Action Research

Ok, so I feel like I got a raw deal here somehow.  It is similar to having dessert before your meal, or like seeing the best parts of a movie in the previews.  We were introduced to this course, for that matter the entire Master’s Program, with the book Made To Stick.  Wonderful, compelling reading that truly lives up to its title.  Then, like a rug pulled out from under us, we were told to read the Action Research piece.  Please, don’t get me wrong, I felt the piece had good, pertinent information.  But I was spoiled with the writing style of Made To Stick.  Do you remember Charlie Brown’s teacher, “Mwa, mwa, mwa, mwa, mwa.”  Action Research is the book version of that cartoon.

Now that I have vented on my dislike for dry reading, let me get to the heart of the matter.  I often look at research as something disconnected with the real world.  Someone sitting in an office, who has never seen the inside of a classroom, putting together charts and figures about something they know little about.  After reading (ever so painfully) this piece, I realized that all of us on the ‘front line’ do research every single day without realizing it.  That research is very valuable and we need to do more with it than just have it float around inside our heads.  As teachers, we often follow our ‘gut’ on the direction a class needs to take.  What we are really doing is compiling and using the research we have done on the students but just in our own minds.  Can you imagine how helpful it would be if we could take a step back and share that internal research with our fellow teachers?  Not only could we drastically steepen the learning curve of new teachers, but we could avoid the common pitfalls of ‘reinventing the wheel’ every time we start a class.

I have included above a diagram of the Action Research portion for my lesson plan.  I have also included below how acquiring all this new information and using it sometimes feels.  Hopefully no one is offended by my depiction…..remember, I am the bull.....

Sources for pictures: http://www.coolnotions.com/ClipArt/clipart_0026.htm

http://www.clipartguide.com/_pages/0511-0811-1716-2433.html

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/hnx/newslet/summer05/xwind.jpg

http://maculspace.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=umpstead

http://www.clker.com/clipart-turd.html