This is my second class at Lamar University for the Educational Administration Degree and I would have to say this class has really made me excited for the remaining time in this degree plan. Being able to develop my preliminary plan for the Action Research Project has been an exciting process, because I am really anxious to achieve my end result. I chose to research starting a private middle school for talented youths in the arts and science, and to be able to further my educational degrees and to work on developing my school, is a dream come true. I always tell my students to keep on searching and you will eventually find what you want to do in life. I’ve been searching for several years now and at the age of 35 I have finally found what I want to do when I grow up and that is to be a director of my own private school. So, far the classes here at Lamar University, and the educational tools provided to us has given me that opportunity, and I am happy there is an institution that gives working professionals a chance to continue to educate themselves to further their careers.
Normally, lectures last at least one hour but at Lamar University we have the luxury of having professors that shine a light on specifics, and get right to the point of the weekly lessons. They provide us with just enough information to guide us through our assignments and projects. This is a great lesson to leaders that you do not need to ramble on to sound professional. You want to be able to formulate your thoughts and communicate them in a concise and informative manner.
The textbooks assigned for this course was a perfect tool for formulating my Action Research Plan. Both textbooks guided me in the creation process and provided necessary example questions and information to be successful. The two books were chosen because they were both in a blue print format that guided us through the research plan formation.
Another positive about this course is the opportunity to use electronic media sources and searches to develop your inquiries. We have endless information from around the globe at our finger tips and it would be foolish not to take advantage of that powerful tool. You never want to reinvent the wheel; instead you want to make it better. So, by combining data or information with your research process you can further research existing topics, questions or problems and come up with a possible solution.
The assignments and activities were very pertinent to developing my Action Research Plan. As a teacher I always question and make sure I provide assignments that are relevant to our topic or learning goals. So, I enjoyed my assignments, because again it gave me a glimpse of what I can achieve in the future. My favorite, obviously, is the development of my Action Research Plan.
The discussion board is an excellent way to communicate with other classmates, much like you. I am able to evaluate other students work and ideas, and they can do the same for me. It is a nice checks and balance system that helps us grow together. I was able to ask fellow classmates questions regarding assignments and share insight. The discussion board is a great way to keep in touch with a committee you may be working with on your Action Research Project.
I am new to blogging and when I first heard I needed to create my blog I was a little perplexed. Although, I am not a blogging genius, I was able to easy figure out the way to set one up and operate. I have learned that this can be another useful tool to communicate with your leadership committee. I plan to use this process to again interview, or to communicate with other members of my research group.
So, far there are many positives to Lamar University and I am confident that I am taking the proper steps to get me to where I need to be in the future.
