Graduate school is over...now what?

I learned so much while in graduate school.  I learned not to procrastinate.  I learned I clean a lot more when I was suppose to be studying.  I also learned to ask for help when I needed it.  If not for our Facebook page dedicated to all of us going through this process, I am not sure I would have made it.  For my Action Research Project, I looked into and study and documented the effects of adding purposeful movement while learning.  The data that was collected was unbelievable.  Because of the results that we had on our campus, I was asked to share my data with other campuses in the district and later on with all of the principals.  Since then I have presented the information to after school coordinators, principals, and at conferences for administrators and P.E. people.

So here I am, done with graduate school and a month away from the beginning of the school year and I think, "Now what?" Just like the Facebook page that helped me through Graduate school I want to create a place to help others.  I want to help educators.  I want to help day cares.  I want to help parents.  I want to share my ideas for classrooms, labs, and at home.   I have become very passionate telling everyone that I can about the benefits of movement and learning.  We are past the days of sit and get.  Sitting and doing a worksheet is not beneficial.  They need to be up and moving.

I am not sure where this blog is going to go or how I am going to do it, but this is where I am starting.  Until next time....

Back to the Drawing Board

Well, I thought I had a great Action Research Plan, but with some changes going on at my school it seemed appropriate to change that plan.  My plan was to research how iPad's could be effective in the classroom to determine if we should buy them for our school.  The end result was that they are not going to be buying iPad's in the near future.  So back to the drawing board.

This summer I was asked to attend a training in South Carolina for Action Based Learning.  We had started a lab last year in Kindergarten.  The theory behind Action Based Learning (ABL) is that the brain learns and maintains more information if there is movement.

 Two other teachers and myself will be working with a group of 12 first graders that do not know the letters of the alphabet or the sounds that they make.  We will each have 4 students.  I will be running my students through an ABL Lab where they are up and moving while the others sit and learn.  They all will be seen for 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week for a total of 3 weeks.  At the end of the three weeks a post test will be given to all of the students to see if there is a difference in sitting  and learning or learning while in motion.

Final Action Research plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Assess the impact of tablets on student achievement
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Obtain administrations permission to conduct an action research plan on a kindergarten classroom.	Alise Lamoreaux Teresa Croce	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan	N/A
Select and obtain permission from a teacher to conduct research with.	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan in the classroom.	N/A
Analyze latest kindergarten assessment	Alise Lamoreaux	March 25-29, 2013	K-TIPS (Kindergarten Teacher Inventory of Phonological Skills) TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory)	Spreadsheet of data showing the skills that were assessed.
Determine skills to be addressed using the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	April 1-5, 2013	K-TIPS TPRI	Spreadsheet of skills that need additional work.
Find apps to use on the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Tablet App store spreadsheet	Spreadsheet of Apps to use on the tablet to address the lowest skills.
Make a “How To” Sheet for the students	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Paper Printer Computer	N/A
Student will use the tablet in a group of two for 5-10 minutes every other day.	Alise Lamoreaux Students	April-May 2013	Tablet How to sheet	Observe students using the tablets in a small group setting
Give a post-test to students	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom teacher	May 2013	K-TIPS TPRI	Spreadsheet of data showing the skills that were addressed.
Analyze the data from the assessments	Alise Lamoreaux	May 2013	K-TIPS TPRI	Spreadsheet of data showing the scores from the K-TIPS
Conduct student and teacher survey on the use of the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom teacher Students	May 2013	Paper	Spreadsheet of data from the surveys and a graph to show comparison
Evaluate the action plan by presenting results to campus, site supervisor, and online colleagues.	Alise Lamoreaux	June 2013	Data from action research plan	Action Research Plan Post on Blog

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome!

What have I learned in this class?  Improvise, adapt, and overcome! Sometimes things do don’t go the way that we plan for them too.  I started out with a plan that I thought was terrific.  I wanted to help the teachers use the technology that we have in the classroom.  I still think it would  be a valuable research plan, but low test scores and a more student centered learning with technology steered me in another direction.  If we never change and we stay in the same place and do the same things we will never progress. So, we must improvise, adapt, and overcome those issues to see change. 

