Using Blogging

Blogs are a phenomenal tool for educators. We can use them to keep parents and students up to date on the happenings of our classroom. Parents and students can also leave feedback and ask questions. Through a blog an educator can share ideas with colleagues and gain wonderful new information that can be shared in the classroom with our students. An educational leader can also do these things with a blog. Additionally, they can give an overview of the entire school. They can highlight school achievements both academically, and in extra curricular events. Comparing ideas with other leaders can lead to some great ideas for school-wide programs and events. I have colleagues that write blogs about their experiences in the classroom and I have gotten some great activity ideas that I have put to use in my own classroom. 

Discovering Action Research

Action research is a really great tool for an educator. With action research you can really get into the root of a problem. For me, I really see action research benefitting me as an administrator because it will allow me to look at scenarios from all different angles. This is very important because from one problem sometimes more can arise if all possible issues are not addressed. Using action research would also be beneficial to those administrators and school districts that are looking to analyze data. The effectiveness of programs that are being implemented can be critiqued.

            As teachers, we use action research in our classrooms. We give our students an exam or a quiz and we look at the scores. From these scores we can see what information needs to be re-taught and what concepts our students have really grasped. As an administrator, action research is used when state assessment scores are received. They see the areas that need to be stronger; they can begin to intervene to get to the heart of what isn’t working, and they can make changes to ensure student success.

Overall, action research is a phenomenal tool. You really look at the situation under a microscope and you can come up with a whole collection of solutions to your problems.