I am 9 months into this program and I have not gotten much done. I have made my plan, discussed  certain parts of it with mentors, finished the activities for class but outside of that I have not made much headway into actually doing the activities I outlined in my plan. The bad thing is that I don't know where to begin. I don't know where I can go to get assistance or even how to space everything out and keep up with the data so that I will have all my bases covered. This has become so overwhelming. Along with my teaching responsibilities, I have family obligations and personal life chaos to attempt to balance with my time spent on classwork. I need someone to help me put all my tasks in some type of calendar or organized way and let me know what questions I should ask in interviews and in what manner they should be conducted to be the most efficient way possible.

I am still working on getting my plan together. I have talked with coworkers in my department to bounce ideas off them and they think the premise of my plan is good but that the implementation of it may not be as good as I thought. I am thinking of having my research plan deal with differentiating the method of reading delivery based on what works best for each student instead of making them do what I want them to do. I think having it this way will work better because the student will make a choice and be in charge over their learning themselves. Or maybe putting my class into three groups and switch them around every month to see what works best for them by their success on their weekly released tests. So far, I have used the method of audiobook reading for the story we are reading now and I have received mixed reactions to it. Some students are put to sleep by the droning of the person talking but I think those students would sleep if it was me reading or one of their classmates? However, some students like it because it forces them to follow along and read for themselves while they hear the voice read along with them. It's kind of a reinforcement of their reading and sharpens their listening skills as well. I guess I will continue on and see what works best.

Updating my Action Research Plan

After re-reading my plan and looking at the lone comment I have on my plan, I know now that I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of things I didn't think of when I came up with my plan that needs to be answered. Many details I have to account for that I didn't think about at all. Should my plan be continued even if students reading comprehension improve (measured by weekly assessments)? Is there any other reading intervention programs in use for high school students already? Is the program going to be assessed like the TEA does? All things I did not think about at all.

I do think my plan should be done all year regardless of success or failure so that honest and meaningful data will be gathered and relevant to the progress of the student. I don't really know if there are any high school reading intervention programs going on in the state of Texas. I have to do my research on that but I know at my school the only reading intervention they have is small class with the Inclusion teacher which is treated like a reading class. I need to find out the answer so I need to do research on what kind of reading interventions are currently in use so I can feed off of that. My program will be monitored by looking at any progress of students by way of weekly assessment gauging their reading comprehension. I am not sure if the TEA assesses that way or not.

Either way I need to not only look at my plan but also how the success or the failure of my plan might affect the students involved. I also need to figure out the what-ifs and how to combat these things with solutions. Kim have a lot to do!

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Improving Reading Comprehension in 11th graders
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Identify students who was unsuccessful on 10th grade STAAR reading	Counselors	June 2013	10th grade STAAR reading results	Create list of all incoming 11th graders that was unsuccessful on 10th grade STAAR reading test
Alternate method of reading delivery to students to find out what was most effective: Reading silently, orally or listening to audiobook recording	Teacher	August 2013- June 2014	Textbook, short story, novel, or play & corresponding audiobook recording	Class Discussions Exit Slips Quizzes Tests
Weekly/Monthly released STAAR reading selection and corresponding questions	TEA website	August 2013- June 2014	Released STAAR reading selection tests	Track  improvement or changes in score weekly/monthly
Gauge any improvements to STAAR score on next attempt	STAAR Assessment	November 2013   March 2014	STAAR reading score	Create list of successful student and unsuccessful student from group. Gauge any improvement in score.

Putting the Research Action Pan into Action

This week was very hard. I came up with my 8 possible topics last week was hard but figuring out how to break down my topics into one question and the steps that will be needed to put that into action has been nearly impossible! Figuring out what would be a good topic has been the hardest decision to make. I wasn't sure what area needed the most help or in which direction I should go. I talked with my site supervisor and even after he gave me suggestions, I have decided to go into an area that I have only looked at fleetingly. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Then breaking down my one question into small steps is not easy to manage. I guess I didn't think about how I will set out to do what I thought to do. I know that analyzing data is a weak area of mine since I don't do it very much now so I know that part of my research plan will take some time. Sustaining improvement for any positive aspects of my research is also an area I didn't think much about. I guess I will find out how to do that as I get my data and adjust my plan accordingly.

This week we looked at the self-reflection and wondering that goes into the brainstorming process before you begin an action plan. I guess I would first say that I didn't think coming up with an action plan would be this hard! I didn't think I would have to do so much research before I even do any research! Despite all that though, I'm glad I am doing the research. I don't just want to slap something together for a grade and then come away with a plan that can't help the students I look at every day. I want to help them in some way or at least do something that have the potential to help them learn better. After doing this wondering, I found that some of my action plan was too lofty and maybe I need to sit down and plan something simpler but might be more effective. I need to keep my eyes focused on what problems or issues I face at my school and what can I do to make me and my students environment better. This change in perspective was mind-blowing. After all, my action plan should be about something that will help my students’ academic lives better, not mine.  

Analysis of Blogs for Educational Purposes

Educational leaders can use blogs to collaborate with other leaders nation or worldwide. By blogging about an issue you may have a tough time dealing with to your community of followers you may get a suggestion that you have not heard of before. This practice can turn into a nation or worldwide PLC where the give and take of information can hone you into a better and more efficient educational leader.  That has to be a good thing.