The Long & Short of It - Team Trish 2018/2019

Announcements & Action Items

September 19, 2018

So, I am continuing to work through your literature reviews. Your commitment to your projects is so evident in what you are reading and writing. I should have all of them back to you by the end of this weekend. Don't forget to include your 'boyology' reference to ensure that your research is tailored to boys. Another reminder is to not use your 'literature review real estate' aka word count describing your action - that will come later on when we put the final report together.

Your "Methods of Data Collection and Analysis" is now due Friday, October 5th (max of 500 words)

Data Collection

What techniques are you using (or will you be using) to collect data? Why are you using these particular methods? What will you do to ensure your results would be credible and trustworthy?

Data Analysis

Describe how you plan to work with your data to get meaning from them.

You included details of these methods in your research proposal; you should be able to build upon that information for this submission. Please refer refer to Mertler text for further guidance. Also, Margot has compiled wonderful information on the main IBSC AR site which can be found here. And don't forget Bruce's presentation from Southport found here.

***NOTE - Your final report will be written in past tense, since the action will be completed. You'll see in these submissions some cases of present or future tense. It's best to write in past tense, as if these data collection methods have already occured. If you do write in present/future tense, we'll have to change it in the final report. It's easier to write in the past tense now. If this is confusing, let me know!

Talk soon - let me know if you want to skype sometime!

Trish

September 1, 2018

Greetings! It was a busy PD week for the gang at Crescent! I'm coming up for breath and, for many of you, I've touched base on your research plans etc.

I'm good to skype on Monday, September 3rd - I'm booked with Nicole/Catherine and David H and, at that point, both kids will be back at uni and I will be checking 'to do's' off my list for the first day of school on Tuesday. Send me a time that works for you!

I also just sent your mentors a note - giving them a wee update!

Keep in touch! Trish

August 18, 2018

Another Island Update!

I know we are madly submitting, tweaking, updating, submitting our Research Plans; however.... the next BIG submission is upon you as well. The lists of resources in your plans are fantastic so you all have such strong starting point. Please note that I have changed the due date for your Lit Reviews - you get 4 extra days! I'll be completely consumed with our BEAR Week (our brotherhood bonding week - with our Grade 9's and Grade 11's) until the end of the 14th.

After going through final revisions of last year's reports, the team advisors noted several referencing basics that caused issue for researchers. With that in mind I'd like to highlight the following points for you to consider prior to submitting literature reviews to me:

It's very important to reference correctly from the get-go. It will save you much time if we get it right from the beginning, so expect revisions from me if referencing is off.
I'd appreciate it if you do some research in this regard (for both in-text referencing and References List at end of review). The following APA formatting style guides and tools might prove helpful:
- APA Style Blog (with search): http://blog.apastyle.org/
- Purdue OWL style guide: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
- citethisforme reference generator: http://www.citethisforme.com/apa
- NoodleTools reference generator: http://my.noodletools.com/noodlebib/citeone_s.php?style=APA
- Quotes of 40 words over should be presented as a block quote - single spacing, indent 1cm on left and right, no quotations needed.
All quotes must have page number references or paragraph number if website.
When citing more than one author, “Author, et al” can only be used if the reference is written out completely in the first instance.
Pay careful attention to the formatting (italics, capitalization, etc.) in your reference list. Examples can be found at the links above.
No comma after year eg (2014) when in-text citing, unless it’s grammatically correct to do so in the context of the sentence.
No comma before or after in-text quotes, except where it's grammatically correct to use a comma before or after.
No need to capitalise the first word in in-text citation unless it is a proper noun
Only last names of authors must be used for in-text citations.
only ONE space after periods at end of sentence.

Don't worry -- we don't expect you to be APA reference experts, and I'll do my best to guide you through edits when necessary. However, we do ask that you read up a bit on APA guidelines AND use the IBSC style guidelines attached. Try your best to adhere to them when writing the review.

Please submit to your folder and send me a quick whats app or use the action item feature on google docs to let me know it is your folder. (Comment, put +tcislak@gmail.com and click 'assign action' box - I'll get an email telling me to start looking at your Lit Review!)

Naming Protocol - please use this simple way to name your file..... Thanks!

