Limitations
Fear of Technology
With respect to Phase 2, I initially wanted to connect my students with a group of English-learning students in Venezuela. Interestingly, while aspects of my action research focused on the unlimited nature of technology and collaboration, I actually felt restricted in terms of how much technology I could manage given my time constraints. I found myself shying away from conceiving the idea of collaborating with teachers across the globe. If some piece of technology failed, I feared that I would not be able to pick up the pieces and turn it around quickly enough; I thought, “If I collaborate with a teacher and a group of students in Venezuela, the time difference will keep me from simply picking up the phone and calling my partnering teacher to resolve the issue.” It is important to point out, however, that it was not actually the technology that limited me; rather, it was my own fears of failing to collaborate with a teacher and a group of students who seemed so far away. Fortunately, I was able to remedy the situation by collaborating locally with Spanish-speaking peers.
With respect to Phase 2, I initially wanted to connect my students with a group of English-learning students in Venezuela. Interestingly, while aspects of my action research focused on the unlimited nature of technology and collaboration, I actually felt restricted in terms of how much technology I could manage given my time constraints. I found myself shying away from conceiving the idea of collaborating with teachers across the globe. If some piece of technology failed, I feared that I would not be able to pick up the pieces and turn it around quickly enough; I thought, “If I collaborate with a teacher and a group of students in Venezuela, the time difference will keep me from simply picking up the phone and calling my partnering teacher to resolve the issue.” It is important to point out, however, that it was not actually the technology that limited me; rather, it was my own fears of failing to collaborate with a teacher and a group of students who seemed so far away. Fortunately, I was able to remedy the situation by collaborating locally with Spanish-speaking peers.
Conflicting Roles
Towards the beginning of my action research, I created a beautifully coded teacher-observation chart with all of my students names on it. I envisioned myself sitting back and easily jotting down my observations while my students autonomously managed themselves during group-work time. And because I had spent a significant amount of time creating as user friendly of a teacher-observation chart as possible, I felt ready to let the action begin. When I began implementing Phase 1, however, I quickly discovered that my vision was faulted as my students filed in line at my desk seeking further support and guidance. I soon found myself struggling to connect with my own teacher notes and observations as they seemed to be lacking in substance. When I realized that the issue was simply a conflicting role of being playing roles of both practitioner and researcher, I began to look into different ways to remedy the situation. As a solution, I began taking time after each class to pause, reflect and write down my observations and thoughts. Within some time, I became hypersensitive to remembering student discussions and levels of engagement and contribution of specific students and developed a habit of writing these and other observations down between each class period and immediately after school. Through this experience, I have not only learned how to be both practitioner and researcher, but I come to appreciate and value reflecting on what I learn from my students on a daily basis and using what I learn from them to inform my lessons moving forward.
Towards the beginning of my action research, I created a beautifully coded teacher-observation chart with all of my students names on it. I envisioned myself sitting back and easily jotting down my observations while my students autonomously managed themselves during group-work time. And because I had spent a significant amount of time creating as user friendly of a teacher-observation chart as possible, I felt ready to let the action begin. When I began implementing Phase 1, however, I quickly discovered that my vision was faulted as my students filed in line at my desk seeking further support and guidance. I soon found myself struggling to connect with my own teacher notes and observations as they seemed to be lacking in substance. When I realized that the issue was simply a conflicting role of being playing roles of both practitioner and researcher, I began to look into different ways to remedy the situation. As a solution, I began taking time after each class to pause, reflect and write down my observations and thoughts. Within some time, I became hypersensitive to remembering student discussions and levels of engagement and contribution of specific students and developed a habit of writing these and other observations down between each class period and immediately after school. Through this experience, I have not only learned how to be both practitioner and researcher, but I come to appreciate and value reflecting on what I learn from my students on a daily basis and using what I learn from them to inform my lessons moving forward.