2012 - 2013 1st 9 Weeks Meeting

The Math Committee met this week for our first meeting of the new school year.  Those in attendance discussed the ways they are using the new Kim Sutton math activities and curriculum and shared ideas with others as to how they can easily incorporate them into their math lessons.  The 2nd grade teacher has been using the "Pattern Sticks" as a tool for practicing skip counting and setting up a strong foundation for multiplication and division in later grade levels.  It was determined that the same tool should be used across all grade levels to provide consistency and increase student math fact fluency. 

We also discussed online resources that are used in various grade levels so that each of the other grade levels could use them (if the content is grade level appropriate.)

The final item on our list was to discuss Math Journals.  We found out that only some grade levels are using them and not even all the teachers in that grade level maintain Math Journals for all students.  We brainstormed ideas of how they could be used in each grade level and determined that by next school year, we want to have Math Journals as a school-wide initiative to increase student understanding of math vocabulary, provide additional opportunity to master strategies needed to solve word problems and other math objectives.  

During our next meeting we will compare the 1st CBA scores seen school wide to the scores on other campuses and to our scores from last year.  New academic gaps will be identified based on the student's performance on the test and a plan will be developed for addressing those gaps in each grade level.

New School Year...New Materials to Use!!!

Last year, our PCL - Math Committee determined that we needed to streamline our math strategies and teaching/learning techniques.  After much discussion and evaluation, we determined that one way to do that would be to incorporate some of Kim Sutton's teaching material and activities into our lessons.
 
This summer, our district provided a training by Kim Sutton (math guru) for our elementary teachers.  I unfortunately missed that specific training since I was teaching summer school, but I did go to CAMT, a 3 Day Math Conference, and sat in on many of her sessions.  

During In-Service Week, we were given new CDs, activity books and math manipulatives to use in our classrooms this year for with Kim Sutton's curriculum.  I have really enjoyed adding it to my daily routine and I can already tell the kids love it!

Though the Math Committee has not yet met, I have still been thinking about my Action Research project and the things I will be looking at this year.  I am especially interested in seeing how our students are performing on the Content Based Assessment (CBA) tests that the district is providing to all 9 campuses this year.  The district wide tests will be one type of data that I will be collecting and evaluating during this research project.

I will have more once we schedule a Math Committee meeting and each grade level begins taking the CBAs.  

 

Challenges

This week, I reviewed my action research plan and identified potential challenges that I may face as I work to "teach our students to think like mathematicians" as my Assistant Principal put it.  

I believe the most challenging aspects will be:

- Communication

- Training

- Money

- Time

- Motivation (added thanks to Claudine's comment)

Communication

Our action research project is based on identifying academic gaps and identifying the "best practices" for closing those gaps by providing the students with consistent and effective teaching techniques and academic strategies.  We must open the lines of communication about the gaps we're seeing and each teacher must be willing to listen to the recommendations of how to "fill" those gaps. 

Training

Some teachers may require additional training based on the techniques and strategies that will be used across all grade levels.  Either our school/district must provide the training or should make it available to the teachers if they expect the resources, techniques and strategies to be used properly.

Money

New resources and trainings may cost money.  Our school will have to find money in the budget for training and resources, include a request for additional funding in next year's budget or organize a fundraiser to cover the new expenses.

Time

It has already been challenging to find a time that works for all the volunteers involved in this project to meet.  It will also be challenging to find the time to implement any new ideas and plans that are decided upon by the team.  Lastly, another challenge pertaining to time is that we will have to be patient to see results as this systemic change to our math program may take a while to show successful results. 

Motivation

Though all the people involved with this action research project are volunteers, there is no incentive plan in place to keep them motivated to stick with it.  We must determine a way to make all the volunteers want to see this action research plan completed to fruition.  

Now that I have identified some of the challenges, I feel I can better prepare myself for how to address them should they become an issue as I work to close the academic gaps our students have in our current math curriculum.   

