Through this week I met with my team to discuss the research I found to support creating two way communication between parents and teacher in order to benefit student's academic acheivements.  I discussed the action plan project and how we could use student planners to open communication.  All 4 teachers were willing to give it a try.  I typed up the letter to explain to parents what we were creating and included an activity for the parents to do with their children.  The planners went home wednesday and most came back on Friday.  The comments from parents, overall, were positive!  They appreciated the insight to what their students were learning and having the opportunity to work with their children.  The planners that came back with no comment we will use as indicators of parents we could contact.  We will take a look at this students and their academic progress.

As a team we discussed the possibility of those parents who would consider this a tool to try to dictate exactly what should be taught.  I only had one parent who wrote a lengthy comment to inform me the activity was too easy and her child was bored.  She questioned if differientiation was happening in the classroom and if the high students were being challenged.  I took this as good constructive criticism and evaluated my classroom, and her child's scores.  Her student is high, but struggles to put into context how to use the computations she learns in class.  I will be contacting this parent for a conference to welcome her input, and give her evidence of her student's learning.

Overall, this first week has been a great eye opener of parents and teachers.  We were made aware of a few students who, when given the activity to do at home, did not do as well as they do in the classroom, and on the flip side, we had other students shine.  The bottom line is we had parents actively involved with helping the students with specific learning outside of a simple homework worksheet.

In the next few weeks I will be meeting with Administration, my team and selected parents to discuss and plan activities outside of the classroom that will involve local business in the academics of our students.

I am almost 5 weeks into the new school year.  I spent the summer trying to get the original action plan put together, but found that it was not going to be as easy to nail down and work out as I thought it would be.  It was difficult getting a specific lesson plan down that would work for the schedule for fourth grade.  In the process of developing other Action research plans for summer classes, I came across one that I believe will prove to be successful in our school and lend itself to the academic improvement of our students. 

The plan is to create two way communication with parents to increase involvement in student's academics and to involve all Stakeholders in activities that will allow students to use what they are learning in the classroom and apply it to real world activities.  Studies have been done and proven to show that as parents and the community get involved in student's learning, their academic scores are improved. 

I have met with my team and administration to propose this project.  Tomorrow, we start by sending a letter home with parents that will be attached in the Student Planner.  It explains the desire to create a two way communication between parents and teachers regarding student's academics.  These planners will go home on Wednesdays and will come back to school by Friday.  Parents are given an idea of what is being taught in the classroom.  Then parents are encouraged to engage in a quick activity with their child to "assess" if their child is understanding what is going on in the classroom.  The parents are then asked to respond, whether it is a brief note, or a written concern of what their child was able to show them. 

The idea is to keep parents informed and engaged in their child's learning.  Even with parents who don't have a lot of time, or perhaps don't usually take time to work with their students, this is a "user friendly" way for parents to get involved with the classroom. 

From here, we will go into the community to develop activities that parents can take their child to that will reinforce what is being taught at school, but is used in a real world activity.  For example, if we could find a landscaping company that is willing to take 2-4 hours on a saturday or sunday to provide an activity that will show students how multiplications and arrays can be used to arrange a flower beds or gardens.  The students and parents will work to make the plans using multiplication and then plant the flower bed.  In order to encourage the participation of parents, the business will offer parents who participate a discount for services. 

The next step is to take the list of businesses and present the idea to administration, teams members and homeroom parents to qualify those business, or come up with other business that already have a vested interest in the school and students.  Once we have come up with the names, we decide how to contact and present the idea to all stakeholders.  I have a proposed presentation outline already made to present for approval from the team. 

By the end of the week, we will see how parents respond to the journal.

First Steps of Action Research

Today I spoke to several teachers that I feel could bring valuable information to meet for an initial planning meeting to discuss implementing number sense curriculum in the classroom daily.  The second grade teacher I spoke to is very interested to follow this research.  The Math recovery teacher is willing to come in and recommend daily activities and reteach activities we could do that we learned from a District paid for training we attended this fall.  I spoke with my principal about the discussions and I am set to prepare an official meeting for next week.  The only challenge I expect is from the third grade team. Just from brief discussions I have had with them, they are not sold on teaching number sense in the form of being able to solve problems in your head using number sense strategies.  They feel it causes the learning of algorithym to slow down.  This will have to be something I look into and discuss this with our K-2nd grade teams who have been teaching number sense all year. 

How will learning Number Sense effect learning basic math facts?

Thank you to Mary for taking a look at my Action Research plan and leaving comments.  I struggled with getting my Action Research Plan to "Link up" to my blog.  I finally did it, but left off the school goal and My goal for my project.  So, here it is:

SCHOOL VISION: Each student is prepared beyond High School and gains academic success!

GOAL:  All level of students gain number sense to help them with the ability to memorize math facts, and through research see if students are developmentally ready to memorize facts.

Hope you are all having a fabulous week!

My Action Research Plan

I finally got it loaded on the blog!  If you will click on the title, it will take you to the actual plan. 

If You're Green, You're Growing

My favorite quote this week has come from Dr. Timothy Chargois, Director or Research, Planning and Development in Beaumont I.S.D.  In an Interview for my action research class he stated "If you're green, you're growing; if you're brown, you're dying."  He was emphasising the fact that educators can never stop being learners.  I believe this sums up, for me, what I am learning through this week's assignments.  Through action research in our schools, or districts, we are able to learn best practices for our educators and our students.  We will discover what will create the most effective school cultures and, in the process perhaps challenge our own thinking. Action research will help drive our own continuing education as we search out the answers to our "wonder's" and "what if's." 

What I have learned about Action Research

Over the past few days of reading I have discovered action research will be the driving tool for creating a quality school culture. Partnered with principal inquiry, it will create focused and motivated leaders, administrator and teachers alike, who will develop a sense of ownership in the success of their school.  In Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, Nancy Fichtman Dana (2009) explains the benefits of action research and principal inquiry.  One of the benefits is the principal becomes a role model in their building.  She states, “If principals want students and teacher to take learning seriously, if they are interested in building community of learners, they must not only be head teachers, headmasters, or instructional leaders.  They must, above all, be head learners.” (pg 13)  A second benefit listed is “that engagement in the process can help best practices to flourish at your school.” (pg 13)  I am excited to embark on my own action research.  I have been wondering if there was a way to take the concepts of Math recovery and apply it to the upper elementary grades that will not only create greater number sense, but I wonder if it will help them to retain and memorize multiplication facts and become better problem solvers.  I will be observing two different grade levels during the next few months and through collaboration with educators, collecting data, designing a plan and implementing instruction I hope to gather great information that could strengthen our math instruction and learning.

Why Blog?  There are several reasons why educational leaders should use blogs.  Some of the main benefits to blogging are collaboration, reflection and sharing research with colleagues.  Through blogging and sharing inquiry, will “help you play with, develop, and challenge ideas that have developed about your administrative practice as a result of engaging in inquiry” (Dana; 2009). (pg 150)