My Reflections

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." - American Writer, Zora Neale Hurston


I think Zora hit the nail on the head, research is curiosity performed in a very organized and official way. Just in the preparation itself, it takes time to consider a top, formulate a plan, and to begin to act on it; sometimes being very tedious, involved and at times unorganized, trying to plan the right steps in the right order. As I reflect back, I realized that in order to make good on my ARP, I have to see it through and planning is the most important part. We all know at any given time, our plans may take a turn in any direction, but it’s all a part of the game. Through the resources we have, the friendships we’ve built and good communication, we are all on the road to success. 

As I developed my 8 steps from analysis to action from the book “Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools,” I’m reminded of the process it took to form a compilation of what I hope to investigate, accomplish and gain from my action research. This was a detailed view of examining my ARP and a good guideline to help me along the way. Throughout this class I know I have relied heavily on my classmates to critique my work, give me feedback and share their work as well so that we could all draw from each other as valued resources. The blogs and the facebook pages that we setup have both been a tremendous help in discovering issues needing to be addressed, a source of all kinds of information and encouragement.


The discussion board and assignments that we have are very beneficial in helping gain insight on how to plan our action research. The discussion board allows us to freely explain our research and reflect back on the week we’ve had and our experiences and hopefully in the process help others. The weekly assignments have been a help in keeping our mind focus on all aspects of our action research. There are so many ways to look at our plans and objectives, but the weekly assignments keep us grounded and on track with what needs to be done and how. 


When researching different aspects of my plan I ran across previous years of student’s work on their ARP. That in itself was very encouraging to see. Action research is truly an expedition and one that I am ready to take!


Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs (2010). Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps from Analysis to Action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.


Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs (2010). Force Field Analysis. Retrieved from http://mindtools.com

Let the Show Begin

My site supervisor and I have had several conferences about my ARP. These meetings have all been very successful. We sit, talk and brainstorm until we come up with viable information that will adequately build up my ARP. We both are aware though, that no matter how we brainstorm, change is unavoidable, but my site supervisor has agreed upon the following ARP.

One Last Time.........

Action Plan - Revised
Goal: To become KACE ready, evaluating our current practices determining: time/money saved, and the increase in productivity
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Verify action research with site supervisor and begin training on KACE	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	March 11 – May 15, 2013	Stamped and signed approval from site super. KACE (Kbox)	Notes for KACE - Manual
Review notes on KACE training / Begin the full use of KACE - Solo	Wendy R Hickman	May 20, 2013 / Duration	KACE and work orders	Add info and documentation to spreadsheet concerning “KACE” (increase in productivity)
Analyze and document procedures done manually (approx. time frame for manual setups installs and patches, etc.)	Wendy R Hickman	June 3- August 2, 2013	Blog posts, Work orders and observations from other technicians	Document in Spreadsheet time frame of “manually” done procedures
Survey technicians on what improvements they would like to see change in our procedures (in hopes that KACE will bring that change)	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	August 19-30, 2013	Survey Monkey / Technicians	Survey Monkey / Information from KACE Studies
Devise best approach to transform all data collected into %, $ saved, and graphical forms of the increase in productivity	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	September, 9-23 2013	All Documents, spreadsheets, online resources	All data collected
Differentiate manual labor vs. KACE	Wendy R Hickman	October 7-21, 2013	Written analysis on findings	All data collected
Pull all data together; graphs, written report, etc. organizing one big report	Wendy R Hickman	November 4-18, 2013	All collected and documented data	All data
Present outcome of action research	Wendy R Hickman	December 2, 2013	Finished research / presentation	Present to Supervisor

The action research plan above has been changed several times. Hopefully this will be the one that I stick to the most. I know there will be additional changes made in the future but as best as I can, I will do my best to use the above plan as my guide for the duration of this research. The following information is a compilation of what I hope to investigate, accomplish and gain from my action research.

