WELCOME BACK Practitioners & WELCOME Family Members

I enjoy inviting family members to our graduate research seminar to meet each other and to meet me.

I am the person responsible for some of the sacrifices your spouse/parent/partner will make this semester. 

I am their editor, fan, coach, mentor who will successfully see them through this capstone research process.

They are an example of what research is, the importance of it, and how you need to support them.

Powerpoint of Cohort  Members

Family Presentation (2017)

You can support them in the following ways this semester:

• They will be involved in a project that they are not sure about-so they will be more fragile than usual.

• Provide routines and do things on a temporary basis to relieve some of this stress.

• Your parent/partner will be preoccupied-do not interpret this as indication that they do not love you, care for you, or are neglecting you. There is a reason every book has an Acknowledgement Page. Those who live with writers and researchers are understanding, cognizant that their counterparts are working on something for the greater good.

• Let us feast today for tomorrow will be challenging work to do. We will celebrate in May at the completion of their diligent and focused work.

• Sometimes they may just need to talk and for you to listen to play out their thoughts and to articulate and to make meaning of what they are thinking. Build in some scheduled time together. On Saturdays-family time. Sundays-give them the freedom to work on their project uninterruptedly.

• Practitioners also need to establish a productive working time free from distractions and interruptions and temptations. Support them in accomplishing this.

• Not all of their stress will come from me. They are the ones who will be conducting research in their classrooms. If they are unusually stressed, be proactive and offer to make dinner or suggest to order out to relieve some of the stress. Have a family meeting where responsibilities may be divvied up.

• We all know that this is temporary! By Spring Break (March 21) they will be near the end of their project. Their draft will be due but there may be some minor adjustments which they may still have to take time to do. APRIL TBA is their ORAL EXAMINATION where they will present their classroom research in the SHARED KNOWLEDGE Conference and at RED MESA Education Conference.  I am responsible for their grade in this capstone experience. However, their classroom research is an extension of who they are as professional teachers. They may continue this research on their own in the future.

• We encourage students to simply tell their story-no need for fancy bells or whistles or fancy delivery. We honor the storytelling approach. Practitioner research is the storytelling art of research. So by simply telling who they are, what they did, why and what happened along the way; what new questions arose; where it led them and where they are going from here, comprise their story.

• Questions, concerns…

On May 12, you are invited to their Graduation reception 5-7pm & May 13 Graduation at SJC (UNM ALB GRADUATION is also May 13). When you come to graduation/reception, you will be familiar faces to celebrate their successes together. There is no doubt that they will be successful. That is a given

SYMBOLIC Artifacts:

Ants = Natural, authentic learning

Crayon = Drafts & Revisions

Money = Investments already made & future gains

Puzzle Piece = Piecing the puzzle of your research story together as you go

Rubber Band = Flexible, stretchable thinking

Quote = Trusting yourself & students in the process

Block Letters = Art & craft of your writing and storytelling

Candle = Light of Inspiration & Intuition along the way

Candy = Elements of surprise, satisfaction & enjoyment

(Session 1)

 (Session 1)

August 22, 2016

Writing Prompts: Things I learned last week & First Reader poem by Billy Collins

• Review & sign POS & Letter of Intent

• Letter to yourself

• Research Question as a moving target

• Intellectual History Introduction

• Review Syllabus Highlights

• Intellectual History Introduction (see Train Map)

•  Intellectual History (2015)

• Intellectual History (2014)

•  Intellectual History (2013)

• Intellectual History (2012)

•  Vitali Intellectual History

• Basically, the Intellectual History refers to the major ideas and influences that have contributed to who you are today as a teacher. This involves thinking deeply and individually about your own stories of who you are, pivotal people, events, places that significantly influence what you do, why you do it and how you teach and learn with your students. The SEPTA train map is a metaphor to help you think about your storied and journeyed professional life and the significant stops/highlights/you have made along that influence the you you  are today.