Trish Literature Review S14 (or whatever date you load it up)

Remember to check out my presentation on our site GOLD COAST Presentations folder

Trish

PS I'll be home Monday late afternoon my time and am still waiting on confirmation of skype times from some of you next week!

August 16, 2018

All - please give this a read to ensure we are on the same page.

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2473185,00.asp

When you are ready to share it back with me - just change the date in the title... I can use the revision history to see previous edits etc.

As well - can you connect with me through my tcislak@gmail.com account (not tcislak@crescentschool.org) - I can guarantee your stuff will get lost in my Crescent inbox - sigh!! If you use the gmail account, I use it for IBSC stuff and other personal stuff but the majority of the emails is from you guys so I will, for sure, see it!

How is it the middle of August already?? I'm blocking a few hours each Thursday morning to work on your projects, as well, Sundays have always been a work session. If you need to skype during another day/evening, we can make that happen, too!

I am copying and pasting every email I send to the group on to our team site so you can see the threads of discussion as well. It's been updated with links to all things Gold Coast as well.

I'm proposing a few 'group' skypes and will try to hit relevant time zones! Watch for calendar invites coming your way soon!

August 14, 2018

Wow - you guys are great! I have sent 5 back today and will carry on with the others asap. Nicole& Catherine, Pete, Lauren, David and Ed and Dave - you've already got versions back and I see some of you have been busy with edits etc!

A couple of common notes:

You'll see that I have put a date in the title - eg A14 (August 14) - please update that date before you share so we know we are working on the updated version.... when you resolve a comment, it disappears - it allows me to check previous versions etc.

A few questions about online permission forms for the boys and parents - all good - just make sure you keep a folder of all such permissions.

Let's skype! - I've sent suggestions to you.... while I have good flexibility while I am at the cottage, the wifi can be sketchy - but so far so good as long as it isn't stormy! I'll be home and back in action as of Monday afternoon.

I know that you have been sharing your plans with your buddies but I don't see any comments from buddies .....

Keep in touch! Trish

JULY 29, 2018

Hello, Team Trish - It's been wonderful and super fun to see our connections, digs, chirps and updates on our whats app group - let's keep this momentum going throughout the whole year! I arrived home on Friday and I have to say that we are managing quite decently with the jet lag.... so I am not complaining! The amount of laundry on the other hand.....

As promised via whats app, here's the detailed plan of action for 'next steps'.

The Research Plan

This is due on Monday, August 13th. I know that there is a reference to a 250 word count, but as I mentioned, ignore that and word hard to have as many details in place as you need to feel like you have a strong connection to your questions and you know exactly what you will be measuring. The earlier we have this set, the better as it allows your action to really fully develop. Please take a look at this sample from Nick Little to get an idea of what your plan should look like when complete. You'll obviously work on your own template and when completing it, you'll replace the bullet points with your own project plan details. Please note: you should also add estimates for key dates of your action/data collection, etc.

I will be holding 'office hours' all this coming week - I will be at school each day for a few hours but can also be reached at home for a skype to finalize questions. So feel free to send me a time that works for you as I am pretty flex.

Ethical Considerations BEFORE you begin to do any research

One of the first things (especially the southern hemisphere folks) is to work on your information letters and permissions letters for your research participants. Please review the ethical considerations on the main site. Access the templates for permission forms here. You can download and personalize these for your context. Don't forget that all students and their parents must complete these forms before you can include boys as participants in your research.

BUDDIES - Don't forget that you have your buddies to support as well. You should be sharing submissions with each other - it's a great way to learn new ideas and see different perspectives.

Ed&Dave, Lauren and Paul&Eloise

Liz&Duncan and Jon&Penny

Nicole&Catherine and Kate

Barbara&Emma and David

Pete and Jacob

IF I started to use google classroom (instead of a google site) - do you all use google in your schools? Curious - so please let me know when you reply acknowledging you have received this email. Thanks!

Looking forward to having some skype sessions in the near future! Keep in touch! And if you need a 'replacement' pencil or boomerang (see attached pic) feel free to offer up some amazing bribe!

July 6, 2018 - email to your MENTORS

Greetings from Gold Coast!

Our training is underway and it's absolutely a pleasure to be working with such great people. Your researcher(s) have been tasked with establishing a regular meeting time with you once the conference is complete. While they will be armed with research tools from our action research training, your perspectives and understanding of your own school culture will enhance the overall impact of this research project.

