Do you want to become more intentional in your curriculum
design and classroom management? Then
consider engaging in teacher research (a.k.a. action research).
Read this short article (http://www.nea.org/tools/17289.htm)
to learn more about what teacher-researchers do and how their findings
positively affect their students, their teaching experience, and their school
community.
Then, consider how you might engage in teacher research
this semester (and this year). Your
professional blog is a great place to share your experience as a teacher-researcher
as you …
·
develop your own questions about teaching and
learning,
·
implement research-based strategies in your
classroom,
·
analyze the results, and
·
share findings with your mentor teacher, your
colleagues, and your students.
In fact, that’s the whole point of your online
reflections assignment this year.
AND (!!!) this is something you can integrate into your
KPTP, which also asks you to …
·
determine a question (i.e., How will I help my
students reach learning objectives x, y, z?)
·
implement research-based strategies (i.e.,
design effective instruction)
·
analyze the results (i.e., How well did students
meet the stated learning objectives?
Were some met more effectively than others?); and
·
share your findings in writing—but perhaps also
at a larger symposium, like Wichita State University’s
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum in April (right after
your KPTP is due!).
