The data that I collected during my cycle really mirrored my literature review. I believe that this mirror image so to speak, is due to the fact that my data cycles where really based on my literature research and my cycles were really a proving ground for what was expounded in my reading. The outcomes were consistent with the literature and the suggestions for Asperger’s communication proved to be effective with the students that I had an opportunity to profile and work with during the cycles.
I believe that LMO is opening me up to the possibilities of designing a coherent interactive project that will instruct and check the level of student engagement and comprehension of materials presented in the training. LMO has spoke to me about purposeful design and administration of that design to maximize the design and track the designs effectiveness.
My project is an online site that is a primer for teacher on Asperger’s Communication. The importance of this site is in that few teacher-training programs train teachers for the practice inclusion of Learning Disabled students in the general education classroom. My proposed site would serve as a primer and training site to aid in teacher awareness of Asperger’s Syndrome, the site would also feature effective communication tips for teachers to use with Asperger’s students.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Action Research Cycle two
Action Research
There is a certain uneasiness that comes from being the last one to cross the finish line, maybe the uneasiness comes from not knowing the race well enough or perhaps it is simply the thought that maybe I’m missing something in my Action Research equation but I am uneasy as I wait for my second cycle returns. The Actions Research project has been a very challenging part of this graduate program; in some areas the project has pushed me to my limits, especially in the area of curriculum design and execution for my own peer group. My first cycle was conducted with my own school faculty and the results that I got were not a huge surprise, some of the suggestions that I got and the changes that I made were not drastic but nonetheless they were all welcome suggestions.
What changed in your set up from cycle 1 to cycle 2?
I think that the greatest thing that has changed in the set up from cycle one to cycle two is the acknowledgement in my own mind that it is okay to keep Asperger’s Communication Training at a simple level. I have been so encouraged by my colleagues in this endeavor to create a website that gives information and instruction on communicating with Asperger’s afflicted students but almost everyone has stressed the importance of making it user friendly by keeping the site more informational and less intellectual.
What’s happening that you didn’t expect?
I hope to add an addendum to this posting since my school district is on Spring Break and the second cycle is being conducted with another faculty. I am still waiting for my second cycle to be completed so it is with baited breath that I wait for these results. My gut feeling is that it will be well received with little or no changes, yet with all of this research I wonder if this website will be useful to teachers other than those in my test groups.
How are you tracking data differently?
In the first cycle I tracked three different types of data including a pre-test, a post-test and a comment/suggestion posting. In cycle two I dropped the suggestion/comment area and just kept the pre-test and post-test to have a common area of comparison between cycle one and cycle two and believe that any changes in the results will shed light on the validity of the change in cycles.
How has FPR contributed to your Action Research?
Since I am currently in FPR I don’t know that it has directly affected my Action Research Project but it has affected me immensely as a high school video arts teacher. FPR has made me rethink my instruction in video arts classes and the content of my current curriculum. I have gleaned so many new ideas that I am going to spend this summer revamping my video arts program to utilize much of the course content that I have been given in FPR. The FPR course has been outstanding and was really what I needed at this time in my graduate program and for my own personal development as a teacher.
There is a certain uneasiness that comes from being the last one to cross the finish line, maybe the uneasiness comes from not knowing the race well enough or perhaps it is simply the thought that maybe I’m missing something in my Action Research equation but I am uneasy as I wait for my second cycle returns. The Actions Research project has been a very challenging part of this graduate program; in some areas the project has pushed me to my limits, especially in the area of curriculum design and execution for my own peer group. My first cycle was conducted with my own school faculty and the results that I got were not a huge surprise, some of the suggestions that I got and the changes that I made were not drastic but nonetheless they were all welcome suggestions.
What changed in your set up from cycle 1 to cycle 2?
I think that the greatest thing that has changed in the set up from cycle one to cycle two is the acknowledgement in my own mind that it is okay to keep Asperger’s Communication Training at a simple level. I have been so encouraged by my colleagues in this endeavor to create a website that gives information and instruction on communicating with Asperger’s afflicted students but almost everyone has stressed the importance of making it user friendly by keeping the site more informational and less intellectual.
