July+3,+2012

=First Entry....Initial Thoughts=

I have never considered myself to be a researcher. It’s not a title that I feel suited what I do for work or in my personal life. Pam’s definition of researcher: one that continuously and effectively reads, surveys, analyzes, documents, compiles, reflects and shares data. I often think of researchers as those who do research independently.

However, after diving into the first few readings this week, I am beginning to change my views on what it means to be a researcher. I’m certainly not one that lives and breathes research like as in my former definition of a researcher, but I certainly fulfill all of those actions as I teach each day. I read professional articles, often survey thoughts and opinions, analyze my students skills, document their successes and struggles, compile information for future teachers, reflect on how my teaching has made an impact and share my findings with students, parents, and other staff. I feel that each one of us, in one way or another, would be considered a researcher. Teaching cannot be successful without considerable attention to research and therefore requires teachers to reflect on research to best execute successful teaching. That said, while teaching and research are connected, they are not one in the same. Research alone will not make you a better teacher. It is a combination of theory and experience that will guide you to be most successful.

My biggest concern about research is that we focus solely on what theory says, and in turn, we miss out on the practical nature of day-to-day experiences. Often times we are so caught up on what general research says and insist that what data has been fund relates directly to our students. As we should remember, each of our individual students learn differently and we can’t assume that all studies are reflective in our individual’s needs. We need a balance of professional research and practical experiences.

Research articles are ones that attempt to answer a question using original research and a series of sections to provide the reader with organized structure of findings.

Professional literature is more informal, yet practical teaching suggestions based on findings from a research article. These are often found in databases or educational publications

I need to learn more about how to access the different types of research.

My initial research question is: What factors affect reading comprehension strategy learning? But perhaps I want to focus more on reading comprehension differences between genders. Does gender affect reading comprehension strategy learning?