This link will take you to the deadlines that we have set; I do have some flexibility with the dates from August - April, however, the dates in May and June are firm.

Deadlines for submissions for IBSC AR Project 2018-2019

It is ideal that you read and offer comments/suggestions for each submission. I know you will be inspired by their commitment to this project.

I know that for some of you, we'll be able to chat in person over the next few days. At anytime you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Warmly,

Trish

TASK #3

April 16, 2018

Good morning, Storytellers,

Well done to all of you for completing the first two tasks! The Amazing Race was designed to help you feel more comfortable using the different technologies which will help us communicate over the next 15 months. The action research readings in Task #2 were aimed at strengthening your knowledge - there’s no doubt that researchers who have a solid understanding of the theory of action research develop effective and worthwhile projects. We do hope that you will have completed your reading of Mertler by the 18^th June, as suggested in our deadlines and dates document.

For Task #3, we're going to begin exploring some of the research around our topic, Boy and Stories: Pathways to Learning.

We ask that you read two different journal articles on the topic, to create an annotated bibliography which we will share with the whole cohort on the main website. Each entry would be about a half a page in length.
The topic is broad, and you may need to refine your readings to focus your area of interest, for example, digital storytelling and social media, communication skills, research skills, critical thinking, empathy, tolerance and resilience. You might also prefer to work within your own subject area, for example History, Drama, English, and so on.
In creating your annotated bibliography, we ask that you move beyond merely summarising the content of the source, and include ways in which the ideas expressed in each article would link to your own proposed project, even though this may still change when we meet at the conference.
You might prefer to write an executive summary of a book you have read on the topic. We don’t want you copying an existing summary or review, rather work to connect the ideas expressed in the book to your planned project and outline how it might apply to your project. Your summary would need to be one page long.
If you have other interesting resources or links to share, or people or groups to follow on Twitter or Facebook, please do include them. We will add all of this information to our resources pagesso all can benefit.
You will need to build proper citations for these resources, using APA referencing. It’s worth doing this properly right from the outset, to ensure all references are correct throughout the process, and particularly for the final report. Please also make regular use of the IBSC Style Guidelines attached here (and in our shared folders in Google Drive) right from the outset.
A good source for writing techniques is the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab). There are guidelines and samples of annotated bibliographies on this link as well which you may find useful.

Example

Hine, G. C., & Lavery, S. D. (2014). Action research: Informing professional practice within schools. Issues In Educational Research, 24(2), 162-173.

This article discusses the virtues of action research as a powerful professional development tool for teachers. It discusses the purpose and significance of action research, explains each step of the process, and the theory behind why we conduct each step. Three main benefits are included: it can be used to connect theory and practice and helps practitioners develop insights into how their classrooms operate each day; it facilitates teacher empowerment; and finally, it is a powerful professional development tool. Challenges to the process were also discussed: the commitment needed to conduct the research; the validity of using qualitative data; the need to ensure that teachers are not guided by the outcome they think will occur; and the need for teachers to use the observe-reflect-act approach, coined by Stringer (2008). It ends with a description of three case studies of teachers who conducted action research in their practice. For a beginner teacher researcher, this article is well-laid out and accessible, and I am able to further understand the impact that action research might have on enhancing my professional practice. I will be able to refer to this article many times throughout the process of my project.

Task #3 is due on the 28th May. I ask that you be mindful of your Team Advisors' loads as they juggle an incoming and an outgoing research team, and make every effort to meet the deadlines set.

Regards,

Margot Long

Second Mistress - Academics

ASSIGNMENT TWO - MERTLER TEXT ANALYSIS - Please read guidelines below (click on doc and then hit expand arrow in top left corner) and answer the questions. This is due on April 9th. Please NOTE the naming protocols for this (and all docs). You can send to me or put directly into your folder (if you put into your folder, send me a quick note to let me know).

ASSIGNMENT ONE - THE AMAZING RACE

The Amazing Race

Complete this doc to secure your FAST time in completing the Amazing Race

DUE: March 5, 2018 ...it's race, people..... don't wait until March 5th!

OPENING ACTIVITY - Please ensure you have loaded your picture and bio into the folder that Margot shared with you. If you haven't yet ordered your text, Craig Mertler's Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators, go do that NOW!

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