There are so many times throughout my time as an educator that there is a problem on campus.  Often times we treat it like a scrap on the knee.  We see the problem, temporarily clean it up, and apply a band aid.  A group may get together and meet for an hour to come up with a plan of how to fix the problem, but it tends to only be a temporary solution.  We need to look at a longer “fix”.  We don’t want to just apply a band aid and leave a scar; we want to make sure the scar is gone too.  We need to do some action research within our own setting to see if it is something that is going to work or not. 

I have learned that although clinical research is very valuable and can even be applied to an action research plan, it is typically not the best solution to a problem.  By sitting and taking the data on your own classroom, or school, or district you are getting results that apply directly to your situation.  You do not have compare results from a school in Alaska when you are teaching in Texas.  The climate is different, the curriculum is different, and so are the students. 

I have learned that not only is having a “wondering” about something important, but so is the plan, data collection, analysis of the data, and dissemination of said data.  There are a lot of people that are interested in the research that you are doing.  Mainly at your campus, but possibly elsewhere. 

I never considered myself as a researcher.  When I started this class I thought we would read about different studies that others had done and maybe find one that we could apply to our campus.  Never did I think that I would be doing my own action research project.  I now feel that I can handle my own action research project in my classroom or in my school. 

With that said, I still feel that I need some practice in this area. I believe strongly in my action research plan.  My administrators are using my data to determine if we are going to purchase tablets for the school.  That is a lot of pressure.  I have analyzed my project over and over again. I have solicited the advice from fellow classmates.  I want to make sure that I get it right so we do not miss out on an opportunity for our kids.  I have the general idea, but I need to go out and apply it.    

This course has been an eye opener in what I can do on my own in my classroom and school.  I may do it for the better of my classroom, but others can benefit from it also.

Action Research Plan-Take 2

There was not a whole lot that my site supervisor and I changed.  We took out the benchmark testing and left the K-TIPS assessment.  We reviewed the data and thought that would be more than sufficient data.  We also decided to take out the demographic information.  If I really feel that this will be important to my research I will add it later.  I hope everyone is having a great week! 

Action Planning Template
Goal: Assess the impact of tablets on student achievement
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Obtain administrations permission to conduct an action research plan on a kindergarten classroom.	Alise Lamoreaux Teresa Croce	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan	N/A
Select and obtain permission from a teacher to conduct research with.	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan in the classroom.	N/A
Analyze latest kindergarten assessment	Alise Lamoreaux	March 25-29, 2013	K-TIPS	Spreadsheet of data
Determine skills to be addressed	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	April 1-5, 2013	K-TIPS	Spreadsheet of skills
Find apps to use on the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Tablet App store spreadsheet	Spreadsheet of Apps
Make a “How To” Sheet for the students	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Paper Printer Computer	N/A
Give a post-test to students	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom teacher	May 2013	K-TIPS	Spreadsheet of data
Analyze the data from the assessments	Alise Lamoreaux	May 2013	K-TIPS	Spreadsheet of data
Conduct student and teacher survey on the use of the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom teacher Students	May 2013	Paper	Spreadsheet of data and a graph to show comparison

Developing an Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Assess the impact of tablets on student achievement
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Obtain administrations permission to conduct an action research plan on a kindergarten classroom.	Alise Lamoreaux Teresa Croce	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan	N/A
Select and obtain permission from a teacher to conduct research with.	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	March 18-22, 2013	Signed documentation giving approval to conduct the research plan in the classroom.	N/A
Analyze latest kindergarten assessment	Alise Lamoreaux	March 25-29, 2013	K-TIPS Student demographics Benchmarks	Spreadsheet of data
Determine skills to be addressed	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom Teacher	April 1-5, 2013	K-TIPS Benchmarks	Spreadsheet of skills
Find apps to use on the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Tablet App store spreadsheet	Spreadsheet of Apps
Make a “How To” Sheet for the students	Alise Lamoreaux	April 8-9, 2013	Paper Printer Computer	N/A
Give a post-test to students	Alise Lamoreaux	May 2013	K-TIPS Benchmarks	Spreadsheet of data
Analyze the data from the assessments	Alise Lamoreaux	May 2013	K-TIPS Benchmarks	Spreadsheet of data
Conduct student and teacher survey on the use of the tablets	Alise Lamoreaux Classroom teacher Students	May 2013	Paper ActiVotes	Spreadsheet of data and a graph to show comparison