The progress towards my next freshmen orientation is coming along very well. I am making connections at work that will ensure the next orientation comes together better and we will have a much larger turn out.  There was miscommunication with my first installment of the project. The administrator I was working with to set everything up changed the details a week before we were putting it on. She made it part of a Summer Bridge program that was going on in order for students to regain credits.  We did have those 200 kids go through the orientation, but that’s not a very good turnout considering there are 700 freshmen this year. I want to make it mandatory for students to attend the orientation in order to get their schedules for the next year. Some of the teachers that I invited changed their minds or something came up the day before the event. The teacher/coach/club sponsor turnout was good besides the cancellations.  I am using all of the feedback that I got from the first event to engineer the next orientation into something that I will be much prouder of and hopefully see better results from.  A huge problem this year was also the conversion to a 9 period block schedule as opposed to the 8 period schedule we had been used to. The counselors were way behind on schedules and we were short two counselors as two quit or moved over the summer. These were all problems that I hadn't foreseen or known about since I was on a road trip during the summer break. I have big plans for the next orientation. 

Hi Everyone,
    I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  We all know the old joke about the three reasons that people become teachers: June, July, and August! hehehhe
    I wanted to keep everyone updated with my Action Research Plan.  I ran the first part of it yesterday at my campus.  I did a freshmen orientation for the incoming 9th graders.  It went well but the problems that I forsaw weeks ago were the major problems that I faced.  The teachers that had signed up to present didn't show up in some cases and we only had about 100 of the 500 incoming freshmen show up.  The administrator I was working with on this said she thought it went really well considering it is the end of our summer break.  We are going to try to make it bigger and better during the school year to reach all of the freshmen.
   That's it for now.  Enjoy your last few weeks/days!

July 7th
Whoohoo, I am on the eve of the completion of my second course! Below, I have posted some of my reflections about this course that are also part of the Week 5 Assignment.  Congrats, everyone.  Enjoy your week off.

I like the way that Week 3 was a step by step guide on how to write an action research question, choose a topic, etc. My sister is working on her Lamar masters in the same area and she is a year ahead of me and has already changed her topic 3 times.  I like the way this week made me reflect and really think about what I wanted to research for the duration of the class so I won’t be in the situation my sister is in.

I really enjoy using the blogs.  I know that I don’t update it as much as I should, but it is wonderful having the opportunity and knowledge now to be able to have my own blog. I used to think you had to be super computer savvy in order to have a blog.  Turns out I was very mistaken.  

When it comes to the discussion boars, I enjoy reading what other people are going to be doing there projects on and how they plan to put them into action. Once or twice I have commented to a classmate that their plan seems hard to implement, but that is the joy of discussion boards. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion.  I wish more people would comment on my action research plan so I could get some feedback.

I have also come to the conclusion that you have to be very flexible and willing to help your staff as a principal.  My principal has been answering emails and text messages from me this summer and I know that she doesn’t have to do any of it.  She could be like some administrators and be unavailable to her staff during the summer months, but she’s not.  She’s being very supportive and helpful in helping me with my action research project and plan. 

I know I am posting this a little early, but I am on a vacation road trip so I've been working on my classes ahead of time when I actually have internet.
I spoke with my site supervisor and we are still in agreement on my Action Research Plan.  I will be conducting an incoming freshmen orientation at my campus on August 1st. Sheesh! Feels like it's almost here.   We have consulted over the questionnaires that will be my main evaluation tool and we also discussed me using the Nominal Group Technique to question the adults participating and see what feedback I can get from them.
I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Hey everyone! Here is my Action Research Plan. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.
                 Goals:

ü  Students will show up the first day of school aware of what is expected of them as far as: dress code, behavior, attendance, grades, etc.

ü  Students will know their schedule, counselor, some teachers, some coaches and their administrators.

ü  Get rid of the first 12 week adjustment period that it took our freshmen this past year to assimilate. 

ü  Students will be familiar with the school’s layout and know where their classes are as well as important offices.

ü  Students will be informed of what clubs, sports, band, theater, etc. our school offers and be encouraged to join one or two in order to be active members of the school environment.

-Send out a brochure before school lets out letting incoming freshmen know the dates of the orientation (sent these out the last week of school to three middle schools that feed into our high school)

Action Steps:

-Counselors will meet with students one-on-one after their tours to discuss the student’s schedule and any changes that might need to be made.

-Student leaders will be asked to assist in the orientation by giving the tours to the incoming freshmen.

