Chapter 2 discussion questions

1. I think that one of the main issues in my classroom that could be researched would be (which is also the topic of my APP) is motviation among students. I'm curious to know which kinds of motivation work best in a foreign language setting, since that's all I've taught since graduating in 2001. This research, in my case, could be implemented by surveys the students would fill out, by questionnaires the students would fill out at home with their parents/guardians and bring back, by conducting interviews or having conversations with my fellow teachers who share the same students that I have in my classroom...the list goes on and on. My only problem with those methods of research is the amount of time needed to not only implement them, but also to go over the results and decide on a course of action. I'm not sure if this research would change any policies, as I'm one of four Spanish teachers at my high school. It could, though, provoke some research or inquiries by my fellow Spanish teachers in order to see if a department policy needs to be changed, or maybe simply modified a little bit. I feel pretty comfortable voicing my opinions and sharing my ideas and the things I've learned in grad school with my colleagues, so I really can't begin to guess who would initiate the departmental changes. I suppose that would depend on who came up with the idea, or who began the research in their own classrooms (in this case, me!)
2. I'm not sure if it's the concept of conducting action research that's the issue, but the amount of time needed to conduct it. Research is very feasible in a high school classroom setting, and I'm sure the same is true at the university level. The only trick, then, is to incorporate the research with the content you are teaching, so as not to take away from what the students need and should be learning (think of the research as a supplement as opposed to postponing the regular lessons in order to conduct the research). As for whether or not this is an integral part of my professional environment, I'm honestly not sure. I've only been teaching in Albert Lea for about three weeks, so I'm not 100% used to everything here yet. I know that some teachers are working on their Master's degrees as well, so I assume their conducting some type of research (or reading the research previously conducted by others), but I don't know what their topics are or what point they're at in their graduate programs. Where these people are earning their degrees from is another factor to be considered, because there are different requirements from different universities.
3. At this time, I don't really consider myself to be a researcher, but I might by the time I finish my APP! However, there are some topics that I reflect on quite frequently as a high school Spanish teacher: pace of instruction, curriculum standards, motivation of my students (and myself!), my own professional development, the effects of stress and working on my Master's/additional teaching license while teaching full-time (I always, truly always, feel like I'm not 100% in either part of my life, since I feel torn between teaching and working towards my Master's).