Sharing

This week I learned the importance of the sharing aspect of Action Research. Once we conduct an action research project, we are to make changes based on our findings and then report our research and changes to others. This will save us time and really impact our students' learning.

How can administrators use blogs?

Blogs can be a very effective tool for administrators and all leaders. Reflection is an important aspect of being a leader and one way to reflect is to journal your thoughts. Blogs are a great way to journal information because you can journal by using words and pictures. Additionally, blogs are also a great way to link to and have a quick reference to other blogs that you have learned from. Since blogs store all information, they are a great tool to go back and read previous entries and watch the growth.

Action Research

Action Research or Administrator Inquiry is when administrators engage in a reflective study by collecting data and conducting research and then change their actions based on their discoveries. Administrators are the leaders of the school so they set the example in many aspects. If administrators engage in action research they are constantly reflecting on their effectiveness as an administrator and taking positive steps towards growing and becoming a better leader.

As opposed to research conducted by outside researchers, action research focuses on problems that administrators are facing at their individual schools. This is important to point out because it is the real, every day issues that administrators face on a day to day basis and it is individual to each school.

I have used action research to address a variety of issues I have faced as a classroom teacher and I found it to be very effective and helped me to grow as a professional. As an administrator, it is important to constantly stop and evaluate yourself as a leader. When you are the one doing the research and collecting the data you will be more likely to change based on the knowledge you produce. As an administrator, I will use action research often to reflect on my effectiveness as a leader and address current issues in my school.