Peruse Shagoury & Power text: Living the Question first chapters

 

Read Articles for next week (8/29)

1. Vitali (Storytelling as the Content & Context for Teaching)

2. Brown (Lighting Fire essay)

3. Henderson (Teacher Research in Early Education)

4. Steib (Visiting & revisiting the trees)

5. Sanford (It all adds up)

Other:

Levin. July/August 2006). Action research: What is it? Why is it important?Exchange. 

WELCOME, Capstone Teacher Practitioners

Midpoint Review 

(Fall 2016-Spring 2017)

I have the privilege to walk beside you during this reflective and introspective journey as you look more closely at yourself, practice and learner in your classroom with your students. This is a liberating time for you to explore your professional practice independently, collectively,, reflexively, and creatively.

Please mark your calendar for Friday, October 24 from 9:00am-3:30pm. You will be sharing your Oral Inquiry Proposal Presentation at the main campus to your committee members. Please arrange your leave with your school principal.

Your coach, fan, advocate & guide

Frances

The power of story becomes essential as a teacher researcher:

Story is another word we all understand in context without being able to put a precise meaning to it. Stories usually but not inevitably involve location, landscapes, protagonists, intentions, emotions, conflicts, obstacles, struggles, and consequences (which always lead into new stories.) These are elements we always look for in any situation in which we are involved. (Frank Smith in To Think, 1990, p. 63)

"Critical reflection is matter of stance and dance. Our stance is one of inquiry. We see it as a constant formation and always needing further investigation. Our dance is the dance of experimentation and risk" (Brookfield, 1995, p. 42 as cited in Allen, 2009, A Sense of Belonging, p. 20).

Seminar Readings, Intellectual History, Teacher Reflections & Vignettes below.

WELCOME Back Teacher Practitioners Spring 2016

• SHARED KNOWLEDGE CONFERENCE (April 2015)
• Oral Proposal Presentations (November 6, 2015)
• Family Presentation (January 25, 2016)

WELCOME BACK Practitioners & WELCOME Family Members

I enjoy inviting family members to our graduate research seminar to meet each other and to meet me.

I am the person responsible for some of the sacrifices your spouse/parent will make this semester.

They are an example of what research is, the importance of it, and how you need to support them.

You can support them in the following ways this semester:

• Powerpoint of Cohort  Members

• They will be involved in a project that they are not sure about-so they will be more fragile than usual.

• Provide routines and do things on a temporary basis to relieve some of this stress.

• Your parent/partner will be preoccupied-do not interpret this as indication that they do not love you, care for you, or are neglecting you. There is a reason every book has an Acknowledgement Page. Those who live with writers and researchers are understanding, cognizant that their counterparts are working on something for the greater good.

• Let us feast today for tomorrow will be challenging work to do. We will celebrate in May at the completion of their diligent and focused work.

• Sometimes they may just need to talk and for you to listen to play out their thoughts and to articulate and to make meaning of what they are thinking. Build in some scheduled time together. On Saturdays-family time. Sundays-give them the freedom to work on their project uninterruptedly.

• Practitioners also need to establish a productive working time free from distractions and interruptions and temptations. Support them in accomplishing this.

• Not all of their stress will come from me. They are the ones who will be conducting research in their classrooms. If they are unusually stressed, be proactive and offer to make dinner or suggest to order out to relieve some of the stress. Have a family meeting where responsibilities may be divvied up.

• We all know that this is temporary! By Spring Break (March 22) they will be near the end of their project. Their draft will be due but there may be some minor adjustments which they may still have to take time to do. APRIL 12-13 is their ORAL EXAMINATION where they will travel to Albuquerque to present their classroom research in the SHARED KNOWLEDGE Conference. It is not a thumbs up or thumbs down kind of inquisition. I am responsible for their grade in this capstone experience. However, their classroom research is an extension of who they are as professional teachers. They may continue this research on their own in the future.

