ED5301 Week 2 Insights

This week lesson was to pick a topic to start an action research on. My topic is on student’s learning/motivation: How to motivate students to read more independently? and What happens to struggling readers in our school after they leave intervention programs?

This topic is important because so many students are not motivated to read at all. This week I have learned that if the teacher is not motivated to learn then the students won't be motivated to learn also. It is teachers, not the curriculum, which determines the quality of the student.

How Educational Leaders might use blogs?

Weblogs can serve as a daily journal. Educational Leaders can capture their thoughts and use their reflections as an important data to share with others. Especially now with technology being the high rise for the upcoming generation, students are more prone to use the internet to search for information than a textbook. As a leader blogging can be an example to share and gain some inquiring thoughts on how someone else feels about a particular situation.

   

Action Research

After reading, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana 2009, I learned that action research intends to bring about change of some kind, usually with a social justice focus.  As an educator I can use action research in my classroom practice with my students. Knowing who they are and observing their learning styles will help me implement the right decisions for their academic success. Teacher researchers gain a better understanding of why they behave as they do and consequently make better choices in their classroom practice (Oberg, 1990). As a teacher who is seeking out to become an administrator, action research holds a powerful tool for professional development. It allows you to be more open minded with circumstances which inquire a collection of data, asking questions, and requesting more information which could make you look at things in a different way. Action research involves a lot of engagement with others and involvement in the community. It will most certainly help with building confidence as a leader. People want to follow those who are willing to do the work themselves.  I am ready to start my journey with action research as I seek out changes by reflecting on my own practice and becoming a better leader in my professional growth.