Kindergarten Kid Writing Update

Action Research Project Title: Kindergarten Kid Writing Number of AR Project Documented Hours: 5 hours and 45 minutes AR Project Summary My action research project is called Kindergarten Kid Writing. In this project I am looking to see what effect the implementation of a structured Kindergarten Writing curriculum will have on emergent writers in the growth and development of phonemic awareness, high frequency word recognition, writing ability and confidence. So far this year, I have laid the foundation and baseline for my project by having students complete a Kindergarten Pre-Assessment and an initial journal writing sample. Since that time during the first week of school, I have been doing structured writing activities with my class on a regular basis. My students were given the AIMSWeb test during the month of September and I am using this data as my initial assessment of their alphabet awareness. I will continue to implement the structured writing activities and will begin assessing my students on their phonemic awareness in the next few weeks. Report card testing and high frequency word recognition testing will begin in early November. In analyzing my students writing samples according to the Developmental Writing Stages in Kid Writing by Feldgus and Cardonick(1999) my initial assessment of my students’ writing ability showed that I had four students who were in the emerging stage of writing, characterized by scribbling and six students who were in the pictorial stage where they draw a recognizable picture Five students were precommunicative, using letter strings and seven students were semiphonetic, where they match some letters to sounds. I will continue to assess my students writing ability throughout the year and update my action research project accordingly. I believe that I am off to a good start on my action research this year and I look forward to continuing to implement the writing curriculum and seeing the progress that my students make.

Action Research Plan

This week during my action research studies I learned the importance of making my action research project something that is practical and relevant to me.  By doing so, I will ensure that I am interested, focused, and that it will be relevant to my students, campus, or district.

I also narrowed my project ideas from nine possibilities to one plan.  I am going to do my action research project on how to make my campus more energy efficient.  I believe this will be important to our environment, set a good example for students, and save our district money.  Wish me luck!

Blogging and the Administrator

Blogging can be a great tool of reflection for administrators and a way to receive valuable input from others.  If an administrator is doing an action research project, they can post their area of inquiry to see what feedback and information they receive from others.  As they start their project and post entries it can be a valuable resource for their reflection on the process and its outcomes.  Blogging can assist others as they follow along, but also provide the blogger with comments and ideas that are shared by others through the process.

In reading the books and articles about action research this past week I have discovered the value and importance of being proactive and grabbing the bull by the horns, so to speak.  I think as a future administrator it is important to look for areas of improvement, research methods and ideas for betterment, apply these strategies, reflect on the results of these applications and start the process all over again. 
I believe action research is important because you are looking at ways to improve something that you personally feel needs improvement.  I think this makes it more personal and motivating and gives you a vested interest in the process. 
I think that by identifying areas of inquiry and researching the chosen area through literature, studies and discussions with others, you can find and apply a solution that will work with your area of inquiry.  The reflection stage of action research is important because it encourages you to reflect on what worked and didn't work during the process and it can give you insight in to what needs to change or stay the same in future projects.
Even though I had not given much thought to action research before this past week, I believe it is important for us as educators.  We ask our students to use their critical thinking skills, identify problems, research topics, pose solutions and reflect on the process.  Shouldn't we as educators see the value in that and do the same?
This year at school I will be the Kindergarten Team Leader.  I am looking forward to using action research with my team in discovering ways that we can improve our grade level and the teaching that we do.  My team will have six teachers, two of which are recent college graduates in their first teaching assignment.  I think having a Professional Learning Community of kindergarten teachers completing action research plans will be beneficial to my grade level, especially the new teachers, because it will give us an opportunity to identify areas of improvement, discuss and research ways to improve our area of inquiry, plan and apply methods of improvement and reflect on the results.  I think the new teachers especially will gain a lot of ideas and knowledge through each part of the process.
My action research plan is to access the use of technology on my campus and whether or not teachers will use the technology that we have in our classrooms(every class has a Smart Board) after completing district mandated technology proficiencies.   I would like to research which teachers use technology in the classroom, which teachers increase their technology use after completing the technology proficiencies, and what impact increased technology use has on the students.