Action Planning Template

Action Planning Template
Goal: Improve critical thinking and problem solving skills by implement blog-based technology like Edmodo.com.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
PHASE I
Communication with school principal for support on implementing Edmodo across the campus to increase critical thinking and problem solving skills.	School Principal, and Perez	11/05 – 11/09/2012	Time to meet with principal	Discussion with principal over this topic.
Have students be set up in Edmodo accounts throughout the campus	Perez and Science Department Teachers	11/12 – 11/20/2012	Computer Lab time or access to laptop carts.  ½ day of instruction to provide directions to students on signing up.	Will have a collaborative list of students in the entire campus signed on to Edmodo.com
Have students practice using Edmodo 3-5 days out of the week by having students answer the classroom Essential Question through Edmodo.	Perez and Science Department	11/26 – 11/30/2012	Access to laptop carts.	Posted answers from students on the Essential Questions
Discuss with students various posts and how they can become better answers by providing skills of a critical thinking	Perez and Science Dept.	11/27 – 12/03/2012	Posts from Edmodo	Classroom discussion.
Students begin research on the advantages and disadvantages of energy resources.	Perez and Science Dept.	12/03 – 12/05/2012	Access to research via books, articles, Internet, and classroom notes to discover advantages and disadvantages of various energy sources	Completion of Energy Charts that list information, including but not limited to advantages and disadvantages, of various energy resources.
Students begin online debate via Edmodo over a superior energy source for our area by stating their advantages of their energy source, while stating the disadvantages of other energy sources to make theirs superior.	Perez and the Science Dept.	12/06 – 12/12/2012	Access to laptops, or netbooks, or computer lab times.	Check for increase critical thinking skills and possible problem solving skills based off of student responses.  Discuss with ELA department on characteristics of good critical thinking skills.
PHASE II
Train remaining staff and introduce them to Edmodo.  Also share results from students’ online debate within Edmodo.	Perez	2/05/2013	Access to laptops for staff	Response from training
Have teachers set up their classrooms/periods (Edmodo refers to these as groups) so students can join them.	Perez and JWMS (J. Wessendorff Middle School) teachers	02/06/ - 03/4/2013	Dedicated computer lab time and teachers taking 10 minutes from their instruction time have students join their group/classes	Collaborative list from teachers and students having Edmodo accounts with full class schedule.
Students answer open ended questions during the beginning of their computer lab times in each of their content areas	JWMS teachers	03/18 – 04/30/2013	Classroom laptops or computer lab time.	Posts from students and suggestions to improved responses.
Prior to the STAAR exam, teachers will assign a persuasive essay to students to see if they are able to communicate critically over a debatable topic.	JWMS teachers	05/01/ - 05/15/2013	Persuasive Essay Assignment	Grades from students and acknowledgements of improvement in critical thinking skills.

Steps to Consider in Action Research

1.    Examining the work: Setting the Foundation – in other words, identifying needs or topics for action research and this may emerge from the Site Based Decision Making Committee, or from needs like those identified in your intern plan.

Improvement of increasing Critical thinking skills as well as problem solving skills of the student body.

2.    Analyzing data: you have had many opportunities to do this, and you  examined at least 9 data gathering strategies from your text in Part 2 of this week’s assignments

There are many examples students utilizing Edmodo (an educational based blogging/Facebook style website).  Some students have also been exposed to it during their elementary years.  If students can focus educational discussion on Edmodo, it can increase peer support of critical thinking.

3.    Developing deeper understanding: these are additional data collection techniques, as well as, examining qualitative data through active listening, focus groups, etc.

Utilizing data collection strategies 4 (Docs/Student Work) and 7 (Reflective Weblogs) will help see improvement in critical thinking among the student work.  It is also accessible anytime and anywhere there is an internet connection.

4.    Engaging in Self-Reflection: this summarizes much of what you have been doing in this course, and throughout the program, beginning with your many self-assessments of leadership in EDLD 5311

·         Is utilizing Edmodo as a critical thinking building tool easy to implement?

·         What could be some of the road blocks that the non-tech natives will be intimidated by?

