What a day, what a day, what a day.  That is what I have come to say at the end of each day.  Not that they are bad days, just that they are chalked full of activities, meetings, problem solving, collaboration, and intervention.  I suppose that is what keeps me going, the challenge of meeting all of these demands and sort of completing a puzzle each day.  With that I must update on my action research plan. 

I have gained the support of my department (PLC) and have had such great support for my project and my journey through working towards my Master's Degree.  I really appreciate my group, as well as the general education teachers who have graciously agreed to take on more work to help me.  In turn I am helping them, but I truly feel they are blessing me.  So update is this:  Have researched a plethora of intervention strategies for struggling learners literature, am in the process of putting it all in order and working on an outline for my PLC Staff Development.  I have been given permission to conduct a staff development to my PLC, so I am excited about that.  Also, I can give a copy of the presentation to the general education teachers and can invite them, but not require them to participate.  I put together, after many a hours of researching, a checklist to make the lives of these wonderful collaborators a little easier.  The end of the first 6 weeks is nearing, and I will pull off the failure list, and discuss the students that are failing in the co-teach classes, and review the intervention strategies that were used for them and see if there is anything else we can do to move them from this list at the 3 weeks.  Also, I have not been granted access to the AWARE database yet, you are granted access to the students you teach, and since I teach life skills I don't quite have access to many.  My assistant principal is working on it for me, and has informed me he will sit with me and look at the data if they cannot give me access. 

Ok, so there is my long overdue update. 

A little something from this week...

This assignment was quite eye opening this week for me.  I realized that we really do not have a great community backed program that supports student success, much less have parent programs that allow them to enhance student learning.  We try and even believe that we are doing a great job, and while I am sure it is not the worst, I just believe it could be beefed up a bit to be a win for all parties involved.  I appreciate effort, but sometimes we need to go a step beyond effort when we are talking about the future of our communities.

The following is my discussion post from this week, I included it just so give it an opportunity to be seen, and maybe a little feedback to help tweak the plan to maybe someday make it reality.

My district has a great resource in our College Readiness Counselor's, we have a Career and Technology Campus with a variety of programs that enable students to receive wonderful opportunities before they are out in the post-secondary world on their own.  While this is great, Ms. Hall apparently does not have this resource available to her and her students.  My proposal would be for her to visit with some of the local businesses and develop a Partnership Mentorship Program.  Implement a panel that is made up of a local college representatives, military recruiters, trade school reps, and business partners from the community.  This panel would meet to establish a program that would offer mentorship opportunities, post-secondary research opportunities that would tie a professional with a group of students to research options for the students upon graduation.  The group could meet as often as the panel deems appropriate and successful for all parties involved.  These mentors would collaborate with the students to encourage and educate them on the various opportunities that are available, how they could go about attaining these opportunities, practice public speaking and interview techniques, as well as assist the students in applying for the various opportunities they feel they would like to pursue.  The partners could offer internship opportunities to the participating students during the summer or after school for a couple of hours a week, this would allow the students to gain an understanding of the profession and if they would like to pursue them.  At the end of the program, each student will present a report of some type of presentation on what they learned and how it will impact their futures after high school.



Partnership Mentorship Program
     1.  Establish mentor committee made up of professionals from the community, trade schools, colleges, military, etc.
     2.  Design the goals and objectives of the program, rules and responsibilities.
     3.  Invite students and their parents to attend an informational meeting, and invite students to sign up and participate.
     4.  Set up initial interviews with the students interested, to get a baseline of where they are at with their post-secondary goals.
     5.  Divide the students into groups based on their interviews (those interested in military will be assigned a military mentor partner, college to college mentor partner, etc.).
     6.  Have groups establish a meeting schedule and set a calendar so all groups can be monitored.
     7.  Work the programs procedures and policies.
     8.  Continue to meet regularly with mentors, and in groups.
     9.  Have the mentors meet to collaborate on different strategies used by the different groups, this might help another mentor or student when faced with an adverse situation.
     10.  Have students present their journey to the committee.
     11.  Have students complete a survey to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the program.

Class #2 Reflection

In reflecting back on the past several weeks, I think about the moments where I looked at the assignments and thought what in the world have I gotten myself into. As I worked on each assignment, I became thirsty for more information that could make my work better. I would go to the internet and research the different topics that were introduced in the readings. “Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher” by Nancy Fichtman Dana was quite an interesting read, but it gave me such insight and sparked me to go search for more information on the topics she addressed in her book. I really came to appreciate this book and have placed sticky tabs and highlighted important information that I feel will help me along the path of action research. This book is now a permanent part of my library that will be there for the duration of my career.

