When changes will be made

After reviewing both my blog and the discussion board, there was no particular recommendation concerning my action research plan. All comments or replies simply stated how they are interested in the results and gave a few examples of colleagues using music in the classroom and during staff development meetings. There was one statement concerning how she does believe music works well in the classroom and how it can be a beneficial tool. After reviewing these comments and getting the approval from my site supervisor, this was the major influence on why additional changes will not be made at this point in time. I do plan on revising my plan as I undergo this project, and making adjustments when needed and modifying any situations that need attention. This will not be determined until the opportunity to begin and data collection and analyzing can be reviewed.

Action Research Plan

Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation	I would like to set up research based on the work of our students in classes in which the curriculum is aligned therefore giving a basis where the achieved grades of the students could be compared without bias. After the trial plan we can look at the findings to see if there is merit to allowing students in all classes to listen to music or if banning it for good is a better plan. I would like to determine if there is a cognitive learning advantage or disadvantage to this learning style.
Activities designed to achieve the objectives	I would brief the students on the research procedures. After instruction, the music situations will be applied during individual work, and then testing of memory learning had occurred the following class period by utilizing a benchmark test.
Resources and research tools needed for data gathering	I will need standard Benchmark test, along with different types of music and devises if students are in need of them. Also address the type of music the students can listen to, students may use their own personal preference of music by using their own music devises or elect to not use any music. After individual work has began, I will log each student's data decision to use music or not and what type of music the student chose.
Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities	Implementation of this project will occur during the first six weeks grading period and will continue throughout the year for a reliable amount of data to be collected. A standard Benchmark test will be given at least once per grading period, preferably toward the end of the grading period.
Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan	Teacher or Class Instructor, Administrator, and other Support Staff.
Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives	To monitor the achievement, the teacher or instructor will review the data every two or three weeks, so adaptations can be determined and applied if needed.
Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study	After completion of this experiment, the data collected will be reviewed by the teacher/instructor along with other teaching colleagues and administrators. The data that may be targeted, will be gender, race, class sections, if the students utilized music, and before or after lunch time period.

Week 2

The major nine areas of action research are staff development, curriculum development, individual teacher, individual student, school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice. All nine of the areas present a major aspect when looking and developing action research projects.

Blogs used by Educational Leaders

With the constant revolving in technology in today's society, there has been many break through and supporting applications that has allowed the educational leader become more proficient in his or her field. Blogging is just one of these areas, but plays a vital role in communication between not only colleagues but gives the opportunity to stay connected to students and their parents and also the community. With communication being one of the most important requirements to becoming a successful education leader, blogs has given the opportunity to inform individuals of important content and expanded the opportunity of communication.

Action Research and how it may be used.

Action research is known by many other names, including participatory research, collaborative inquiry, action learning, and contextual action research, but all are variations of the same theme. Action research is “learning by doing”, a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again with another tactic. The benefits of conducting action research could be: It is a systematic approach to assessing your work. You have the ability to learn from one another. It allows you to contribute and emerge culture of evidence. With action research you are able to plan following steps based on your results prior to the beginning of the study. With action research the researcher studies the problem systematically and ensures the intervention is informed by theoretical considerations. Much of the process is spent by the researcher collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing basis. A few examples of action research in educational settings may be: Is there a persistent problem or area of concern in my class or professional setting? Is there a teaching method I would like to explore or incorporate in my practice? Would I like to explore alternative methods of assessment(s)?