What’s happening that you didn’t expect?
I hope to add an addendum to this posting since my school district is on Spring Break and the second cycle is being conducted with another faculty. I am still waiting for my second cycle to be completed so it is with baited breath that I wait for these results. My gut feeling is that it will be well received with little or no changes, yet with all of this research I wonder if this website will be useful to teachers other than those in my test groups.
How are you tracking data differently?
In the first cycle I tracked three different types of data including a pre-test, a post-test and a comment/suggestion posting. In cycle two I dropped the suggestion/comment area and just kept the pre-test and post-test to have a common area of comparison between cycle one and cycle two and believe that any changes in the results will shed light on the validity of the change in cycles.
How has FPR contributed to your Action Research?
Since I am currently in FPR I don’t know that it has directly affected my Action Research Project but it has affected me immensely as a high school video arts teacher. FPR has made me rethink my instruction in video arts classes and the content of my current curriculum. I have gleaned so many new ideas that I am going to spend this summer revamping my video arts program to utilize much of the course content that I have been given in FPR. The FPR course has been outstanding and was really what I needed at this time in my graduate program and for my own personal development as a teacher.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Finally
Wow what a week it has been. I moved my entire classroom to a new state of the art video arts facility, finished and graded and 40 final movies, turned in end of semester grades and completed my website on Asperger’s Syndrome. My site should be visible and active sometime tomorrow afternoon. The website and research has been a hard project for me to stay focused on with so much life and activity happening around me but I really believe that all the things that have attracted my attention have served to make me more resolute in my conviction and desire to make this site a reality.
Looking back on the journey I’ve been so blessed by the cheering on of so many in our local Asperger’s community, so many of them want to see my site become a reality. One person has particularly inspired me is a young man called Charlie. Charlie is a very bright and unique young man with a wonderful drive and dedication and the courage to cross into a no man’s land known as the theatre. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been for a young man who suffers from the socialization issues of Asperger’s to face a crowded room of people who are watching his every move and listening to his every word and knowing full well that what he is doing is facing his greatest source of anxiety in his life. Bravo Charlie bravo. Thanks Charlie for asking me to give you a chance and thanks in return for giving me a performance and life lesson that in never dreamed receiving. It’s a bit funny but when I look back on my time with Charlie the only thing that he ever asked of me was to have an opportunity to try, my wish for my website is that maybe another Charlie will get an opportunity because some else dared to cross into an unfamiliar land and grant someone else and opportunity.
Looking back on the journey I’ve been so blessed by the cheering on of so many in our local Asperger’s community, so many of them want to see my site become a reality. One person has particularly inspired me is a young man called Charlie. Charlie is a very bright and unique young man with a wonderful drive and dedication and the courage to cross into a no man’s land known as the theatre. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been for a young man who suffers from the socialization issues of Asperger’s to face a crowded room of people who are watching his every move and listening to his every word and knowing full well that what he is doing is facing his greatest source of anxiety in his life. Bravo Charlie bravo. Thanks Charlie for asking me to give you a chance and thanks in return for giving me a performance and life lesson that in never dreamed receiving. It’s a bit funny but when I look back on my time with Charlie the only thing that he ever asked of me was to have an opportunity to try, my wish for my website is that maybe another Charlie will get an opportunity because some else dared to cross into an unfamiliar land and grant someone else and opportunity.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Month 6 Off and ........
* How is your AR project unfolding for you?
My AR project is behind schedule in the implementation of my website and my first cycle. Most of my delay in posting my website comes from my attempt to cover too much material and, after conferencing with Roxanne De Leon, I realized that my focus needed to be much sharper and the packaging of my website should be more of a measurable, interactive training site and not just an information blog. So my website is gaining momentum and, most importantly, the website is shaping into a tool that can be used by other educators to learn to use effective communication tools with Asperger’s Syndrome afflicted students. I’m excited to see the website in its entirety; I think that it will be compelling and challenging to all of its viewers.
