Second week reflection over what I learnd this week.

      The videos form this week's assignment were interesting because each one focused on a valid point. The first video with Johnny Briseno focused on the importance of data. He stated that when a teacher came to him and discussed an issue he always asked about the data.  The second video with Dr. Timothy Chargois focused on how to take the data and determine what needs to be done to make sure things are different in the future. The last video with Dr. Kirk Lewis focused on curriculum and how to make it stronger though data analyzation. Data, I found out from the videos, is important in determining the direction of an action research project, as check points through out the time spent researching, and reevaluated to determining if the steps taken through the action research are working.
    
        Our reading this week had us read and identify the nine areas for action research. We also had to identify one topic for each area. I found it helpful to see all the different areas that could be used. As I read this section I came to realize that my district has been asking teachers to do this for about 6 years. Teachers get together in teams and work on a question and are collecting data during the year to see if they can answer their question. At the end of the year we present it to our peers. This has not been as successful as it could be because we too often start a new project before the current project has been successfully completed.
    We also met with our campus supervisors. My principal has expressed that she wants me to be involved with instruction this year. She knows there is a need to improve scores for the ELL population at  each grade level. My principal has directed  that an action research paper be focused  on improving instruction for ELL students and coaching teachers to use literacy strategies to help the ELL population gain better access to the curriculum. We discussed many different aspects of what this could look like and decided to narrow the focus during our next meeting on Monday August 29th.