Lessons Learned

Does it have a purpose? Who is going to benefit? Are you focused?  Are you interested?

As we narrowed down our decision on a final action research plan we needed to answer at least the first two questions, but once you dig into it a bit deeper, you can't help but ask yourself, "Are you focused? Are you interested?" If you are not interested in your action research project then you will lose focus and once you lose focus, you lose sight of your purpose.  If the ones who are supposed to benefit from the project do not see the value through you, they, too, will lose focus or interest and how are they supposed to benefit from that? 

An action research project's purpose combines 4 elements.  The purpose:
1. tells of a problem or goal.
2. is focused.
3. is reasonable and feasible.
4. is ethical.

The beneficiaries of you action research are you key stakeholders - the students, parents, teachers, campus administrators, district level leaders, school board, and the community at large.  At the completion of an action research project, the stakeholders will be better off.

While I kept these questions in mind during my selection of an action research project, I was able to narrow my action research down to Effective Instructional Strategies.  This action research can combine previous trainings through the Dana Center, a tool our district instructional coaches will use this upcoming year - Marzano's Becoming a Reflective Teacher, and our district guidelines for peer coaching on our assigned campuses. Even though I have an extremely high interest in researching implementation of Web 2.0 tools and technology in the classroom, it ultimately came down to the fact that technology is an effective tool when used in the classroom.  So with a slight tweak, I can incorporate two choices into my final decision of researching Effective Instructional Strategies.