Week 2 Reflections...

I enjoyed reading the second chapter in the Dana text, The Passions That Drive Your Journey. Well, maybe "enjoy" is not the right term, but I did find it interesting and was able to connect to a lot of  what I read.  I could come up with an action research project in almost all of the nine areas that were discussed in the chapter that I would be excited about working on. The one problem I am having is that some of the "wonderings" I feel most strongly about have absolutely nothing to do with technology, but being in the Ed Tech program I know that I must choose something having to do with technology. A project I plan to implement this year in my library is a "buddy" reading program. At the end of the year last year, we had a weeklong reading celebration with different activities each day. On one of those days, we paired up older classes with younger classes and they got together for 30 minutes of reading time with a partner. We had incredibly positive feedback from both teachers AND students, some of the classes even managed to squeeze in more time to read together (even though there was only a week of school left!) Walking through the building, I saw younger students reading books to their older buddies, who would help them whenever they didn't understand a word. I saw them talking about things like setting, main idea, and discussing authors and illustrators they really liked. I actually saw a 3rd grader explaining what the word "conflict" means to a Kindergartener when they got to that part in the story - how cute is that??? I don't know exactly how to measure the effectiveness of a program like this (much less add a technology component!), but it was so exciting to watch that I knew I had to implement it at the beginning of the year this year.

To Blog or Not to Blog...

...that is the question! I can understand why educational leaders might not want to blog, such as lack of time or wasted effort, but for those willing to put in the time and effort, blogging can have a positive effect on themselves as well as their peers, students, supervisors, etc. Blogging allows for the free exchange of ideas between members of the same school, but also invites collaboration and communication between members of different schools. This can be an exceptional tool for educators who teach isolated subjects. For example, I am the one and only librarian on my campus. No one really knows everything I deal with on a daily basis except other librarians. Blogging with other librarians, both within my district as well as around the country, allows me to feel connected to my profession in a way that I never did before.

Action Research: Research 2.0

Action research is very much an interactive approach to research. Just as the World Wide Web has changed over the years, so has research. For many years, both the web and research methodology were giver/receiver models. Those who were able to posted information to websites (givers) and the rest of us got to read what they posted (receivers). Similarly, scholarly professionals would conduct research on topics of interest to them and publish their findings (givers), and the rest of us read those scholarly papers (receivers) and either changed what we were doing based on the research, or ignored it altogether.

Just as the web has become a free and open exchange of ideas (Web 2.0), action research is a model in which all players have a stake, and a voice, in the questions, actions, and outcomes. Because of this, I like to think of action research as “Research 2.0.” There are many things that teachers and principals do not have control over, such as district, state and national requirements for students. However, action research allows us to look at problems that are specific to our school or classroom, and then reflect and make changes as needed to solve those problems. 

As a librarian, research is one of my passions and I have always had an inquiring, reflective nature. I truly believe that when we stop trying to improve ourselves as educators, we stop being effective; action research empowers us to take control of our own professional development to become the best educators we can be. I plan to take my reflective, inquiring nature and apply it to an action research project for a more systematic approach to my own growth as an educator.