Thoughts....

Do you think instructional videos could help students who are in GED preparation classes be better prepared to take their GED test?

My Revised Action Research Plan...

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

Goal:  The goal of this action research is to determine if the utilization of instructional videos produced by secondary math teachers will positively effect the education of students and prevent instructional time lapses in students’ learning of core concepts when the educator is unavailable due to absences.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Obtain permission from site supervisor and school principal to conduct an action research project.	Melissa Templeton	November 1,2012 through November 15. 2012	Written document stating that permission is granted to conduct the research project	N/A
2. Survey math teachers at KHS to discover if they will participate in the action research project	KHS mathematics department staff	November 6, 2012 through November 15, 2012	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet of answers to survey to aid in making an informed selection of participants
3. Written document to obtain permission from KHS math teachers who would like to participate in the project	KHS mathematics department staff	November 13, 2012 through November 16, 2012	Written document stating that permission is granted to include teacher in action research project	N/A
4. Provide a power point and mini-workshop instructing participating teachers on the methods of creating and uploading instructional videos to their teacher web page	Melissa Templeton	November 2012 through April 2013	IPad and educreations app	N/A
5. Create and upload instructional video onto teacher web page	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through April 2013	Ipad and internet services	N/A
6. Provide implementation instructions for substitute teacher	M. Templeton	November 2012 through April 2013	School computer; copier	N/A
7. Survey substitute teacher about classroom experience concerning the use of the instructional video	M. Templeton	November 2012 through April 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings
8. Implement the instructional video in the classroom when teacher is not present for direct instruction	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through April 2013	School computer; 3M projection system; assignment worksheet	Assess the assignment worksheet of each student; create a spreadsheet of results; graph results; reflect on findings; initiate change
9 Survey students to discover their comfort level in regards to understanding the taught concept upon the teacher’s return to the classroom	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through April 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings; initiate change
10. Re-survey KHS math teachers about their comfort level with using instructional videos to prevent the loss of instructional time for students when teacher is absent from the classroom	KHS participating math teachers	May 1, 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings
11. Meet with site supervisor and KHS principal to discuss findings of the action research project	M. Templeton J. Upton K. Campbell	May 2013		Provide results of all follow-up surveys of participating KHS math teachers, substitute teachers, and students; reflect on discussion during meeting; collaboratively decide upon possible changes that need to occur

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

Goal:  The goal of this action research is to determine if the utilization of instructional videos produced by secondary math teachers will positively effect the education of students and prevent instructional time lapses in students’ learning of core concepts when the educator is unavailable due to absences.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Obtain permission from site supervisor and school principal to conduct an action research project.	Melissa Templeton	November 1,2012 through November 5. 2012	Written document stating that permission is granted to conduct the research project	N/A
2. Survey math teachers at KHS to discover if they will participate in the action research project	KHS mathematics department staff	November 6, 2012 through November 12, 2012	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet of answers to survey to aid in making an informed selection of participants
3. Written document to obtain permission from KHS math teachers who would like to participate in the project	KHS mathematics department staff	November 13, 2012 through November 16, 2012	Written document stating that permission is granted to include teacher in action research project	N/A
4. Produce instructional videos about key algebraic concepts or concepts that are currently being taught when teacher is going to be absent	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through January 2013	IPad and educreations app	N/A
5. Upload instructional video onto teacher web page	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through January 2013	Ipad and internet services	N/A
6. Provide implementation instructions for substitute teacher	M. Templeton	November 2012 through January 2013	School computer; copier	N/A
7. Survey substitute teacher about classroom experience concerning the use of the instructional video	M. Templeton	November 2012 through January 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings
8. Implement the instructional video in the classroom when teacher is not present for direct instruction	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through January 2013	School computer; 3M projection system; assignment worksheet	Assess the assignment worksheet of each student; create a spreadsheet of results; graph results; reflect on findings; initiate change
9 Survey students to discover their comfort level in regards to understanding the taught concept	KHS participating math teachers	November 2012 through January 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings; initiate change
10. Re-survey KHS math teachers about their comfort level with using instructional videos to prevent the loss of instructional time for students when teacher is absent from the classroom	KHS participating math teachers	February 1, 2013	Survey provided by fluidsurveys.com	Analyze spreadsheet; graph results; reflect on findings
11. Meet with site supervisor and KHS principal to discuss findings of the action research project	M. Templeton J. Upton K. Campbell	February 7, 2013 through February 13, 2013		Provide results of all follow-up surveys of participating KHS math teachers, substitute teachers, and students; reflect on discussion during meeting; collaboratively decide upon possible changes that need to occur