• We encourage students to simply tell their story-no need for fancy bells or whistles or fancy delivery. We honor the storytelling approach. Practitioner research is the storytelling art of research. So by simply telling who they are, what they did, why and what happened along the way; what new questions arose; where it led them and where they are going from here, comprise their story.

• Questions, concerns…

On May 13, you are invited to their Graduation reception 5-7pm & May 14 Graduation at SJC(UNM ALB May 14). When you come to graduation/reception, you will be familiar faces to celebrate their successes together. There is no doubt that they will be successful. That is a given

SYMBOLIC Artifacts:

Ants = Natural, authentic learning

Crayon = Drafts & Revisions

Money = Investments already made & future gains

Puzzle Piece = Piecing the puzzle of your research story together as you go

Rubber Band = Flexible, stretchable thinking

Quote = Trusting yourself & students in the process

Block Letters = Art & craft of your writing and storytelling

Candle = Light of Inspiration & Intuition along the way

Candy = Elements of surprise, satisfaction & enjoyment

Fall 2015 Welcome

WELCOME, Teacher Practitioners

Midpoint Review 

Welcome to your capstone year 

(Fall 2015-Spring 2016)

I have the privilege to walk beside you during this reflective and introspective journey as you look more closely at yourself as a teacher and learner in your classroom with your students. This is a liberating time for you to think independently, reflexively, and creatively.

Please mark your calendar for Friday, November 6 from 9:00am-3:30pm. You will be sharing your Oral Inquiry Proposal Presentation at the main campus to your committee members. Please arrange your leave with your school principal.

Your coach, fan, advocate & guide

Frances

The power of story becomes essential as a teacher researcher:

Story is another word we all understand in context without being able to put a precise meaning to it. Stories usually but not inevitably involve location, landscapes, protagonists, intentions, emotions, conflicts, obstacles, struggles, and consequences (which always lead into new stories.) These are elements we always look for in any situation in which we are involved. (Frank Smith in To Think (1990)

Seminar Readings, Intellectual History, Teacher Reflections & Vignettes below.

WELCOME Family Members Spring 2015

November 8, 2014 Oral Proposal Presentations
April/May 2014 Teacher Video Journals

Welcome Family Members:

I enjoy inviting family members to our graduate research seminar to meet each other and to meet me.

I am the person responsible for some of the sacrifices your spouse/parent/partner will make this semester. They are an example of what research is, what it involves, the importance of it, and how you need to support them.

You can support them in the following ways this semester:

• Powerpoint of Cohort  Members
• They will be involved in a project that they are not sure about-so they will be more fragile than usual, absent-minded, preoccupied.
• Provide routines and support them on a temporary basis to relieve some of this stress.

• Your parent/partner will be preoccupied-do not interpret this as indication that they do not love you, care for you, or are neglecting you. There is a reason every book has an acknowledgement page. Those who live with writers and researchers, are understanding, cognizant that their counterparts are working on something for the greater good.
• Let us feast today for tomorrow will be challenging work to do. We will celebrate in May at the completion of their diligent and focused work.
• Sometimes they may just need to talk and for you to listen to play out their thoughts and to articulate and to make meaning of what they are thinking. Build in some scheduled time together. On Saturdays-family time. Sundays-give them the freedom to work on their project uninterruptedly.
• Practitioners also need to establish a productive working time free from distractions and interruptions and temptations. Support them in accomplishing this.
• Not all of their stress will come from me. They are the ones who will be conducting research in their classrooms. If they are unusually stressed, be proactive and offer to make dinner or suggest to order out to relieve some of the stress. Have a family meeting where responsibilities may be divvied up.
• We all know that this is temporary! By Spring Break they will be near the end of their project. Their draft will be due but there may be some minor adjustments which they may still have to take time to do. APRIL 3 is their ORAL EXAMINATION where they will travel to Cuba (half way between Albuquerque) to present their practitioner research to their committee members. They will also be presenting their classroom research at the SHARED KNOWLEDGE Conference at UNM     Alb. on April 23-24. It is not a thumbs up or thumbs down kind of inquisition. I am responsible for their grade in this capstone experience.
• We encourage students to simply tell their story-no need for fancy bells or whistles or fancy delivery. We honor the storytelling approach. Practitioner research is the storytelling art of research. So by simply telling who they are, what they did, why and what happened along the way; what new questions arose; where it led them and where they are going from here, comprise their story.
• Questions, concerns…….
• On May 8, you are invited to their Graduation reception 5-7pm & May 9 Graduatio at SJC (UNM ALB May 9). When you come to graduation/reception, you will be familiar faces to celebrate their successes together. There is no doubt that they will be successful. That is a given; I will see to it.         