Blogs, oh wow how I appreciate and enjoy those. What insightful and intelligent people we have in our class that are going to make a huge impact as leaders on their campuses, districts, and the field of education in general. These people have come to be my source for bouncing ideas off of, they are a sounding board, and have come to be important to me all through a little thing called a blog.

I feel the same way about the discussion boards. I really appreciate the thought processes of others, and reading and responding to their posts. My classmates are such bright, enthusiastic, compassionate people who truly believe in education and the difference that can be made with a little effort. I truly appreciate the blogs and discussion boards, they help when you are stumped, they can end your writers block and spark a thought process that helps to get the ball rolling again.

I really liked the 3 videos from week 2 I believe. They were the 3 gentleman that gave different perspectives on action research that is used in their districts. One thing that stuck out was a statement made by Dr. Johnny Briseno, Principal, Rancho Isabella Elementary, Angleton ISD, he said don't reinvent the wheel. Sometimes we as teachers can make things harder than they need to be, this statement reminded me that it was already done, use the tools that are set out before me by someone else and make my mark. Don't copy someone, but be resourceful and use what is out there for my purpose.

The Facebook Page, let me just say has almost given me heart attacks and then given me comfort. Sometimes people get a little stressed about the assignments and will post something, and I think holy smokes what are they talking about did I miss something, and at other times they are comforting to know someone else out there is going through the same thing and I am not alone. I can ask a question and know that someone has an answer.  We help each other, we comfort each other, and we encourage each other. How cool is it knowing that a stranger has your back and is there to help? I think it is pretty great.

Action Plan Revised

Action Planning Template
Goal: What are the most effective high yield intervention strategies for struggling learners at Saginaw High School? What aspects affect outcome?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Gather data from Eduphoria on readiness standards strengths and weaknesses in all core content areas.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Eduphoria reports	Analyze the data to present to the PLC so that we can as a group determine the students that are considered struggling learners.
Share purpose of the action research plan with the Special Ed PLC	C. Stidham	August 20-2013-September 1, 2013	Action Plan	Discuss the purpose of the action plan, and seek feedback and input from all persons involved in carrying out the steps.
Identify students that are struggling learners from the four content areas within all grade levels where co-teachers are present.	C. Stidham Special Education PLC	August 20, 2013-September 30, 2013	Eduphoria data/reports Class Grades Benchmarks	After meeting as a PLC, we will create a list of students that need interventions.
Meet with PLC co-teachers to discuss targeted interventions.	C. Stidham Special Education co-teachers	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Journal logs from each co-teacher, classroom data, student grades, benchmark information	Review information to discuss progress of the targeted students.
Research effective intervention strategies from Professional sources.	C. Stidham	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Internet access, paper, printer	Select a variety of articles to print from the web and present to the Special Ed PLC.
Present a staff development to the PLC on different intervention strategies have been researched that address strategies specific to the content area.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-May 1, 2014	Special Ed PLC, printed materials to hand out to my group	Present information form articles and or videos on different intervention strategies that have proven successful in other educational sites.
Send out general education teacher questionnaire to teachers of identified struggling learners.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	General Ed Teachers, Co-Teachers, Teacher Questionnaire	Create a questionnaire, use the information from each to gather qualitative data on effective strategies used in the different classrooms.
Review feedback from the teachers on the newly presented strategies effectiveness in classes, and the adjustments experienced.	C. Stidham J. Hatten Special Ed PLC	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Teacher questionnaires, PLC time	Review the information from each questionnaire, determine what strategies were successful and unsuccessful.
Review identified student’s grades each 6 weeks, and campus failure reports every 3 weeks.	C. Stidham J. Hatten Special Ed PLC	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Skyward reports.	Chart each of the identified student’s grades and determine if the strategies being used are beneficial to the student individually.
Analyze the information gained through the research process.	C. Stidham	May 1, 2014-May 25, 2014	Data and questionnaires collected, as well as notes taken from the PLC meetings.	Develop a summary of my findings.
Present my information to the team, and administrative staff.	C. Stidham	June 1, 2014	Summary of my findings and report. PLC Team, and Administrators	Present my Action Research Report to the respective persons listed. Perform a powerpoint presentation to highlight my findings.

Action Plan Revisions Based On Your Input

As I went through working on my action plan, I knew there would be specific information that I would somehow leave out.  A couple of my fellow classmates pointed out that I did not identify my target population.  What we would do in a high school setting is different than what might happen in an elementary setting for students that have difficulty mastering objectives.  I used that message to go back and make sure I targeted my population and specified that in my plan in all the necessary locations.  Another classmate asked if I was looking at special education students only for my project.  I then realized that was the other information that I did not state in my project.   I went in a revised my plan to show that I was not limiting my project to only special education students.  Since I am hoping to finish my degree in administration, I felt the need to gain more information and insight to the population as a whole.  If I can give my teachers a toolbox, as one of my classmates termed it, of strategies to potentially benefit all learners then that is a win for my campus.  I must say since working on this plan for the past 3 weeks, reading peoples blogs and the posts they have left for me has caused me to wander through the potential action research opportunities that this project could branch off to.   

