Week 2: A.R. Reflection...

After viewing and reflecting each of the videos, each scholar seems to be very knowledgeable and passionate about their action research. The two I chose to reflect on were Dr. Johnny Briseno and Dr. Timothy Chargois. All three are similar in one way or another meaning, all believe that teachers must be lifelong learners, keep up with current best practices and hold student success/achievement first. As an educator, I feel that I’m learning everyday right along with my students and faculty members. Being in grad school this past few weeks has really helped me have a better understanding overall and have become more passionate about my career.

Three topics for possible action research that I feel need to be pushed on my campus are:

• Develop a strategic plan to help/increase students study skills.
• Create a survey about and how to promote school spirit.  Brainstorm different methods to help motivate school spirit within student body and faculty.
• Interview and analyze the curriculum in the Academic Support Center dept.

After reviewing which topic I thought would benefit my campus and community the most, I discussed all possibilities with my internship mentor via email.  My mentor felt all three topics were very beneficial, interesting and appealing to all teachers in one way or another.  We both made the decision to start with one and tie in another throughout the research.  It just made more sense to combine the two topics to help with data.  The Academic Support Center helps students become more organized, offer extra tutoring and/ or a quiet environment for students to focus on every class throughout the school day. This class can assist with the data, research, test out different strategies and even incorporate “Study Skills” into the course curriculum. My action research is to help develop a strategic plan to help increase student study skills by using the Academic Support Class as a case study to practice different study skills for a wide variety of students on campus.