(Frances Vitali, January 12, 2015)                         



Symbolic Artifacts of Creative Process  
Pen = Drafts & Revisions
Money = Investments already made & future gains
Puzzle Piece = Piecing the story of your research story together as you go
Spring = Flexible, stretchable thinking
Journal = Art & craft of your writing and storytelling
Dinosaur = Transformation & following natural process               
Candy = Taking time to enjoy the process along the way                            

WELCOME Capstone Teacher Practitioners! (Fall 2014)

WELCOME, Teacher Practitioners

Welcome to your capstone year (Fall 2014 into Spring 2015)

I have the privilege to walk beside you during this reflective and introspective journey as you look more closely at yourself as a teacher and learner in your classroom with your students. This is a liberating time for you to think independently, reflexively, and creatively.

"Critical reflection is matter of stance and dance. Our stance is one of inquiry. We see it as a constant formation and always needing further investigation. Our dance is the dance of experimentation and risk" (Brookfield, 1995, p. 42 as cited in Allen, 2009, A Sense of Belonging, p. 20).

Please mark your calendar for Friday, November 7 from 9:00am-3:30pm. You will be sharing your Oral Inquiry Proposal Presentation at the main campus to your committee members. Please arrange your leave with your school principal early on.

Your coach, fan, advocate & guide

Frances 

Fall 2014 

August 18, 2014 (Session 1)

 

Writing Prompts: Things I learned last week William Stafford

• Review & sign POS & Letter of Intent

• Letter to yourself

• Research Inquiry inklings

• Research Question as a moving target

• Intellectual History Introduction (see Train Map)

•  Intellectual History (2012)

• Intellectual History (2013)

• Vitali Intellectual History

• Basically, the Intellectual History refers to the major ideas and influences that have contributed to who you are today as a teacher. This involves thinking deeply and individually about your own stories of who you are, pivotal people, events, places that significantly influence what you do, why you do it and how you teach and learn with your students. The SEPTA train map is a metaphor to help you think about your storied and journied professional life and the significant stops/highlights/you have made along that influence the you you  are today.

• Review Syllabus Highlights

Read Articles for next week (8/25)

1. Brown (Lighting Fire essay)

2. Henderson (Teacher Research in Early Education)

3. Steib (Visiting & revisiting the trees)

4. Sanford (It all adds up)

Peruse Shagoury & Power text: Living the Question first chapters

Other:

Levin. July/August 2006). Action research: What is it? Why is it important? Exchange. 

 

August 26 (session 2)

 

Teaching Reflections.......think about......

Reflective Writing with Teaching Vignettes: Capturing the complexity of the Moment

A vignette is a brief, literary sketch. A teaching vignette is a brief story, well-told, about something that happens in your classroom; it includes the writer's perception and reaction to the episode. 

Authentic teaching vignettes are usually characterized by the writer's ability to notice and describe (thick description). The beauty, technique and artistry of vignettes are in the details. Powerful vignettes help us to re-think teaching and learning, including our roles as teachers and learners. Additional, compelling vignettes elicit strong, personal connections and questions which often point beyond the classroom and school. How did things come to be this way? How things might be different? Metaphors from your own life.

