Action Research Project

My action research has to do with eliminating all of the weight on summative assessments.  Instead I am concentrating on daily formative assessments, learning targets, and really working on giving great feedback.  I have researched a lot on feedback.  I am finding that learning and progress is greatest when students know where they are going and are supported every step of the way.  If the teacher knows and communicates to the student about mistakes and how to eliminate them, then the student will benefit immediately.

One interesting thing that I found was from an article called, "Know Thy Feedback," written by John Hattie in 2012.  He said that when giving feedback, it should be very specific and not given with praise.  He said that if you praise the student while giving feedback, they may concentrate instead on the praise.  So be kind when giving feedback, but save the praise for a separate conversation.  It makes sense to me, but it also feels natural to give a "Great job!" along with my feedback.  This is something for me to work on.

This year...

This year I am so excited for a new beginning.  The things that I am most excited for are all of my new ideas.  Last year as I learned the new ideas, they seemed more difficult to implement because I was already in the midst of plans and other learning.  I think starting a fresh year with fresh students and families will make implementation much smoother.  Specifically I am looking forward to my technology ideas.  I did start the kidblog in my class last year and it went very well.  Now I felt that it was a practice run and I cannot wait to develop it from the beginning of the year.

I also blogged on my school website for the families.  It didn't go very well because I started about 2/3 into the year.  Not many parents read it.  I ended up quitting the blog and no one even noticed.  This year I am going to start it at the beginning and preview it with families at open house.  I will add class notes, homework assignments, a google calendar of events, a daily blog, links to websites for fun academic games, and some photos of our group.  I am hoping that it is a useful tool this year!