Here we go!

Discussed with my supervisor via email my plan.  She liked the direction I am going in and suggested several avenues to look at data.  She suggested that I use testing scores and daily work grades to evaluate the effectiveness of the project.  I will  look at both of these to gain the perspective that I need to focus the actions inorder to improve student learning. 

Action Plan Draft Outline

Action Planning Template
Goal: To improve student learning through the use of integrated technology in the classroom in the third grade.  To make integration seamless and align curriculum to use technology efficiently and effectively.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Research literature on subject	Erik Esparza	March 1-March 31	Computer , Printer and Internet access	Review and evaluate gathered literature to gain better understanding of subject matter
Interview third grade teachers regarding pitfalls of integration in their classrooms.  Interview students by classroom	Erik Esparza, Mrs. Barrier, Ms. Block, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hathorne	March 1- March 31	Conference time, digital recorder.	Analyze all interviews looking for patterns of behavior and common problems.  Evaluate student interviews for likes and dislikes of technology
Analyze findings of surveys and interviews	Erik Esparza	April 1- May 1	Excel Spreadsheet or graphing program	Follow up Interview with teachers to share findings and reevaluate progress present solutions to teachers
Present solutions/ activities to teachers for curriculum integration	Erik Esparza, Mrs. Barrier, Ms. Block, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hathorne	August- December	Computer Lab, Odyssey, CPS Response systems, Eno Boards	Analyze test score to determine immersion and effectiveness of solutions
Present Findings to Administration and faculty	Erik Esparza	January 15	Laptop Projector Multi-Purpose room	Form other wonderings from data and presentation

Overview

Our students have changed with respect to how they receive instruction.  The days of pencils and paper in the classroom will soon be obsolete.  Our kids, especially on the elementary level, are now digital learners.  They will no longer be engaged with handouts and overheads.  We as educators must then move into this digital world with them in order to provide the quality instruction they will need to succeed. 

  My action research project will examine the impact of integrated technology in the classroom on student engagement and learning.  The contextual setting of my research will be one of the Title 1 schools in which I currently work.  I believe it will be a good arena for this research because of its diverse ethnicity, economic miscellany and varied scholastic level students. 

After consulting with my site supervisor, my target population will be the third grade students at my campus.  I feel that the third grade is a big transitional year for students as they are moving from what I call repetitive based learning, meaning that they learn a basic concept and drill on that concept in order to get a foundation, to higher order thinking education, where they will have to develop original ideas and thought.  

The size of this class of students will be large enough to provide a representative sample of students throughout our district and still be logistically manageable for assessment, data collection and analysis. 

My research will be conducted via both formal and informal methods. Primary of course will be a literature review to educate myself on any previous studies in this area.   I also plan on using surveys of both students and teachers, interviews, observation, actual modeling of integrated technology and assessments to obtain solid data for analysis and review. 

The significance of this research project will help our campus as well as our district to align the use of technology with curriculum to better engage our new and future digital students thus improving the overall learning culture of our schools.  It will help us to become 21^st century teachers!

You want to research WHAT!!!

Well, as we were mock STARR testing this week I was unable to meet with my site supervisor/principal.  I did however send her an email with my ideas for my action research project. I have narrowed my topics down to two.   I am planning on researching the relationship between technology integration in the classroom and student engagement.  I think this can help the students on our campus by giving us the data we need to evaluate the effectiveness of our current technology.  I am also considering the question How does classroom technology affect the discipline and office referrals of our students.  I am looking forward to the challenge.