Action Research Plan

Action Research Plan

SCHOOL VISION:

Our mission is to produce students who are exceptional academically, socially and emotionally.  Therefore, our teachers and students must have the most effective strategies, techniques and resources available to them.

GOAL: 

The goal is to stream-line and vertically-align the learning strategies, teaching techniques and resources that are used across all grade levels (K-5) through an inquiry based Professional Learning Community   

ACTIVITY	Recruit at least one teacher from each grade level (K-5) to join an inquiry based PCL (“Math Committee”)	Develop “Meteor Math” weekly math drill and practice.  “Meteor Math” drills will become progressively more difficult throughout the series as students successfully and accurately complete them.	Attend Professional Development Conferences to learn about high-quality, research-based, practical materials that can be used across all grade levels and tailored to our specific needs	I will leave final column for additional activities that arise as Math Committee identifies needs of students
OUTCOME	Create a forum for brainstorming, collaborating and communicating the gaps in academic successes, approaches for addresses gaps and evaluate best practices to avoid gaps in the future	Provide effective, structured math drills for students to practice identifying operation and increase speed for correctly answering addition/subtraction/ multiplication/division problems.  Each grade level will have 10-12 worksheets or electronic tests of sum/difference/product/ quotient and must accurately recite skip counting to a pre-established ending number	This will encourage consistency and familiarity in learning strategies and teaching practices across grade-levels.  Will also increase effectiveness of upper-grade teachers by saving them the time they currently use to “reteach” their preferred strategies as their preferred strategies will be introduced in lower grades.
RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	Teachers who volunteer their time, energy and knowledge	Series of math drill worksheets OR select a website with pre-established drills available electronically K – Identify shapes, count to 20, skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s 1 -  Mixed Drills of sums and differences, skip counting by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s 2 – Mixed Drills of sums and differences, skip counting by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, and 10s 3 – Mixed Drills of sums/differences with regrouping, multiplication, skip counting by, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s 4 – Mixed Drills of multiplication and division, skip counting by 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 11s, 12s 5 – Mixed Drills of multiplication and division, skip counting by 2s – 12s	Kim Sutton’s Creative Mathematics “Math Camp” and evaluate resources/techniques introduced at conference to determine those that should be used/modified by our teachers for our students.
RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITY	Asst. Principal, L. Higham (K), M. Hanley (1st), R. Kruger (2nd), C. Crowe (3rd), D. Keller (4th), S. Richmond (5th)	Teacher will establish a time each week that is devoted to practicing and grading these drills with all students in class.  Student will move to the next drill in the series only when they successfully and accurately complete the previous drill.	K-1 Math Camp L. Higham & M. Hanley 2-4 Math Camp C. Crowe & D. Keller
TIME LINE	January 2012 – June 2013	August 2012 – June 2013	July 2012 in Dallas
ASSESSMENT	Attendance will be taken at monthly meetings to record consistent participation	Students will earn a point toward “Meteor Math” award when they successfully and accurately complete the entire drill provided to them.  They will progress to the next drill in the series until all drills have been successfully and accurately completed.	New materials that are discovered at Math Camp will be utilized in classes beginning next school year, we will evaluate the success based on student achievement throughout the year and continue to modify as the teachers find appropriate based on new/different academic gaps if they exist
REVISIONS BASED ON ASSESSMENTS

Scholar Practitioners

Action Research Ideas from Scholar Practitioners

This week I watched three videos of scholar practitioners who discussed their experiences with action research. For my assignment, I reflected on Dr. Johnny Briseno and Dr. Kirk Lewis who both shared information that I believe pertains to the action research project I am interested in conducting in my school and district. 

Dr. Johnny Briseno discussed the importance of successful teachers presenting their unique strategies and ideas to the rest of the staff to help the other educators develop effective approaches for teaching.  Essentially, the purpose is that teachers don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” and they should cooperate and collaborate to determine the best methodology that is used in their school(s).  He even gave the example of 1^st grade teachers discussing the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of their students to the 4^th grade teachers as to prepare them for when the students are in their classes.

