Action Research Journal

Nov 22, 2013:

1. My action research stresses me out! I feel like I'm not doing enough. I don't feel like I am accurately tracking my action research with my class.

2. I switched classes that I am tracking my action research for, and it seems to be working better.


Dec 2, 2013:

1. I'm feeling better about tracking the other class. I have completed interviews and the survey. This week, I will be tracking engagement using the Class dojo app on my ipad.

2. I am still a little apprehensive about not having enough solid data to back up my action research. Some days I fluctuate between feeling okay about the data, and other days, I am not feeling okay. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed in trying to fit it all into the class time.


Dec 18, 2013:

I had my Alt Comp coach stop by my classroom today to help me track motivation and engagement among students while I was teaching. She walked around and took pictures using her iPad and emailed the data to me. It helped me see who was on-task and who was not on-task.

I also kept track of classroom engagement using the Class dojo app as well. I was surprised to see how many students were off task when I thought everyone was very engaged and motivated.

I changed my third data collection tool to tracking engagement using the Class dojo app and my alt comp coach.


Jan 10, 2014:

I'm still feeling a little behind with this project. I need to finish my second set of data collection tools and then I can do my third set in a couple of weeks. Wow! The time has flown by. I had my students complete a survey today. I'm not sure how legitimate the information will be since it was a Friday of a short week of the first week back from Winter break. It's amazing how the day and time period may possibly affect things.
I need to interview the three students on Monday and then track class engagement using the iPad Class Dojo app.


Jan 27, 2014:

No school again today, so hard to collect data. I meant with a friend for lunch today and explained my action research project to her. I was feeling very stressed about it. After I explained it to her, she asked some great questions, and helped me realize that I've done some good things based on my research and that it's okay to not have a concrete answer. As an engineer, I feel like I should have data that is concrete, but in this type of work, that's not always possible, and that's okay.

By the end of this week, I plan on having my student interviews complete and class engagement tracked during 3rd hour. Then I'll implement changes as necessary for about two more weeks, and then I'll collect data one more time.

Feb 21, 2014:
I still need to collect some more data. I think the data collection is the hardest part for me. It's hard to take a snapshot of my class and their engagement. I have one more round of data collection left that I plan on doing the first week of March. If I were to do this entire project again, I would narrow my topic by tracking engagement with only one type of technology, not many different applications of technology.