 

Trust your instincts when thinking and writing. If you find that you keep thinking about something that happened, there may be some resonance of a chord. Try to discover, through writing, what that connection is all about. Vignettes raise questions and leave us wondering, pondering. Anecdotes often have the same structure as jokes: they are neatly pulled together by the punch line-the crystal clear ending that resolves all doubt and leaves us satisfied. A vignette captures the writer's uncertainty and wonder; it leaves things open-ended, not neatly packaged. When you set out to write you will be surprised with the surprises you uncover. Trust yourself and the process.

 

• Writing Prompt: Make connections with any of the articles you read (Henderson, Streib, Brown, or Sanford) and entries in your teacher journal. From now on you will be seeing and making connections with what you read, what you think, and what you write.
• Share Intellectual Histories
• Text Chapter 1 dialogue

 

September 8 (Session 3)

• Visit to SJC Library (honing our library skills)
• Dialogue-Text chapters 1-3

“Story is another word we all understand in context without being able to put a precise meaning to it. Stories usually but not inevitably involve location, landscapes, protagonists, intentions, emotions, conflicts, obstacles, struggles, and consequences (which always lead into new stories.) These are elements we always look for in any situation in which we are involved.” (Frank Smith in To Think (1990)

Welcome Family Members!

November 8, 2014 Oral Proposal Presentations
April/May 2014 Teacher Video Journals

Welcome Family Members:

I enjoy inviting family members to our graduate research seminar to meet each other and to meet me.

I am the person responsible for some of the sacrifices your spouse/parent/partner will make this semester. They are an example of what research is, what it involves, the importance of it, and how you need to support them.

You can support them in the following ways this semester:

• Powerpoint of Cohort  Members
• They will be involved in a project that they are not sure about-so they will be more fragile than usual, absent-minded, preoccupied.
• Provide routines and support them on a temporary basis to relieve some of this stress.

• Your parent/partner will be preoccupied-do not interpret this as indication that they do not love you, care for you, or are neglecting you. There is a reason every book has an acknowledgement page. Those who live with writers and researchers, are understanding, cognizant that their counterparts are working on something for the greater good.
• Let us feast today for tomorrow will be challenging work to do. We will celebrate in May at the completion of their diligent and focused work.
• Sometimes they may just need to talk and for you to listen to play out their thoughts and to articulate and to make meaning of what they are thinking. Build in some scheduled time together. On Saturdays-family time. Sundays-give them the freedom to work on their project uninterruptedly.
• Practitioners also need to establish a productive working time free from distractions and interruptions and temptations. Support them in accomplishing this.
• Not all of their stress will come from me. They are the ones who will be conducting research in their classrooms. If they are unusually stressed, be proactive and offer to make dinner or suggest to order out to relieve some of the stress. Have a family meeting where responsibilities may be divvied up.
• We all know that this is temporary! By Spring Break they will be near the end of their project. Their draft will be due but there may be some minor adjustments which they may still have to take time to do. APRIL 3 is their ORAL EXAMINATION where they will travel to Cuba (half way between Albuquerque) to present their practitioner research to their committee members. They will also be presenting their classroom research at the SHARED KNOWLEDGE Conference at UNM     Alb. on April 23-24. It is not a thumbs up or thumbs down kind of inquisition. I am responsible for their grade in this capstone experience.
• We encourage students to simply tell their story-no need for fancy bells or whistles or fancy delivery. We honor the storytelling approach. Practitioner research is the storytelling art of research. So by simply telling who they are, what they did, why and what happened along the way; what new questions arose; where it led them and where they are going from here, comprise their story.
• Questions, concerns…….
• On May 8, you are invited to their Graduation reception 5-7pm & May 9 Graduatio at SJC (UNM ALB May 9). When you come to graduation/reception, you will be familiar faces to celebrate their successes together. There is no doubt that they will be successful. That is a given; I will see to it.         

(Frances Vitali, January 12, 2015)                         

Symbolic Artifacts of Creative Process                                        

Reflection about what you are finding, uncovering, questioning, simmering and sifting...............