Educational Leaders & Blogs...

Educational Leaders & Blogs...

Educational leaders are often times too busy with solving the problems of their school to actually create relationships with other educational leaders.  This is sad but true! I believe that becoming a blogger could help the educational leader have an outlet to explore educational ideas with other like minded people.  There is no need for an educational leader to feel isolated any longer, because they now have the ability to have immediate access to hundreds, possibly thousands, of educational leaders, who can become positive influences or just be a sounding board for innovative approaches to problem solving within the educational profession.

Action Research

 Action Research

In the past, I would often shiver at the thought of writing yet another "research" paper. It often meant late nights pouring over boring information that some theorist decided the world needed to know, then being able to regurgitate that same information onto yet another piece of paper just to let everyone know that I could read and understand the musings of a combination of many different theorists at one time. Blah!

However, I think this "action research" project that I am about to embark upon is going to be quite different than any of the research projects that I've done in the past, because I'm able to make inquiries of my peers, students, and the community about my personal educational ideas and thoughts, develop a plan based on the information gathered, then apply or implement the plan of action.  Of course, I'll need to assess the success of the plan of action, then reflect upon both positive and negative aspects of the plan with revision in mind.  This is so much more exciting and collaborative than any research I've ever encountered!

I've learned that action research projects allow administrators to maintain their ability to be a learner and enable themselves to be more of a positive and influential leader of their school.  I suppose being able to pose questions to others, listen carefully to any concerns, research possible avenues for change, develop a plan to succeed, then reflect and revise the plan will not only create a dynamic relationship between myself and my staff, but also between myself and the student body. Like other educators, I have a fear of failing, but my fears have never debilitated me to the point of not acknowledging that change needs to happen for successful growth to occur. 

My first project will most likely consider how best to assist my staff and student body in having an uninterrupted learning environment.  Many times students are unable to attend class due to various situations.  In School Suspension (ISS) is problematic for most teachers. As a result of disciplinary actions, students are not allowed to attend the regular classrooms throughout the day.  They are still to receive the same instruction, just not within the classroom.  This poses problems for the classroom teacher, who is responsible for providing meaningful instruction for every student, as well as posing a problem for the ISS students who now must learn the concepts with limited information from their teacher.  Often times this leads to the ISS student not learning the information as fully as they would have in the regular educational environment.

My idea is to provide instruction for those students through a video tutorial.  Each teacher will be responsible for creating a short video to explain the lesson being taught and uploading the video to his or her teacher web page. The ISS teacher will grant access to a school computer for the ISS student to use to gain instruction.  Now, I do believe that students are able to learn effectively with many courses without the need for a tutorial video.  However, for those more difficult courses, like math or science, students need to be able to listen to the teacher explain the concept as well as manipulate the problem at hand in order to better understand the information.  

I've been playing around with the idea of a "flipped" classroom this school year.  I'm not entirely on board with the idea; however, I can see many positive aspects of using it, this being one. I've recently created several videos and used them to assist my ISS students to learn inverse functions.  After grading their assignments, I have found that they were able to adequately learn the information and have returned to class without missing any instructional time as a result of being in ISS.  Seems like this idea may work, but I need to continue my research to be sure.