1.    Examining the work: Setting the Foundation of my action research, my site supervisor and I have found a tremendous need to implement the KACE management system. We literally work in the world of IT and as big as our campus is 2500 computers give or take a little; we need a management system in place. Something more than just manually doing all tasks and procedures.

2.    Analyzing data for this research will be of the utmost significance. There are several ways this can be done but the best is through observation. This will definitely have to be done manually. As I and other technicians complete our daily tasks, I will periodically request input of time frames and how much manual labor was involved.

3.    Developing deeper understanding in this action research I will definitely rely heavily on my coworkers. I will survey them and listen to their concerns and needs of what they want and are expecting to improve; as far as tasks done manually that can and should be done through a management system.

4.    Engaging in Self-Reflection will rely heavily on how well I’ve conducted research up to this point and listening to the needs of others and my observations.

5.    Exploring Programmatic Patterns will allow me through observation to see what issues we have most on campus, what installations are done the most, more frequently updated, and more requested. If I can narrow this down and pinpoint this information, in my process of learning KACE I can prep it for tasks most needed.

6.    Determining direction will include but is not limited to working collaboratively to address action research questions, monitoring progress, and assessing achievement. This research will be prep work for brining it all together, data collectively and written report and in one place.

7.    Taking action for school improvement by using appropriate steps, tools and materials will help guide me through the process of my research. KACE will be used and pushed to its full potential; software management, software distribution, upgrades, installs, inventory management, process management, security management and a few other areas.

8.    Sustaining improvement is an on-going process for professional development and school improvement. In doing so it allows room for planning, following a schedule, putting first things first or prioritizing, learning to be more proactive, synergizing; pulling all resources to get the job done and most importantly beginning with the end in mind. If you don’t know what outcome you are expecting and what you are hoping to gain from this research, then how can you research? Through all the research and data collecting of KACE, if this Kbox can produce all that it say it can this will be a very welcomed asset to our campus.

Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action by Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs, (Eye on Education, 2010)

Week 3 Action Research Plan

This has definitely been a week for me! Lights, camera and action planning all week long. I have revised this several times already and know for a fact this one is not written in stone. It was funny because the other day when I showed my site supervisor a copy, he was like.......ooh, this is going to be hard! I was like, no kidding, but you're the one who picked it for me(lol). He couldn't say anything. I told him, "yes, "WE" have our work cut out for us!"

Action Planning Template
Goal: Evaluate KACE and our current practices determining: time/money saved, and the increase in productivity.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Verify action research with site supervisor and begin training on KACE	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	March 11 – May 15, 2013	Stamped and signed approval from site super. KACE (Kbox)	Notes for KACE - Manual
2. Review notes on KACE training / Begin the full use of KACE - Solo	Wendy R Hickman	May 20, 2013 / Duration	KACE and work orders	Add info and documentation to spreadsheet concerning “KACE” (increase in productivity)
3. Analyze and document procedures done manually (approx. time frame for manual setups installs and patches, etc.)	Wendy R Hickman	June 3- August 2, 2013	Work orders and observations from other technicians	Document in Spreadsheet time frame of “manually” done procedures
5. Survey technicians on what improvements they would like to see change in our procedures (in hopes that KACE will bring that change)	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	August 19-30, 2013	Survey Monkey / Technicians	Survey Monkey
6. Devise best approach to transform all data collected into %, $ saved, and graphical forms of the increase in productivity	Wendy R Hickman / Robert Walker	September, 9-23 2013	All Documents, spreadsheets	All data collected
7. Differentiate manual labor vs. KACE	Wendy R Hickman	October 7-21, 2013	Written analysis on findings	All data collected
8. Pull all data together; graphs, written report, etc. organizing one big report	Wendy R Hickman	November 4-18, 2013	All collected and documented data	All data
9. Present outcome of action research	Wendy R Hickman	December 2, 2013	Finished research / presentation	Present to Supervisor