Welcome to your Practitioner Research Project

Dear Teacher Practitioners,
During your capstone year of your UNM Master's Program you will have the opportunity to document the journey through your program as a relfective practitioner in a Descriptive Narrative. Think of it as a personal journey because it is a personal account. Consider everything you have learned during the program and your description of it will be a summative assessment of your learning. The important question is what do you take beyond the program? You are the author and storyteller.

Thinking of your final project as a Descriptive Narrative of your learning throughout your UNM experience is moving us away from the formal research paper. In this way, you become the storytellers reflecting on your journey and sharing this with a teacher audience. We will encourage you to share your teacher stories with other published practitioner research stories. Above all, only you can  tell your story about your learning and the learning in your classroom.

As Nikki Giovanni says: "If you want to share a vision or tell the truth, you pick up your pen and take your chances." This is your chance to pick up your pen and have the courage and conviction to tell about you as a learner and teacher.

As you reflect about your experiences, you will explore a particular question. Your research question is where you apply what you have learned throughout your master's experience and draw from your own professional expertise. In this process, you may ask yourself the following prompts:

• What has brought me to where I am now as a teacher?
• What are my philosophies and beliefs?
• What is practitioner research and how do I see my self as a teacher researcher?
• During my UNM journey, what questions surfaced or keep surfacing?
• What do I want to explore in my classroom?
• Who else can I research, read or talk to to inform me about ideas related to my question?
• How will I apply these ideas to find out something in my own classroom? (What happens when...)
• What have I learned about my students and myself as a result.
• What are my next steps?

Your Descriptive Narrative will highlight pivotal points along the way:
Notice --> Reflect
      Describe --> Reflect
             Wonder/gather --> Reflect
                     Interpret --> Reflect
                           Overall Reflection of Journey
                                    NEXT STEPS --> Reflect

These notes were taken while talking with UNM TED Co-chairs Dr. Keyes and Dr. Krebs (Personal Communication, August 20, 2010).

Welcome to YOUR JOURNEY