Action Research Update

My action research is going fairly well, though there were more steps added to the process than I could have imagined. For example, I thought that I would just track my students, but instead, all of the other teachers have decided to use the same methods as I am in teaching writing, which is good news. The bad news is that I have to train them and discuss with them the necessary steps. The other bad news is that the kids they teacher are not the same as me, so we have to come up with smaller lessons, more like several mini lessons to achieve what I do in maybe 2 or 3 lessons.
Another thing that has gotten in the way of us getting everything done is the stupid machine we have to use to collect all the data.  It takes FOREVER!  First, we have to print out single documents--one for each students--so roughly 540. Then, we have to bubble in each sheet with the correct score.  Since it's a multiple choice test we can really only give one letter the "correct" answer. The good news is that there is a way to break it down further so we can see how many 1's, 2's, 3's, and 4's we have.  The scanning of all these documents though is what takes the longest.

Some things I have considered: I am focusing on the economically disadvantaged students but it's hard to get this info in the program we use, so it may need to be done by hand.  And the overall data we are using really won't be official until they take the test in April. I know my grading is consistent, as the grading of the other teachers, but we may not be consistent with each other.

I am currently working on an agenda to present to my principal to see if we can get a day out of the classroom where we can go over grading, do some grading together to make sure we have inter-grading reliability, and so we can over plans and do model lessons.

This is hard work and I am feeling like I don't have enough time to get everything done. I have not felt this overwhelmed since my first year of teaching, but I know it will get better. I just need to "find my stride" so to speak and get the other teachers there with me.