• How are you tracking your data?
I’ve put a lot of thought into data collection and tracking, trying to make it as simple as possible and yet copious enough to give valuable input and reflection. I’ve set up four different pipelines for data collection and the input of critical friends. My first level of data input is a steering committee that I have assembled of Asperger’s parents and special needs educators. This group has been a great resource in guiding information dissemination and they have served as fact checkers to make sure that the website is as factual and functional as possible. My critical friends have been the outsiders looking in and have been invaluable in asking me questions as to why I’ve set things up the way that I have and offered advice on website planning and interaction. When the site is up and running I will have a pretest to see what knowledge is already familiar, a post test to measure knowledge gained with post training and a comment and evaluation section that will be used to develop the final site. This will also give me input for future subject matter and resources for those who want to explore Asperger’s Syndrome more thoroughly.
• What's happening in your research that you didn't expect? Explain.
I’m finding that a lot of the information that I am learning, I’m re-learning; the Asperger’s communication tools are tools that I already possess but unfortunately I rarely put them into practice in my classroom. Why have my own communication skills so digressed? I believe a lot of my digression has come from the maturity level of students that I teach (high school) and that I don’t have to practice the communication skills of younger, less developmentally mature students. Asperger’s Syndrome effects the social development and the development of deeper interpersonal relationships, much of it mirroring developmental issues of younger children. Little did I know that my own children’s growth and maturity were preparing me for teaching others about Asperger’s communication tools.
* How has this month’s course (so far) helping in shaping your ARP?
I used to teach Web Design so a lot of the content is relearning. The text for this course is quite good and I am gleaning out a lot of great ideas to consider while shaping my AR website.
My AR project is behind schedule in the implementation of my website and my first cycle. Most of my delay in posting my website comes from my attempt to cover too much material and, after conferencing with Roxanne De Leon, I realized that my focus needed to be much sharper and the packaging of my website should be more of a measurable, interactive training site and not just an information blog. So my website is gaining momentum and, most importantly, the website is shaping into a tool that can be used by other educators to learn to use effective communication tools with Asperger’s Syndrome afflicted students. I’m excited to see the website in its entirety; I think that it will be compelling and challenging to all of its viewers.
• How are you tracking your data?
I’ve put a lot of thought into data collection and tracking, trying to make it as simple as possible and yet copious enough to give valuable input and reflection. I’ve set up four different pipelines for data collection and the input of critical friends. My first level of data input is a steering committee that I have assembled of Asperger’s parents and special needs educators. This group has been a great resource in guiding information dissemination and they have served as fact checkers to make sure that the website is as factual and functional as possible. My critical friends have been the outsiders looking in and have been invaluable in asking me questions as to why I’ve set things up the way that I have and offered advice on website planning and interaction. When the site is up and running I will have a pretest to see what knowledge is already familiar, a post test to measure knowledge gained with post training and a comment and evaluation section that will be used to develop the final site. This will also give me input for future subject matter and resources for those who want to explore Asperger’s Syndrome more thoroughly.
• What's happening in your research that you didn't expect? Explain.
I’m finding that a lot of the information that I am learning, I’m re-learning; the Asperger’s communication tools are tools that I already possess but unfortunately I rarely put them into practice in my classroom. Why have my own communication skills so digressed? I believe a lot of my digression has come from the maturity level of students that I teach (high school) and that I don’t have to practice the communication skills of younger, less developmentally mature students. Asperger’s Syndrome effects the social development and the development of deeper interpersonal relationships, much of it mirroring developmental issues of younger children. Little did I know that my own children’s growth and maturity were preparing me for teaching others about Asperger’s communication tools.
* How has this month’s course (so far) helping in shaping your ARP?
I used to teach Web Design so a lot of the content is relearning. The text for this course is quite good and I am gleaning out a lot of great ideas to consider while shaping my AR website.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Month 6 Trials and Tribulations
How is your AR cycle 1 unfolding for you?
