Action Research

12/15/09
My action research is complete! I am now at the point where I am questioning if I have done enough technology, do I have enough data, how will I analyzw all the information I have, and when will I get everything completed!

12/10/09
It seems that research is winding down since it is my last full week in the school. I have given an interest survey to students about the classroom blog. I have not seen all of the responses, but I believe each student felt they gained something from it, whether it was enhancement in writing or bettering their typing. I have also been trying to figure out a way to best assess student writing. I have a rubric, but I am wondering if that particular one will work with each student. A lower level student may show improvement in my eyes, but not through the rubric. Another example would be an above level student who excells each week, but continues to have minimal errors to where you can not evaluate the improvement, if there was any.

11/10/09
The data I am collecting is piling up! I have not decided which students to focus on through my actual findings, so I have many many papers from all students. My next question is, how do I determine what students to focus on? I have determined I will use students who are involved in my spelling lessons. A backfall would be students that are not in my spelling class, but have shown progression each week. Do I use three students or ten? I must think this through within the final weeks.

09/06/09
This past week I began collecting samples of student work to use as comparison of their writing before and after teaching grammar with technology. I bought a file box for each students work and have already filed their work thus far.

We still do not have a whiteboard, but I still have time. We are however able to use the clicker system (which I love). The students respond well to it also.

I have also been typing my TAR journal.

Week 1
I have already started taking notes for action research. It hasn't been intense, but enough to keep me organized. I have talked with Mrs. Blickenstaff about my schedules of teaching (easing into and out of full-time teaching). I have set up a blog for our class journaling which will begin shortly. I hope to use this blog multiple days before my integration of technology, for comparisons to use in my study. I was stressed before school began because I found out that we did not have a SMARTboard in our classroom. Since my AR is based on technology and grammar, I need this! Mrs. Blickenstaff has been working very hard to get a whiteboard for her mimeo and has been easing my worries!