Educational Leaders use of blogging

I believe educational leaders should use blogging as a way of reaching out to their community, staff, and parents. The blog can serve as a platform for the leader to give his or her thoughts on current issues and then receive feedback from those who are following. This can produce a constant flow of reflection for the leader and he/she can use it as a way to constantly share on a deeper level than is ever allotted in a regular school day.

The Initial Reaction

When I hear the word "Research" so many things begin to pop into my mind such as tedious hours of thumbing through text after texts, Scrutinizing thousands of figures and data, and writing till my fingers fall off on what I discovered through my findings. Although this is what many constitute as research, many have failed to see the advantages of Action research. As I begin to study this new method of research I became intrigued with how effective and practical it really is. You see the old method of research and development stemmed from outside sources giving you analytical information that they had researched for years without actually being in a real live school environment on a daily basis. They were on the outside looking in. These sources have come up with many key assessments to our school environment that we use and conceptualize on a daily basis. The problem is these solutions don't always fit our particular circumstances and sometimes are just time wasters. The action research method offers us a more practical approach to our desire to continually improve. If you look into a mirror you will see a clear reflection of how you look. Your hair may be a mess, or you may have a pimple on your face but you will see exactly what is good and what is bad about you by your reflection. This is the key to your action research, stepping back and reflecting on what you are doing and how you can improve upon your actions and reactions to your situation. Understanding your specific circumstance and what improvements is needed will allow you to clarify what direction you must go in. This will lead you to be able to develop a strategic action plan based on your specific needs and assess what is going on in your school here and now. Once you have clarity on the situation, and have developed a plan you can take action with a high intent on evaluating the effectiveness of your action and how they affect you and those that are involved. This method will allow you and me to effectively take ownership in our development and the development of the task and people that we are designated to lead.