Dr. Kirk Lewis emphasized the importance of evaluating the curriculum and modifying the delivery of instruction to provide a deeper understanding of the information being taught.  He mentioned tearing apart research from other institutions, districts and schools to find what is directly applicable to the needs of the district or school. Dr. Lewis does not recommend using data provided “as-is” instead he believes the purpose of actions research is for schools to find out what has worked elsewhere and use the bits and pieces that are appropriate for use close to home. 

Similar to my interpretation of Dr. Briseno’s lecture, I feel Dr. Lewis is a proponent of district-wide strategies that should be developed to benefit the students’ ability to learn, retain and utilize the information presented.  Dr. Briseno’s suggestion of sharing unique strategies with fellow staff members is very similar to the “Math Committee” that we have created at my school.  Though it is currently only a select few volunteers from each grade level, it has provided us a forum for sharing thoughts, concerns and suggestions that can be used across grade levels. The goal of our team is to brainstorm ideas, try them out on a smaller scale and then determine what will be utilized school-wide through formal trainings. I believe his suggestion of 1^st grade teachers meeting with 4^th grade teachers is a great goal to have ultimately, but I believe it is more essential to begin a process like that on a smaller scale, such as the 1^st grade teachers conferencing with the 2^nd grade teachers as to prepare them for what to expect in the more immediate future than the 4^th grade teachers.  Dr. Briseno has given me the idea to develop a survey or data sheet that can be included with a student’s Cumulative Folder which will contain more information about the student than just scores and grades.  Additional information about the preferred learning style, interests and home environment will give the future teacher great insight into the best way to approach teaching that student so they can begin to address their needs from Day 1 of school. 

Dr. Lewis makes a very valid point when he states that any research used in a school must be practical and pertain directly to that school’s needs.  There is no point in using theoretical data that will not be effectively used to benefit the students somehow. Therefore, when the committees at my school begin to evaluate and develop the “best practices” that will be used throughout the grade-levels, we must understand that those “best practices” will not come from one source.  We will be more successful if we search a variety of sources, try various techniques and strategies and determine the best ones for our students’ needs.   

I feel both scholars have supported my desire to move forward on my action research project of aligning successful teaching/learning strategies throughout the grade level to encourage smooth transitions from one grade level to another.  I also plan to do as both scholars suggested and read, Google and search EBSCO for ideas of how other people have addressed situations like the ones I want to address in my district, and then instead of applying what I find directly, I will modify the suggestions to fit the needs of my teachers and students.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Here are some reasons why educational leaders might use blogs (and how I'll hopefully use this one!)

- Collect data from blog followers
- Share and/or comment on new research or current events
- Seek feedback

- Share successful strategies

- Record thoughts over time that can be reviewed later and provide insight about beliefs, thoughts and practices   

- Model a "love of writing" to colleagues and students

- Provide ideas to others in the educational industry
- Post information for staff, students, parents and community
- Include text, pictures, tables, documents and other media 

Action Research - Collaborate and Validate!

Action Research - 

collaborate and validate!

 

Administrative inquiry or action research is a way for the principal to become the “head learner” of the school.  The principal studies his/her own leadership strategies and uses the introspective observations to make a plan of action for improving the school.  It provides the opportunity for the administration to be directly involved in identifying the needs of the students, teachers and administration and determine the best way to improve skills, techniques and strategies that will benefit the students.  Through this process, administrators and teachers learn more about themselves and their choices.  Therefore, they can evaluate and validate what is truly a “best practice” to use at their school. 

Traditional educational research is done by "experts" outside the school who may not be familiar with normal, everyday life in your school. Action Research is people at the school doing research about the school.  They identify the needs and then collaborate to determine the best way to address the issues they have identified.  Essentially, the administrators and teachers become the "experts" through inquiry and research of issues they are dealing with at their school.  


The term research does not refer to book learnin'.  Instead, this type of research is done in the school with the students and staff to address the questions about the areas that require improvement.