2020-2021 Teacher Research Overview

During this 2020-2021 school year, I will help facilitate multiple Teacher Research Cohorts in APS. The chart below shows the monthly foci with hyperlinks added to past year’s agenda. Click to view if needed.

Month and Agenda Link	Meeting Focus
October 2019 / 2018	Brainstorm your question / write SmartGoal
November 2019	What do the experts say? / Data collections
December 2019	Data collection
January 2019	Data Analysis/Look for patterns/MidYear reflection
February  2020     2019	Data Analysis/ Look for patterns
March  2020    2019	Analyze patterns in data to name findings
April	Continue to Analyze patterns in data to name findings / Spring Break
May  2020    2019	Implications / Smart Goal final reflection
June  2020  2019	Celebration!

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June, 2020 – Cheers!!

Agenda
1. Reflection – For 10 minutes, journal.
Share final thoughts about this year’s research study
and/or thoughts about what topic you will explore next year.

2. Raise a “virtual” glass  – CHEERS!!
Take turns sharing about this year as a Teacher Researcher
and/or the topic you may explore next year.

3. Attend and encourage others to attend the APS Virtual Teacher Research Conference.

PL2020 APS Teacher Research Conference EOY2020
Event: EOY2020 Week of June 15 Learning
Session Code: All Grade Levels

4. Keep Reflecting ALL summer long!
I hope to see you next year – Save the Date – Saturday, October 3, 2020.

5. If interested in facilitating an APS Teacher Research group at your school,
consider joining the APS TR Facilitator Cohort and Sally will offer training.
Email Sally if interested.

LOOKING AHEAD
Now that this year’s research is coming to an end, be sure to do the following:

1. Gather up all of this year’s teacher research materials – all the journal entries, data collected, Feb. Mind Map, photos, and final slideshow.
2. Organize a place to keep your 2019-2020 Teacher Research work all together. This allows you to easily find it in future years when wanting to reference it at a future teacher research meeting.
3. Designate a new electronic or paper journal as your 2020-2021 Teacher Research Journal. All summer, schedule yourself to add journal entries. Even just 10 minutes a week. This will help you to capture all the possible topics you could research during this next school year.
4. In September, sign-up to join an APS 2020-2021 Teacher Research Cohort! Sally and John will be in touch with the 2019-2020 meeting options.

May, 2020

Our life as a Teacher Research feels totally changed this May, 2020. We are not in the classroom for hours seeing our students daily. Instead, we connect while we shelter-in-place, safely from our home. Most had plans to survey our students one more time in March or April. Most had plans to gather data from a few more assessments. None of us expected to be as flexible as we have to connect with our students from afar for so long. However, let’s still commit to using the data we do have and complete our 2019-2020 Teacher Research Project!

It’s time to state our Findings.
It’s time to state our Implications for the Future.

These are the next 2 steps in our Teacher Research journey, started back in September.Then we will be ready for the FINAL STEP: SHARING
John and I have a great End of Year Celebration planned!

Agenda

Journal: 10 minutes – Write about How’s it going? What has happened since March?
(Yep…what seems like a lifetime ago, we did meet on March 7th, 11th, and 12th,
before the world shut down!)

Findings: It’s time to stop gathering and analyzing data and take time to
name 3-5 findings. These questions can help you name a finding:

1. • What categories and themes are emerging?
   • What do these categories and themes mean?
   • What have you discovered? I found out…. I discovered…

Implications: For every finding, ask, SO WHAT? Because you now know this, what will your future actions be?  Name it. It is the Implication for the Future.

For example:
Here are Sally’s 2019-2020 four Findings and four Implications for the Future

I discovered I still have an area for growth related to planning for and keeping records of reading conferences —>  I will keep practicing conferences.

Paper and pen is best for me to record conference notes! –> I will design a notebook per class period to hold my handwritten notes.

I love having conversations with my readers. —> I will spend September and October conferring only about students’ interests.

Planning for conferences is a must. —> I will plan out who I will confer with daily and post it for students to see and plan out student partners/table seating and make and hang anchor charts.


Reflection: Reflect orally with group on how each finding will influence your teaching in the future and name the implication for the future.

Looking Ahead:

1. Completed research project due at our Virtual June meeting (June 6th, 9th or 10th)
2. Attend the Virtual APS Teacher Research Extravaganza on June 4th, 4-5pm
3. Consider sharing at the Virtual APS Teacher Research Extravaganza.
4. Invite administrators and colleagues to attend the Virtual APS Teacher Research Extravaganza.
5. Consider leading a Teacher Research group at your school in 2020-2021.
   Sally will offer training.
6. Consider joining a Teacher Research group in APS in 2020-2021.

Here is a LINK to a template.

Here is a LINK to Sally’s 2020 Teacher Research Project.

Here is a LINK to Michelle’s 2014 Teacher Research Project

In the News!

John, Michele and Sally presented on Teacher Research as a Fun PD at the 2019 NCTE Conference. Read about it HERE.  (scroll down to #2)

A conference participate from Texas wrote about it HERE. (see her page 2)

An APS Teacher Researcher reflected on being a teacher researcher. Her blog post is titled Teacher Research is the therapy every educator needs. Read it HERE. 

March 2020 Agenda

Agenda
1. Journal: 10 minutes – How’s it going with your teacher research project?

2. Share

• Frame share responses on what you are finding out related to data collection.
  • I am finding out that __________. (finding) I know this because ________ (data).
• LISTENERS: Notice what data has been collected. Suggest any missing data.
• State your “Next Steps” aloud before the next person shares.

Looking Ahead:

• NO APRIL MEETING (Happy Spring Break!!)
• DO plan time to work on your research on your own time in April.
  Feel free to contact Sally to meet up at a coffee shop if it helps to talk it out!
• Data Tips
  • Review and highlight as you reread all your reflections and your data
    • Write your thinking about the data in the margins
    • Look for categories as you review all margin notes
    • Look for patterns as you review all margin notes
    • Notice what data is missing
    • Make plan to collect any missing data

• • Questions to ponder:
    • What surprises you?
    • What do you find interesting?
    • What do you see that you expected?
    • What can you still gather as data?
    • What is data telling you?

Dates to Remember:

• April – Pick a time in April to stop collecting data and see what your research is telling you. (You could go on and on but we want you to find out things before the school year ends so April is a good month to stop gathering data.)
• May Meetings:
  Sat. May 2nd – Busboys and Poets at 8am
  Tuesday, May 12th – Discovery ES at 4pm
  Wednesday, May 13th – Dorothy Hamm MS at 4pm
• June 4 – Teacher Research Extravaganza at Discovery ES (NEW EVENT!!)
  Teacher Researchers share their story (20 min.) from 4-5pm.
  If interested in sharing, complete the google form sent in an email.
  ALL Teacher Researchers are invited to attend to show support for the APS Teacher Research. ALL are encouraged to invite administrators and colleagues from their building to come learn about TR.
  THEME: ALL the COOL teachers are Teacher Researchers!!
• June Meetings: Celebration and Shares!!
  Saturday, June 6th – Busboys and Poets at 8am
  Tuesday, June 9th – Discovery ES
• Wednesday, June 10th – Dorothy Hamm MS
• Final Projects (slides following the slide template) due July 1st
  Of course, you are welcome to turn it in anytime after our final June share meeting.Here is a LINK to a template.

  Here is a LINK to Sally’s 2009 Teacher Research Project.

  Here is a LINK to Michelle’s 2014 Teacher Research Project