Revisions from my supervisor meeting:

I appreciated the feedback I received on my Action Research Plan. My plan was well received and support was given for me to complete the project. There were a few changes that I needed to make as per my supervisor. 1. I needed to reword my 3 section down, leave off “that co-teachers are in” (poor grammar on my part) and replace with where there are co-teachers present. 2. In the 4^th section down, I needed to specify “targeted” interventions, and not just discuss interventions, and leave off used in the general education class on a weekly basis. It was addressed that I didn't need to make it so time specific. 3. In the 7^th section, I needed to remove “each 6 weeks”. It was stated to me that I have my time line, gather appropriate data at certain intervals, but do not chain myself to that specific of a time frame. My supervisor stated that he thought I had a good plan that would allow for some good research. He felt it would definitely benefit the students and classes. Also helping out teachers with potential difficulties and sharing strategies to improve the education of our students is a positive.

While I am a bit stressed about the success of my process along the way, I believe in my campus and I think they will see that I am only trying to do my part to make Saginaw H.S. a great learning experience and a successful one for all learners.  I cannot do it alone, nor can anyone else.

I appreciate all persons who have replied to my discussion posts, and those that have stopped by my blog to say a few words of encouragement or insight.  I welcome any feedback that all might have, it only makes me a better educator.  

Action Research Plan

Well, let me just say this ended up being a little easier than I thought.  Action Research is not a difficult process, it was just difficult getting started on the actual template plan itself.  I hope that by conducting my research I am able, with assistance from my PLC group, able to serve the needs of a variety of learners.  I hope to be able to identify a variety of strategies, from the teachers that are in the classes implementing them, and place them into a format that is easily readable and helpful to other teachers once my research is done.  I know it will have its moments where it doesn't seem to be taking the direction I hoped, but that is the beauty of research.  It can change, and so can we as educators for the sake of the kids we are trying to reach and teach.   Any feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Action Planning Template
Goal:  What are the most effective high yield intervention strategies for struggling learners? What aspects affect outcome?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Gather data from Eduphoria on readiness standards strengths and weaknesses.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Eduphoria reports	Analyze the data to present to the PLC so that we can as a group determine the students that are considered struggling learners.
Share purpose of the action research plan with the Special Ed PLC	C. Stidham	August 20-2013-September 1, 2013	Action Plan	Discuss the purpose of the action plan, and seek feedback and input from all persons involved in carrying out the steps.
Identify students that are struggling learners.	C. Stidham Special Education PLC	August 20, 2013-September 30, 2013	Eduphoria data/reports Class Grades Benchmarks	After meeting as a PLC, we will create a list of students that need interventions.
Meet with PLC co-teachers to discuss interventions used in the general education classes on weekly basis.	C. Stidham Special Education co-teachers	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Journal logs from each co-teacher, classroom data, student grades, benchmark information	Review information to discuss progress of the targeted students.
Research effective intervention strategies from Professional sources.	C. Stidham	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Internet access, paper, printer	Select a variety of articles to print from the web and present to the Special Ed PLC.
Present a staff development to the PLC on different intervention strategies I have researched.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-May 1, 2014	Special Ed PLC, printed materials to hand out to my group	Present information form articles and or videos on different intervention strategies that have proven successful in other educational sites.
Send out general education teacher questionnaire to teacher of identified struggling learners each 6 weeks.	C. Stidham J. Hatten	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	General Ed Teachers, Co-Teachers, Teacher Questionnaire	Create a questionnaire, use the information from each to gather qualitative data on effective strategies used in the different classrooms.
Review questionnaires with the Special Ed PLC groups.	C. Stidham J. Hatten Special Education PLC	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Teacher questionnaires, PLC time	Review the information from each questionnaire, determine what strategies were successful and unsuccessful.
Review students grades each 6 weeks, and campus failure reports every 3 weeks.	C. Stidham J. Hatten Special Ed PLC	August 20, 2013-June 1, 2014	Skyward reports.	Chart each of the identified student’s grades and determine if the strategies being used are beneficial to the student individually.
Analyze the information gained through the research process.	C. Stidham	May 1, 2014-May 25, 2014	Data and questionnaires collected, as well as notes taken from the PLC meetings.	Develop a summary of my findings.
Present my information to the team, and administrative staff.	C. Stidham	June 1, 2014	Summary of my findings and report.  PLC Team, and Administrators	Present my Action Research Report to the respective persons listed.  Perform a powerpoint presentation to highlight my findings.