Conclusion

=**NEXT STEPS**=

As a result of the action research project, identify additional questions raised by the data and plan for additional improvements, revisions, and next steps.

My students seemed to benefit greatly from this service learning activity. For example, Yamile (one of my students) commented that she noticed how difficult it is for an ELL student to understand how to use English in writing. Monica realized how important it is to work as a team and how it makes learning easier. Almost all of my students gained an understanding of what life is like in different countries and how much Americans take for granted. On the other side, the ELL students also gained from this experience. These students felt empowered by being able to share their stories with American students. Ndikumana commented that the tutoring helped him to explain the "theme" of his story. Binna stated that the experience was beneficial because he met new kids and got to know more about them. He thought it was "cool." As far as writing goes, Abid learned to "write better papers" and how to better use punctuation better.

I would like to continue this project again next year. I'm not sure I would change anything except perhaps meet more often and earlier. All students truly benefited from this activity. To read more about the students' experiences and reactions, you may read their responses here: =Benefits of Action Research=

Action research can be the desire to know more. Good teachers are, after all, themselves students, and often look for ways to expand a worthwhile pursuit for educators for a number of reasons. Foremost among these is simply upon their existing knowledge.

Focus on school issue, problem, or area of collective interest
Research done with the teacher’s students, in a setting with which the teacher is familiar, helps to confer relevance and validity to a disciplined study. Often, academic research is seen as disconnected from the daily lives of educators.

While this might not always be true, it can be very helpful for teachers to pick up threads suggested in academic circles, and weave them in to their own classroom. It is also comforting for parents, or education administrators outside of the school, to know that a teacher is not just blindly following what the latest study seems to suggest, but is transforming the knowledge into something meaningful.

Form of teacher professional development Research and reflection allow teachers to grow and gain confidence in their work. Action research projects influence thinking skills, sense of efficacy, willingness to share and communicate, and attitudes toward the process of change. Through action research, teachers learn about themselves, their students, their colleagues, and can determine ways to continually improve.

Collegial interactions
Isolation is one of the downsides of teaching. Teachers are often the sole adult in a room of children, and have little or no time scheduled for professional conversations with others. Action research in pairs or by teams of teachers allows time to talk with others about teaching and teaching strategies. By working on these teams, teachers must describe their own teaching styles and strategies and share their thoughts with others. As a team they examine various instructional strategies, learning activities, and curricular materials used in the classroom. Through these discussions with colleagues they develop stronger relationships. As the practice of action research becomes part of the school culture, we see increased sharing and collaboration across departments, disciplines, grade levels, and schools.

Potential to impact school change
As teachers get into action research, they are more apt to look at questions that address school and district concerns rather than questions that affect the individual teacher.This process creates new patterns of collegiality,communication, and sharing. Contributions to the body of knowledge about teaching and learning may also result.Development of priorities for school-wide planning and assessment efforts arise from inquiry with potential to motivate change for improvement’s sake.

Reflect on own practice
Opportunities for teachers to evaluate themselves in schools are often few, and usually happen only in an informal manner. Action research can serve as a chance to really take a look at one’s own teaching in a structured manner. While the focus of action research is usually the students, educators can also investigate what effect their teaching is having on their students, how they could work better with other teachers, or ways of changing the whole school for the better. Conversations can take on a different focus from attempting to “fix” to arriving at understanding. = =

Personal Reflection:
Not only did my personal opinion regarding service learning change, but I realized that I continually conduct teacher research on my own. As a reflective teacher, I am constantly viewing the activities I conduct in class and determining the worth and validity of what I ask my students to do. I ask questions, dialogue with others, evaluate techniques, read articles, and improve my lessons on a daily if not hourly basis. A good teacher does not necessarily need to write down and analyze everything through documentation but instead will evaluate and then monitor and adjust continually. I did, however, enjoy watching my students go through the same process. Seeing them understand how they use material that they may have deemed "useless" or "a waste of time" was a teacher's greatest pleasure; watching that proverbial light bulb go off. I also enjoyed watching them make connections with student they might never have met. I think, through their response and evaluation, that they deemed this a successful experience as well.