Finding a Focus

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Finding a Focus
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Next Week

• Step 1 is due
• See AR Rubric for guidelines

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You might spend many anxiety ridden days and
sleepless nights worrying about where you are
going to find the focus you need for your AR
project! This is normal
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Action Research is Focused on Change
Image taken from www.ppstraining.com/
teambuilding/approach.html
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The Steps 1 The Focus

• Decide what you want to investigate
• FIND A FOCUS by
• asking a question
• identifying an issue
• wanting to know why something works
• picking an area of interest to explore
• KEY You will live with your focus the entire
  semester so find something that intrigues you,
  something you want to examine in depth,
  something you feel passionate about.

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Make Sure your Focus...

• Involves teaching and learning - focus on the
  Standards (Professional or Academic) (things
  shown to make a difference to learning/achievement
  )
• Is manageable - within your locus of control and
  doable with the time and resources you have (1
  semester - 5 weeks or less for implementation and
  data collection)
• Is something you would like to change,
  investigate, or improve
• http//www.ade.state.az.us/certification/download
  s/Teacherstandards.pdf.

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• Make sure your focus is worthwhile
• dont choose one
• that can be answered with a yes or
• no answer
• that begins with a why
• is one you already know the
• answer too
• is one that will not improve student
• achievement or your professional
• knowledge and skills

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To Find a Focus Look Inside and Outside

• FIND A FOCUS by
• Looking inside your classroom
• What concerns are the teacher and students
  facing?
• How can you improve the effectiveness of what you
  as a teacher will do?
• Deciding among alternatives (procedures,
  curriculum)
• Trying something new
• Looking outside at what is around
• Environmental influences

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Finding a Focus
Typically starts with...
Whats going on questions What is going on
during reading buddies? Why questions - Why are
so many students off task during reading buddies?
(Why question leads to a focus) Is questions -
is the use of X producing Y?
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1 The Focus
Let curiosity fuel your selection.
A wish to understand (I wonder why) A
dissatisfaction (This is not working) A concern
(We are doing this but) A challenge or a
problem (This is just not working)
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• Who/what can I focus on?
• STUDENTS
• An entire class
• Many classes
• YOUR TEACHING
• THE CURRICULUM
• THE SCHOOL

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Focus

• Three common focus possibilities include
• Study or evaluate teaching (methods, the
  curriculum, strategies)
• Identify and investigate a concern
• something thats going on that
• makes you uneasy
• 3. Examine an area of interest

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Sample Focus Questions
Is using the Essential 55 as a classroom
discipline model having a positive influence on
student behavior both inside and outside of the
classroom? Is the new reading program
increasing the history achievement of my
students?
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Get it Straight in Your Head Phrase Your Focus
Precisely
State the questions you want to answer as clearly
and simply as you can (AVOID jargon) Define key
words clearly and precisely Are the strategies
being used with the ELL students in my first
grade class fair? Are they promoting language
acquisition and learning? What is the level of
engagement of the students in my fifth grade
social studies? How do fourth grade students
feel about the Pillars of Character program? Is
this promoting positive interactions Does the
use of positive language affect social
development of young children at the Child
Development Center?
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How do I know I have a good Focus?

• 1 REASON When it is tied to the Standards,
  proven research, and matters to the children in
  your classroom
• Novelty - your focus should offer something new
  to your
• thinking and/or expertise - it should also keep
  your interest
• Cost/Benefit - your focus is a good one when your
  efforts
• out weight the sacrifices in time and energy you
  spend
• Feasibility - your focus is a good one when your
  plan
• makes sense to you and your mentor (if it
  reasonable to believe
• that you will be able to do what you say)
• you will be able to collect data
• it will fit into everyday classroom life

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Focus Pitfalls

• Being too broad
• Being too narrow
• Being superficial (already know the
• answer)
• Remember your focus will guide your lit review,
  data collection, and analysis so it needs to be
  clear in your mind and mine - think like an
  expert - take time upfront to think it through.

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At Noble High School in Berwick, Maine, for
example, a ninth-grade teaching team is looking
into the relationship between students'
engagement and their achievement. In the
process, they have learned much about framing a
question that can be answered through
research. "At first, we asked ourselves how we
could get students more involved with their
learning," says science teacher Liza Finkel. "But
that question is too broad to collect data on."
Instead her team decided to research its
conviction that when curriculum involved students
in choices, made connections to their lives, and
crossed disciplinary lines, the quality of work
would go up.
http//www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/
ces_res/74
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Focus Constraints

• Guest status
• Time constraints
• Context constraints
• (your limited experience)
• Other uncontrollable factors - flexibility

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In sum A good focus is free of jargon
and/or technical terms. It uses simple, everyday
language that makes the point clear and
understandable. It is something you care about
and are interested in.
You have a vision (even if it is partial at this
time) of it.
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Why do a literature review?