BLOG: What’s on your mind this week? Feel free to step back and be philosophical about where you are going with your thinking - what ideas are evolving or percolating? The main thing that is on my mind is my Action Research Project and getting all the surveys approved and parent permissions so I can begin collecting data. I am feeling excited to “jump in” with the collecting of data. Another feeling I keep having is some doubts about the driving question I have chosen to explore. There are some days when I am researching and reflecting and I get intimidated by the complicated studies I am finding in my research. I start to think, “Is this question too simple? Is my data going to be worth reporting about?” But there is also another idea growing in my brain and seeping into my thoughts. What if the accumulation of very small changes in teaching techniques and learning habits actually add up to tectonic educational shifts in learning for students? Part of the reason my brain is dwelling on this is because I recently reread a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. It has been #1 on the NY Times best seller list for two months. Clear uses the analogy that all things are made of smaller particles, atoms, and that our habits are made of many tiny choices and micro-habits that can accumulate into life promoting results or life destroying results depending on our actions. Education has so many variables and it is difficult to control many of the variables that influence student learning. But what if successful student learning is dependent on an accumulation of these microhabits? Is it possible that a small change like spending your science group time with people that share the same passion as you could increase your feeling of belonging and cause you feel more inspired and comfortable engaging in classroom activities? The second idea that is amusing me is that ARP is omnipresent. Have you had this experience? You learn a new word or idea and over the next few months you encounter it everywhere. This is my experience with ARP. I did not know what an Action Research Project was until September 2020 and now I encounter it everywhere. I recently ordered a book on classroom strategies and the first chapter was explaining how action research was the creative source behind each of the strategies in the book. I went to an information meeting about a science opportunity for girls called, “Girls Think Green”, organized by the Soroptimist organization. The project they want girls to do is essentially a mini ARP. Every time I think about some new way to teach something or a new tool to try, my brain thinks, “Hey maybe that would be a good idea for an action research project!” This has been very validating for me as an educator presently about to embark on my first ARP. The last thoughts I have had about ARP is the massive work to be done once we have collected our data, analyzed it and completed the next cycle or hopefully two. I looked at past cohorts projects on the Napa Learns website to see if anyone had done a project that related to mine. I did not see one surprisingly because I think other people probably felt as inspired by James Gee’s book, Good Video Games + Good Learning, as I did. The projects I read through were interesting and helpful. I was able to pick out the steps in their projects that we have been working on and learning about over these last six months. It was intimidating to see it all put together, but I also feel that I can trust the process we are using. It was encouraging to see the completed work of so many previous cohorts.
3 Comments
Kelly W.
3/2/2021 10:56:34 pm
Hello, Betsy!
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Susan Craig
3/3/2021 01:59:45 pm
Hi Betsy,
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Jamie Allison Lutz
3/3/2021 05:55:34 pm
Betsy,
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AuthorHello! Welcome to my blog! This will be a fun place to share thoughts about teaching and learning. I am a middle school science teacher at Redwood. When I'm not teaching, I'm hanging out at home with my family or enjoying nature somewhere in the valley. Archives
March 2021
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