The beginning of this course caused a bit of anxiety
for me. I felt excited that I made it through my first online course but wasn’t
quite confident in whether that was beginners luck or truly my ability. I came
into this course not having a clue of what an Action Research Plan was. When I
would read the early posts on Facebook I would become anxious thinking I didn’t
have any idea of what they were talking about. Quickly I learned to block the
stressors out and learned to walk through each assignment task by task. I
realized this whole course was to teach about how to do an Action Research
Plan. I wasn’t supposed to come in here with the knowledge of it. I was going
to learn it. And I did!
I trained myself to watch the videos from Elvis Arterbury,
Ph.D. and Steve Jenkins, Ed.D after I looked at the course overview. They
conveyed calmness and a sense of being there to help me through this process.
It was always a great way to start the by listening to their conversations and
helpful hints. They were both very calming and
encouraging which is exactly what this older horse needed.
I also felt
the readings were very helpful. The first reading in Leading with Passion and
Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana was the most helpful to me. It explained the
purpose of an action research plan, the benefits of conducting this inquiry,
and the common problem in most people’s jobs of how you will actually find the
time to conduct one. The assigned readings from her text brought us from coming
up with an inquiry, deciding how you were going to keep track of the data,
writing a plan of action, sharing
our progress
with others along the journey, and coming up with concluding thoughts about the
action research plan so it can be shared with others. Overall I felt her book was very useful in
walking me through this process.
Even though
the assignments at times seemed a little daunting to me when I previewed them
early in the week, I always felt that they were helpful in assisting me to the
end goal or objective for this course- writing and action research plan. One of
things I did realize from these assignments and this course was that I really
need to preview the entire course to try to map out when I will need to contact
other people as part of the assignment.
One of my weaknesses
as a leader is that I dislike “bothering” people. This is something I need to
get over. I have to rehearse in my head each time that my supervisor agreed to
this and really has been nothing but more than helpful. In the back of my head
though I keep thinking “Man, she has so much to do and I don’t want to bother
her with my dribble.” For the next course I will be previewing right away so I can
set up times to sit with my supervisor and discuss my assignments, action research
plan, and/or internship plan.
So on I
trench to the next course wondering what lies ahead for me on this journey and
hoping for continued success.
