings about action research, I have learned that there is an educational way to research, and that info truly intrigues me. I would cringe every time I heard that word, but now have a positive spin on doing research for this class and in my future educational endeavorers. Action research is a way for administrators to perform a self inquiry on their own practices.  Instead of the usual readings on research on practices from other researchers, action research provides for individual selection of the practice being evaluated that is relevant to interest of research .  They gather data on their own practice, analyze the data, make changes according to what they learned from the data collected, and then reflect on the change that was made. It is a great way to facilitate learning as an administrator by only focusing on their own practices at the school in which they are leaders of.  Administrators are part of the team that comes up with a solution to the problem and then responsible for implementing the change. Taking ownership in the process also holds them accountable.  Therefore, the practices that are being evaluated call for a lot of self-reflection. Administrators are more likely to be become aware of what is really going on in their campus and then are able to make changes as needed.  This is something that does take time and should become a learned behavior by true instructional leaders.  In turn, campus achievement rates improve and administrators can be true instructional leaders by their own self-growth and improvement. 

Educational blogs can be used in many different ways.  Administrators can use blogs to keep the community and parents involved on what is going on at our campus.  They can also provide important dates and events that are coming up in the future on a calendar.  Another way to implement blogs as an administrator is to interact with their staff, students, and other community or district members. Blogs can be used as a positive way of communicating. 

About Me

This blogging thing is very strange and different to me, but I make the best out of all situations! They normally turn out to be more enjoyable that I thought!

I am a very outgoing and loud person, and I married someone my total opposite. This personality has worked in my favor, and makes me the kind of teacher I am in the classroom.  This school year will start my 7th year teaching English.  

I am the proud mother of three amazing children. My oldest Katelyn is 16 and will be a junior in high school. My middle child Madison who is 11, will be starting middle school this year.... Scary!  My youngest, and probably most spoiled (aka: loved/only boy/baby of the family) child out there.. my son Dylan who will be 5 in September. I do all things for them, and to benefit their lives always, hence, my pursue towards my Masters degree. 

I am married to a wonderful man who is a varsity high school football offensive coordinator coach. We are a very spirited family, and follow him and the team everywhere!

I am excited that I have taken this next step in my life, and grateful that I have so many people aboard this adventure along with me. 

Dianne :)