"People have to allow fear into the process. It's part of creativity, whatever your job. It's part of believing in something and wanting it to happen" (Pierce, 2008).

Artists and speaker Erik Wahl: "We need to study our kids. We should consistently be asking them why, because they don't see things the way we do. They're unblocked and unbound" ( Mayeux, 2008, pp. A7).

Maxwell (2005) refers to Wolcott’s insightful wheelbarrow metaphor in developing a proposal: Make sure all parts are properly in place before tightening (p. 137).

Concerning qualitative work, Hammersley & Atkinson (1995, p. 24 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 2), describe research design as “a reflective process operating through every stage of the project.” Maxwell continues:

The activities of collecting and analyzing data, developing and modifying theory, elaborating or refocusing the research questions, and identifying  and addressing validity threats are usually all going on more or less simultaneously, each influencing the other. This process isn’t adequately represented by a linear model, even one that allows multiple cycles, because in qualitative research there isn’t an unvarying order in which the different tasks or components must be arranged. (p. 2)

Architect Lloyd Wright subscribed that “the design of something must fit not only with its use, but also with its environment. You will need to continually assess how this design is actually working during the research, how it influences and is influenced by its environment, and to make adjustments and changes so that your [research] can accomplish what you want” (Maxwell, 2005, p. 3).

Collecting Rich Data provide “a full and revealing picture of what is going on” (Becker, 1970 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 110). Interviews warrant “verbatim transcripts…not just notes on what you felt was significant. For observations, rich data are the product of detailed, descriptive note taking (or videotaping and transcribing) of the specific, concrete events that you observe (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995 as cited in Maxwell, 2005, p. 110).

Triangulation – collecting information from diverse range of individuals and settings, using a variety of methods (Maxwell, 2005, p. 112).

 

References

Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. [2^nd ed.]. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol. 41. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Mayeux, D. (2008, October 13). Master painter, business speaker: Erik Wahl encourages professionals to transcend the traditional with creativity. The Daily Times (Farmington, NM), pp. A1, A7.

Pierce, K. (2008 October 13). To make it big in Hollywood, you start with a good story. Newsweek, 152(15), p. 71.

Spring 2014 Research Seminar

Your course of action......

Practitioner research is action-oriented inquiry that takes place in the researcher’s own classroom, work or social setting. Practitioner research is seen as a way to explore questions that arise in one’s own practice and/or school; it is seen as a new approach to professional development, transformational learning and educational change. Because researchers are also participants in their own project, this form of research differs from more traditional quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Practitioners will read, analyze and synthesize research by other practitioner researchers as well as design and implement a project of their own. 

 

This capstone experience is not a testimony of intelligence but a processual documentary of yourself as an educator committed to the act of learning about yourself and your students. This capstone process involves authentic learning involving change, transformation, creative thinking, academic writing, learning alongside your students, challenging your teaching and learning paradigms, and risk taking.

Accept this new experience with the natural fascination of inquiry rather than with fear and anxiety. You are conducting your classroom research for your professional and personal self - not your instructor or your UNM faculty members. This research journey is yours and reflects your authentic, sometimes vulnerable self, as a practitioner trying to do something. It will be messy and please do not try to make it any prettier than it happens because it will be contrived and not an accurate telling of your students' story. As the author and storyteller of your teaching and learning, and that of your students in your classroom, this takes courage, conviction, dedication, integrity and ethics. The perspective of yourself as teacher practitioners invites new ways of thinking that will transform yourself as a researcher and educator. Welcome to your next challenge in your heroine's journey.

 

Writing Prompt:

·        Where are you in your implementation of your research project?

     ·        Questions milling around………

·        Emotionally I am……

     ·        How are you organizing yourself, data collection research, reflections……..

Feb. 3 Session #2 SJC Computer Lab

Lynne Lane-APA style & formatting

 1-2 minute UNM video journal about what your practitioner research is about and why you chose UNM for your master’s program to post on http://grad.unm.edu/current-students/video-journals.html