Action Plan

Technology has come so far in the past few years especially involving our students and their smart phones, and iPads, etc. but my question is: Has it developed as quickly into the classroom for these students? Some of this I think is the lack of technology being taught in the classroom to the kids is the time they have to teach it,  because they have so much to do in the classroom with teaching to the test, that new technology is pushed by the wayside or that veteran teachers aren’t using the technology to teach with because it is foreign to them and they don’t have time or want to learn the technology. Some teachers just don’t want to give up on their old school style of teaching: chalk and blackboard. Districts have developed technology TEKS for the teachers to implement into the classroom, but some teachers don’t apply them or accomplish them. Classrooms that are using technology in the right way are making dynamic learning environments for the kids, when used improperly the kids are just bored with the technology. I want to focus on the kids learning what they need to learn in order to be successful in the future grades with technology.

Some of the problems are that once these elementary students head off to middle school that they are not ready for all the technology thrown their way in regards to reports or presentations, thus their self-esteem may go down due to failure in their technology skills.  My question is what can we do to help these students be more prepared for middle school in the way of technology and make sure they are on the path to success.

So my research is going to center on:

1.     What motivates the teachers to use the technology to teach these students how to be successful in the future with their education and their future?

2.  What motivates the students to want to use the technology that is offered and what more do they need to learn in order to be successful in education and be prepared for their future education?

Action Planning Template

                                                                                                           

Action Step (s)	Person Responsibility	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.Discuss Action Research topic with site supervisor	Myself and Kay Ford	4/20/13 to 4/24/13	Intern Plan	Formulate a topic and figure out question
2.Survey Students and teachers to see what they are using in regards to technology and what they want to learn in technology	Myself and teachers involved in helping me do surveys (Mr. Lanier and Ms. Moss)	4/25/13 to 5/1/13	Surveys created on survey monkey	Evaluate data received in surveys
3.Develop ways to help students achieve what they want to learn and be successful.	Myself, technology leader, and teachers	September 2013 to April 2014	Software programs	Match the needs by looking at the surveys and seeing what the kids want the most
4.Implement ways to help these students learn what they have specifically requested to learn.	Myself and technology leaders	September 2013 to April 2014	Software and training	Evaluate the skills they are learning by getting feedback from the students and teachers
5.Have the students complete a survey to see if they learned what they wanted and are satisfied with the technology that they can take with them in their future education.	Myself	May 2014	Online Survey with survey monkey	Compare the survey with the survey given to outgoing grade students last year and those that have taken the survey this year and gone thru the new technology.

Week 2 - what I have learned

This week we listened to three different interviews about action plans and then read about 9 different areas to look at or action plans. When I first started the week I wasn't sure which way to even go towards. I  had many ideas but no way to figure to how to put any of them into an action plan without just a yes or no or simple response to my question. I am slowly figuring out with the help of my site supervisor and fellow teachers about which direction to go in. It really helped reading all the discussions and listening to our web conference hearing other ideas. I hope this week to really tweak my ideas into one or two and then figure out which one to use. I am beginning to think a good one might be about students bing ready for technology when they enter middle school so many can text and play video games but many are still hunting and pecking. I am also interested in the reason veterans teachers don't use technology but not sure how to measure it. So many ideas but need to figure it all out.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs....

Here are some ways I think Educational Leaders might use blogs....

1. Teachers have blogs to connect with kids, ask a question and have kids blog thier answer,
2. Teachers have a blog to connect with the parents, they blog what is going on in the classroom and the parents can see and interact with their children about what they see on the blog.
3. Teachers can use it within thier campus or district to get insight on ideas or questions that other teachers might have and that might help others.

Let me know if you have more you would like to add to my list. Always love new ways of using blogs.

What I learned about Action Research Plans...

Action research is "the process of engaging in systematic, intentional study of one's own practices and taking action for change based on what is learned as a result of the inquiry." (Dana, 2009). Basically, it is used by many who want to reflect on the work that they are doing and see how effective it is for whoever may be involved in the inquiry. As a teacher, I would use this process to review what I have just taught and see if it worked or helped them understand the concept. Sometimes one way of teaching is always the way that they kids understand. Reflecting on what has worked and what doesn't will help me to grow as a teacher so I will be a better teacher to the students in my classes. Lets say that if I have a group of students who are struggling with a math concept, I may look at how I taught it and see if there is a better way to get them to understand the math. I would look for other ways of presenting this concept to them and then that will help me decide if I can change, or improve, my teaching to better meet their needs. Maybe more time is needed in organizing my thoughts so I can express myself better to them, or perhaps a better way to present it so that the students understand they already have it and can be confident in thier math. The process of researching and reflecting is continuous as I strive to become a better practitioner of the craft of teaching.

Ever since I began this Masters Degree, I am seeing the need to look at things so that I can understand them better. I hope to show others how to be better in technology and if they have questions to ask me, or we can research things together to make our school a better learning environment for the kids.

References
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press