I made it through another class! My Action Research plan is totally where I wantit to be and I can't wait to get started on it at the school. I feel the teachers I am hoping to include in my research are going to be ready and willing to help out in any way they can. I am also well on my way in earniing the hours I need for my internship plan. I am going to teaching a a professional development class in my district on Tuesday about the best Literacy Apps for teachers to use in the classroom. Having more understanding and articles to back up my research has made me even more prepared than I was to begin with. I can't wait to share how it goes with all of my followers!!

I have been working on my action research plan about 4 weeks now and after meeting with my site mentor I feel even better about it than I did before. As you might already know, she helped me change the direction I was goin a bit after the second week. We meet yesterday and she did not want to change a thing. While I will use certain ways to record data and video classrooms (with permission from parents ofcourse) to help me with my research, my overall plan has not changed. Please know that all of your comments are helping me think deeper about what I am setting out to do and does nothing but help me in my efforts. I look forward to another great class starting in a couple of weeks, but more importantly the start of the 2012-13 school year! I have a first grader this year, and as most of you can relate-it will be one crazy ride for the first few weeks!!! I know I can do it--with the help of my Lamar friends and wonderful professors--we can do anything!!!

ACTION PLANNING TEMPLATE
GOAL:	How are teachers using technology in the classroom and is it effective?
Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Teachers will complete Survey to determine how they use technology and describe if they think it is effective and how.	2 teachers from grades 1, 2, and 3.	9/12-10/12	Survey created in Google docs	I will compare answers from the teachers from the same grade levels.
2. Observe classes to make note of the technology I see being used as well as if the students are engaged and list any behavior problems if I see any.	mentor and 6 teachers involved	9/12-11/12	Notes from observation	I will compare the two classes to see if any correlation between off task behavior and lack of technology resources’.
3. After a period of time I will request scores from assessments or benchmarks.	6 Teachers involved	12/12-2/13	Assessment/Benchmark scores	I will be comparing the two classes on the same grade level to determine if technology played a role in higher scores.
4. Request behavior chart from the first 2 grading periods.	6 Teachers involved	1/13-2/13	Behavior chart for each student.	Compare the classes to determine if the technology kept the students more engaged thus receiving fewer “marks”
5.Try to determine if Parental involvement is related to more technology in the classroom	Secretary	1/13/2/13	Parent sign-in sheets for parties and different events at the school through February.	Determine if parental involvement is due to more technology, making higher scoring students as well as better behavior?
6. Share with the staff	Mentor approval	3/13	I will be using animoto and prezi to present the findings. I will also do a survey using the smart phones to see what teachers want to learn more about.	See if scores go up across the school by including technology as part of daily instruction or behavior management, especially after providing more training.