·         Even though there are many tools in Edmodo, what would keep the teachers intrigued on using Edmodo?

·         Will be something that will also need to utilized on a professional level, so teachers are more consistently exposed to Edmodo?

5.    Exploring Programmatic Patterns: This includes asking the appropriate questions, identifying data patterns and gaps, and learning to address equity issues

See what Robyn (CITS Rep) can do to help putting out “fires” for teachers struggling with Edmodo.

How to enforce feedback from students and/or possibly grade student feedback to so that students will frequent the Edmodo program.

6.    Determining direction: Working collaboratively to address action research questions, monitoring progress, and assessing achievement

1. Are you clear on what you are attempting to solve? – YES
2. Have you adequately addressed the skills and resources questions? – YES
3. Have you established a collaborative approach to the issue? – YES
4. Are your timelines realistic? – YES
5. Do you have a reasonable plant to monitor the project? – YES
6. Do you have a reasonable plan for determining the level of success – how do you evaluate if the plan is effective?  -- This will be based off of student improvement and teacher participation.
7. How will you revise and improve the plane based on monitoring and evaluation?  If students/teachers are not participating, what is action is needed to ensure teacher participation.  What is it that making it difficult or obstacles for the students and/or teachers to be participating in the Edmodo program?

7.    Taking action for school improvement: Using appropriate steps or templates like the SIP or PIP Plan of action to guide the action research.

Plan was implemented in Part 2

8.    Sustaining improvement: Learning to use the tools of action research as an on-going process for professional development and school improvement.

Utilize these skills and online resources to improve students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills.  I’m sure Edmodo will not be around forever, but the trend of online collaboration and communication will not be going away anytime soon. I’m sure there will be a “new and improved” tool, but at least we’ve learned the basics of how this can be implemented on a campus level.

Critical Thinking Slideshow

I like this slide show on critical thinking and problem solving to help me envision a successful action research project.

Critical Thinking In Education from erusten

AR and the SM

Going through our readings this week allowed me to reflect on the fact that Action Research (AR) is based off of what I've been teaching for years, the Scientific Method (SM).  The first step in the scientific method is to identify the problem.  With our profession, this isn't difficult to do.  The second step is to create reasonable hypothesis.  Going through our readings and looking at all the questions posted by the examples (summarized on pgs 65-66), I realized these are all samples of hypotheses.  From here an action plan, or experiment if you will, is going to be/were developed and executed that will/did eventually lead to some conclusion.  Seeing it at this standpoint has allowed me to approach our action research with real life science.

Blogging for the Old People in Education

I can see how blogging can be a great tool for teacher and administrators.  Essentially it's writing in a journal electronically.  For some of us, this might be easier to blog since we type faster than we write.  This can help create ideas, write down how ideas were implemented, their criticisms, their praises, and have it all done chronologically.  This great when we're seeking to improve our programs the following school year.

Butterflies on Speed Pills

What I’ve learned about action research?  In one of our class texts, it mentioned two paradigms in research; process-product research & qualitative/interpretive.  Both were complex and usually involved outside individuals.  The refresher of action research is it basis of in-house research and collaboration.  With the other two paradigms, staff members would possibly be criticized by principals because of what they heard from principal’s meeting.  Then it became a game of “here is what you need to do to fix it, now do it”.  With action research we now have collaboration to the core with administrators/practitioners and not just from them.  The dictatorship of school house seniority has become the cohesiveness of true democracy. 

 

I also was intrigued by the principal/teacher inquiry.  I can see the difficulty of prinicpals having to invoke principal inquiry at any given point during the school year.  But, as a teacher, I must also relate to the Mike Connolly comment of describing principals as “butterflies on speed pills”  Working on a Masters Degree, being department head, trying to be a good husband to my wife, a good father to my children, a good packleader to my dog, a good collegue, oh and a good teacher (I forgot what I did for living) has made me a “butterfly on speed pills” in my own rite. 

 

I once saw a sign outside a church say, “If you’re too busy to read the Bible, then you’re too busy.”  In essence, it’s time to put life in check and prioritize, organize and strategize.  If we all could do this, the true definition of synergy would be evident.