Okay! I am now knee deep into my new favorite thing, action research! I have already started wondering, questioning (not new for me!), inquiring, evaluating and researching...I haven't taken any action as of yet! (That's a joke!) Some of my inquiring and questioning is due to the FABULOUS discussions posted on our week one discussion board. This group of people are fantastic. Their insights blow me away. Because of many of the posts I have read, I have started rethinking some of my action research. Also, as I read the textbooks - my mind has been challenged and some of my ideas have been challenged as well.
I am passionate about reaching all children. I always have been. Now, I am also passionate about helping teachers and reaching them. If you can build a community of learners in a classroom and have just such a fantastic feeling of ownership....why can't you do this with your entire community of learners...your school? That's one of my wonderings. It's basis has to do with something one of my colleagues posted on our discussion board. He wonders about inspiring teachers; about helping them to reach their heights and not reach their lows...as most do now. How do we do this?
One thing that jumped out at me during Week One videos and readings, and discussions, (!), is that a mindset of process/product has to be dashed. That's what every school I have ever taught at did...every year their is a new process or product that is dumped on the teachers...a few years ago our district purchased C Scope. This was a VERY difficult transition for most teachers...extremely stressful and not enough training. I know there aren't enough hours in the day to train...but my thought at that time was maybe we should have taken this product and piloted it at an elementary campus; a middle school campus; and then a high school campus...for a couple of years...then those "experts" the teachers, could train the rest of the district. The kinks and problem areas would be addressed and then maybe it wouldn't have been so extremely difficult. Why wasn't this the way it was approached? I don't know...but I have wondered about that...and I saw tremendous burnout that year and many teachers - great ones left our district. Not good. So that's at the basis of one of my wonderings...as it is with many of my cohorts in the Partnership program.
I hope that we can come to some insight about that one.
Thanks to all that have read my blog so far and gave me such wonderful comments! You guys rock! :)
Holly you are always so enthusiastic about teaching. It is always inspiring to read your posts. As a trainer for my district, the one thing I always encounter is the negativity from teachers not wanting training. I work very hard to make the trainings I give brief and to the point. I also try hard to make the time fun. No matter how hard the trainer tries, there are always people that complain about being at trainings. Usually they are the same people that are running out the door the minutes school lets out. I will be very interested to see what you find out about inspiring teachers to do the best job possible.
ReplyDeleteHolly, now that you are 'in' Cscope a bit better what do you think of it? I am changing districts & my new district utilizes it. . . any info on making my transition into it easier would be great:) You are so enthusiastic; I bet you are a wonderful teacher & person to work with! Your excitement is contagious!
ReplyDeleteHolly, I enjoyed reading your part II. Do you realize what is happening to our thinking as we keep on learning about this action research process? We are experiencing a new way of thinking that is challenging and of course, we are being challenged in this process.
ReplyDeleteI’ve have always used reflection to better my teaching and to make the necessary modifications to ensure that my students academically succeed. In essence, these processes are not totally new to us, but through what we have learned thus far, we can truly take it to a depth of greater insight.
Your thoughts about districts purchasing C Scope, you mentioned that there was not enough training, which was an injustice to the teachers that had to implement the new product. It is like giving teachers a training manual of some kind and telling them read it and telling them “Good luck and we hope you survive.” Effective training is essential, support and guidance is always a must to ensure that teachers are not like “the blind leading the blind.” Piloting the C Scope program at an elementary school would have seemed a logical way to start a program. It would have been a good idea to have all the elementary schools that fed to a particular middle school to initially start on the program. Middle school teachers could continue the process and even do some modifying wherever necessary to feed the needs of the middle school students. These students being familiar with the program would eventual go on to the high school and continue with the process.
Holly you are so right! If the district had planned it in this manner maybe, it would not have been “extremely difficult,” for the teachers.
This is good Holly that you thought about this situation. You reflected, and you got a new “wondering.” This is awesome!
Hey Holly! Burnout is high for teachers because most teachers are very passionate about their job. It is painful when we aren't able to reach all of our students. Alleviating the unnecessary stress for teachers would be a great way to help stop the burnout rate. Look forward to reading your action research assignment.
ReplyDelete