The lecture gave me an understanding of what were the basic needs for the work that week and what I need to do to plan an action research project. Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Arterbury both gave me better insight on how to start an action research project. They lead the way on how to discover the action research question that I am researching.

The readings gave me the clarification and example of an action research project. Also, the readings showed me certain aspects about the action research plan. You should read in the area of your interests. Find an article on the internet pertaining to your current difficulty. Read the article and it may solve your problem. Don’t shy away from thoroughly researching the topic so that you can find as much as you can and maybe someone has the answer to your problem. “Why reinvent the wheel”.

From the videos I learn many things. I learned that action research can be big part of successful schools. They use it almost every day. They look at data extensively. The data is the driving forces for their research and success of the students. They ask critical thinking question of the teachers and administrators. They think that practical use of action research for the school and students is more important than some research that cannot be use in the school or classroom.

Through the web searches I found that for my action plan I would need more information to be released by the state of Texas. I look at the Texas Education Agency web site to compare the objectives on TAKS test and End of Course test. There are no release test for the End of Course exam right now but I assume they will release some question so we can prepare our students for next year. I also found other action research plans on the web which helped further guide my plan.

The activities and assignments made me think about and prepare how to accomplish my action research plan. Assignments help give the insight on how to arrange a better action research plan. Details of the action research plan were discovered through the assignments.

The discussion board let me see other action research plans and who was doing them. They also gave me insight to what their difficulties were and how they were working through them. It gave me feedback on my action research plan and how I can improve the plan. The discussion boards allow us to feel more like a team or class than we might have otherwise. They provide a sense of camaraderie.

The blogs gave the direction I needed for my action research plan. Fellow students provided new ideas to look at in the action research. The blog will be helpful as I follow the progress of the other student’s action research plan and their reflections.