Although I haven’t completed my first cycle of writing at the time of this posting I feel a lot of things are starting to look up and that the research and the project are starting to gain momentum and, if you don’t mind the cliché, the project is starting to gain a life of its own. My greatest delay in the completion of my first cycle comes from my inability to narrow my focus on Asperger’s Syndrome and with such a broad scope I found myself gathering great information but not knowing how to apply or use that information. Soon the stress of the project and the lack of a defined direction caused me to find myself swimming in a sea of doubts and really questioning whether I could even finish my program at Full Sail. Here out west we have a saying that “sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees”, that phrase basically described the place where I found myself in my research, too many trees and no forest. Sometimes when you’re lost the hardest thing to do is ask for directions, maybe it’s a guy thing, maybe it’s a pride thing, I suspect it’s a little of both, in any event I needed a GPS to find out where I was in the AR universe. My GPS was not named Garmin it was named Roxanne; Roxanne not only helped me find out where I was but she also calmed my fears and gave me some confidence that I was not that far off the path. She helped me thin the trees to find the forest. With renewed focus and a great direction I am now able to fine tune my cycle and get specific information as I research and conduct interviews.
What has been a surprise with your results?
I can’t say that my preliminary results have given me any earth shattering revelations but what I can say is that I never realized how emotional the response would be from the parents that I interviewed. In most cases the parents have been really grateful for this type of research and for the hoped outcome of the website to instruct teachers in communicating with Asperger affected students. Perhaps the greatest surprise that I have personally encountered is how my research has challenged and changed me personally, making me more sensitive and more focused on trying to effect change in the classroom.
What tweaks are you making for your next cycle of research?
Having yet to finish my first cycle I can’t specifically say what my tweaks will be but if I had to guess I would say that most of them would be to focus on clarity and fine tuning the direction of communication.
What is the overall participant’s response?
The response of everyone I have worked with has been overwhelmingly supportive and they are really hoping that my project succeeds.
Although I haven’t completed my first cycle of writing at the time of this posting I feel a lot of things are starting to look up and that the research and the project are starting to gain momentum and, if you don’t mind the cliché, the project is starting to gain a life of its own. My greatest delay in the completion of my first cycle comes from my inability to narrow my focus on Asperger’s Syndrome and with such a broad scope I found myself gathering great information but not knowing how to apply or use that information. Soon the stress of the project and the lack of a defined direction caused me to find myself swimming in a sea of doubts and really questioning whether I could even finish my program at Full Sail. Here out west we have a saying that “sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees”, that phrase basically described the place where I found myself in my research, too many trees and no forest. Sometimes when you’re lost the hardest thing to do is ask for directions, maybe it’s a guy thing, maybe it’s a pride thing, I suspect it’s a little of both, in any event I needed a GPS to find out where I was in the AR universe. My GPS was not named Garmin it was named Roxanne; Roxanne not only helped me find out where I was but she also calmed my fears and gave me some confidence that I was not that far off the path. She helped me thin the trees to find the forest. With renewed focus and a great direction I am now able to fine tune my cycle and get specific information as I research and conduct interviews.
What has been a surprise with your results?
I can’t say that my preliminary results have given me any earth shattering revelations but what I can say is that I never realized how emotional the response would be from the parents that I interviewed. In most cases the parents have been really grateful for this type of research and for the hoped outcome of the website to instruct teachers in communicating with Asperger affected students. Perhaps the greatest surprise that I have personally encountered is how my research has challenged and changed me personally, making me more sensitive and more focused on trying to effect change in the classroom.
What tweaks are you making for your next cycle of research?
Having yet to finish my first cycle I can’t specifically say what my tweaks will be but if I had to guess I would say that most of them would be to focus on clarity and fine tuning the direction of communication.
What is the overall participant’s response?
The response of everyone I have worked with has been overwhelmingly supportive and they are really hoping that my project succeeds.
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