-Send out a brochure before school lets out letting incoming freshmen know the dates of the orientation (sent these out the last week of school to three middle schools that feed into our high school)

-Students will be given a map of campus upon arrival with important school information printed on the back as well as their class schedules.

-Teachers, administrators, club sponsors, extracurricular sports, band and theater directors will be sent an email a month ahead of time letting them know the objective and goal of the orientation and their part in it.

Persons Responsible:

Melissa Pechacek -masters student

Dr. Norma Ibarra -assistant principal in charge of freshmen grant funds

Dahlia Aguilar-principal

Timeline:

May 2012- Send out brochures to incoming freshmen at their middle schools

July 2012 (one month before orientation)- Email freshmen teachers, administrators, coaches, theater and band directors, club sponsors, librarians, etc. about their participation in the orientation

(Each teacher/sponsor/coach, etc. will need to bring a representative of their group so that they can lead a tour of freshmen for the orientation)

July 2012 (one week prior to orientation)- Everyone involved will be reminded about their participation and to bring a student

August 2012- Orientation will be held from 9-12pm.  Everyone involved will be asked to show up prepared by 8:30

After the orientation, students will be asked to fill out a questionnaire to see how effective the orientation was.

September 2012- The students that attended orientation will be asked to fill out a modified questionnaire about the orientation asking how effective it was now that they have been in classes for two weeks.  

I will also be asking faculty and staff involved in the orientation to fill out a questionnaire asking about effectiveness.  Later, they will answer a modified one which will focus on how the freshmen are adjusting to high school compared to the year before when there was no orientation.

Repeat steps for 2013-2014 school year and compare data.

Needed Resources:

-Research how other campuses run their freshmen orientations if they have them

-Ask former freshmen what they would want to know about the school before they came to it.

-Ask incoming freshmen how useful this orientation was to them after they go on it and a week into the new school year.

Evaluation:

      The assessment instruments will be the feedback that I will receive from the faculty and staff as well as the freshmen that attend orientation over the next year.  The information from this year will be used to improve the orientation for next year.  I hope that this plan will be successful and stay intact for many years to come.

Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives:

      I will use questionnaires to determine how effective the orientation was by administering different ones to the incoming freshmen and the faculty and staff involved with orientation. I will also be conducting the same action research next year for the freshmen of 2013-2014.  I will use any insight or suggestions from this orientation to improve next year’s. 

This second week has opened my eyes to what professional principals have done as real action research projects.  I was impressed with Donnan and how she implemented the plan to have students learn outside on the grounds of the campus and to utilize the resources she had readily available for her use.  It not only improved students' grasps of the environmental concepts, it got students outside, moving around!  I also enjoyed reading about the school that implemented the professional development hours online by having the staff read the same book and comment online when it was convenient for them.  What a great idea! I wish my school would have an option like this for those of us who tutor or coach after school and on the weekends that can't attend a weekend pro development. I could, however, read a book and comment on Sundays on it via the internet at my own pace.
Where there is a need in the school, there is an action research project waiting to happen!

6/7/12
What have you learned about action research?
I have learned that there is a big difference in action research and a regular research project. Action research is a lot like a science project. You start out with a hypothesis or a topic that you want or need to research, conduct the study and report your findings.  The difference is that the action research results must now be used to implement a change to the current status of the subject that was studied. I have also learned from the text for this class that the work life of a principal is oftentimes lonely since they are the only one on their respective campus with that position.  The use of action research plans can help the principal to get involved with other principals and exchange insight on what is happening at their schools and get advice on your plan.

How will you be able to use it?
I will be able to use the action research model to work collaboratively with my online colleagues in this class because we will be checking each others research plans and commenting. It's interesting to see what matters to your future colleagues value now as important.  I know that I chose my topic to research (Effects of State Testing on SAT scores in Texas) because that is one of the issues troubling my coworkers and myself at the moment with the recent release of our school's STARR scores.  In a few years, who knows what will be the most important issue to us? One of the other Lamar students is doing hers on the multiplication tables and how students can't memorize any more. Another student is doing his on the effect of no athletic period at his school.  I will also be able to get back into college mode again.  It was always really interesting to me in college when I had to go to the library and check out Psychology journals to do research on different cases we were discussing in class. It makes me feel like a gumshoe!

How might an educational leader use a Blog?
An educational leader could use a Blog to inform parents and students of what is going on and new at school each day/week/month.  It would be like a school website, but more personal since the principal is personally writing it. This would also make the principal more personable in some ways to parents and students.