Action Research: What I Learned

At the start of our second semester, as usual, we met for staff development in our library.  Our administration welcomed us and reminded us of the new state standards and our need for increased rigor in the classroom.  This was followed by a “gifting” process which consisted of administration disseminating Rigor is NOT a Four-Letter Word by Barbara R. Blackburn and letting us know that we (as a campus) were going to start a book study and meet once a week to discuss assigned chapters.  What ensued was a series of side conversations, most having come to the conclusion that we had one more “item” on our plates.  Now, having read from Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana, I understand this great undertaking.  I literally felt the light bulb turn on: our principal is engaging in inquiry, and his goal is that our school will be able to come up with answers as we meet during our common planning time to discuss our understanding of rigor as well as strategies that work to incorporate rigor across the disciplines.  Dana metaphorically compares making time for exercise to making time for inquiry, and our principal is doing just that.  Just as we can devote at least an hour of exercise three times a week, we can devote ourselves to reading two chapters a week and a forty-five minute day discussion.  This relates to Dana’s professional learning communities, as she describes them as “small groups of faculty who meet regularly to study more effective learning and teaching practices.”  We meet as small learning community teachers during our assigned common planning time to ensure we keep small groups as Dana describes.  I like the idea of being able to keep this blog in order for us to interact with our classmates about our action research, getting feedback and possible recommendations.  I can also see how I can incorporate blogs easily in the classroom with my students.  This is my first blog, and I’m excited about the possibilities.

Educational leaders could benefit by keeping a blog as well.  As I mentioned earlier, some of my colleagues were apprehensive about having an extra duty and as a result, they may not do the reading.  One way to monitor that we are keeping up with the book could be by requiring us to respond to a blog question; that way, they will get a clear indication as to teacher participation.  An area of concern is parental involvement, so there could be a blog dedicated to addressing parents’ concerns as well as distributing pertinent information.