Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal:  Find out what note-taking strategies allow students to comprehend and retain the most information.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Research multiple note taking strategies	Klinton King	November 2011/December 2011	Various Literary Studies	Ensure that there is an understanding of multiple note-taking strategies.
Implement first note-taking strategy	Klinton King	January 3, 2012/January 13, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement second note-taking strategy	Klinton King	January 16, 2012/January 27, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement third note-taking strategy	Klinton King	January 30, 2012/February 10, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement fourth note-taking strategy	Klinton King	February 13, 2012/February 24, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement fifth note-taking strategy	Klinton King	February 27, 2012/March 9, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement sixth note-taking strategy	Klinton King	March 12, 2012/March 23, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement seventh note-taking strategy	Klinton King	March 26th, 2012/April 6, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Implement eighth note-taking strategy	Klinton King	April 9, 2012/April 20, 2012	Students Notes	Test knowledge and comprehension of notes.
Review of collected data	Klinton King	April 23, 2012/May 4, 2012	Collected Data	Review data to determine best note-taking strategy
Disseminate all information learned from action research.	Klinton King	May 7-11, 2012	Research Findings	Ensure all info is disseminated and being used.

Learning the Basics of Action Research

Up until two weeks ago I had never heard of Action Research.  In all of my classes throughout my education it had never been mentioned.  As I have learned in this short time, there are a number of areas that action research can be performed in the profession of education.  The key to finding the area for your research is to find something that you can apply directly.  Also, you need to find a research topic that will not only be beneficial for you but also for your students and school.

Educational Leaders Using Blogs

There is a mass amount of information that can be distributed in a short amount of time by using weblogs.  Educational Leaders can use weblogs in a number of different ways that would be helpful in sharing information.  In some ways it can be used to communicate with parents about, changes in schedule of the school day, severe weather warnings, or the emergency release of students.  Weblogs are also great avenues to bring attention to student achievement and honors, whether it is through academics or extracurricular achievement.

Action Research

The action research that I am going to look into is a study on note taking strategies, and what different strategies are best for a wide range of students.  I feel that this is a strong issue that has been debated in education for a long period of time, especially in the subject of social studies, where there is a mass amount of information that must be disseminated.

The first step in the action research project is to collect data.  In order to be accurate on data taken, there must be a large amount of data collected over a wide range of students with different abilities.  While data is being collected the project manager must read as much literature on the subject as possible.  The hands on experience of collecting the data will ensure that the data is accurate in real world situations, not controlled environments.

What I like about the subject of note taking and the different strategies is the ability to directly apply the results in the classroom.  The research will also employ the use of our Professional Learning Communities.  Through observing results in classrooms of other professionals during research, it will allow us to have professional dialogue about how to employ better teaching strategies.