I anguished over the questions on the survey for many days and finally bit the bullet and decided on what to include. I limited the initial survey to 10 questions as I did not want to overwhelm anyone, especially this close to the end of the grading period!
I've been very happy with the response from our staff, so far I have 34 respondents to the survey and a lot of good data. I've started to analyze the data, trying to find patterns according to years of experience and other variables. The data does seem to confirm my hypothesis that most teachers have a very limited knowledge of the McKinney-Vento Act and exactly what to do when we have homeless students in our classes.
I'm leaving the survey open for a couple more days until the break and then will analyze the data some more over the break. Afterwards I will provide the staff with a folder of information relevant to homeless students and then survey them again to see if they are better equipped to deal with them.
Okay, better sign off now... oldest son just finished taking antibiotics for strep about 10 days ago and now has horrible sore throat and congestion. I predict a visit to the doctor in the near future and hope he doesn't feel too bad over the break as we have a couple of days at the beach planned.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Calmness ensues!
I'm feeling a little calmer today. I've managed to get all my grades updated, I have prepared my presentation for the teachers today on Cornell notes, and I'm almost done preparing my survey questions for the staff about the McKinney-Vento Act and homelessness in students. I plan on sending out my survey next week via google docs... just a quick question, does it invalidate the research if I bribe the teachers to respond with candy??!
I'm really getting into my research project and finding more and more information about it. I recently found a guy who had written a book for his doctoral dissertation and that provided me with links to lots of useful information that I can use in the packet I'm going to provide to the teachers.
I approached a couple of friends and told them about the project and said I would be sending out the survey soon, and one responded with the fact that she had never dealt with a homeless student and would this be a problem. It opened my eyes to information that I need to include with the cover email and the survey so that people don't think it's just a survey for those who have dealt with homeless students, it is for everybody to get some background on what they know about it. So, anyway, back to my day job :)
I'm really getting into my research project and finding more and more information about it. I recently found a guy who had written a book for his doctoral dissertation and that provided me with links to lots of useful information that I can use in the packet I'm going to provide to the teachers.
I approached a couple of friends and told them about the project and said I would be sending out the survey soon, and one responded with the fact that she had never dealt with a homeless student and would this be a problem. It opened my eyes to information that I need to include with the cover email and the survey so that people don't think it's just a survey for those who have dealt with homeless students, it is for everybody to get some background on what they know about it. So, anyway, back to my day job :)
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Problems with proposal
I HATE APA CITATION!!!!!
Sorry for all the caps but I really feel like yelling that... at the moment it is the bane of my existence, trying to get stuff in the correct format but ending up missing a comma or a parenthesis is just giving me a headache.
I've rewritten my proposal this week as the first draft was not good enough, hopefully the second go around will be better. I still have my article review left to do but have the article and research, just need to draft it. This week has been particularly busy, my oldest child had strep throat resulting in 3 days off school (he had lung cancer 4 years ago so we have to be careful when he gets sick with high fevers) and now I think I may have caught his strep, my throat is killing me. I will have to get in an early bedtime tonight and try to feel better, I just don't have time to be sick right now.
My research project is coming along well, I am drafting the surveys that I will send out to staff to get their feedback on the McKinney-Vento Act and on child homelessness. I've also set up a time to talk to the school social worker to get more information from her. All my free time is taken up with looking for resources to read to help out my project, there is a plethora of information out there and the hardest part is finding the stuff that is worthwhile.
Okay, time to make dinner and then maybe I can go collapse into bed. On a positive note I did receive my email with instructions on how to get my cap and gown for graduation, and I've been debating ordering a class ring as we don't do that kind of thing in Europe so I don't have anything with my undergraduate colleges on them.
Sorry for all the caps but I really feel like yelling that... at the moment it is the bane of my existence, trying to get stuff in the correct format but ending up missing a comma or a parenthesis is just giving me a headache.
I've rewritten my proposal this week as the first draft was not good enough, hopefully the second go around will be better. I still have my article review left to do but have the article and research, just need to draft it. This week has been particularly busy, my oldest child had strep throat resulting in 3 days off school (he had lung cancer 4 years ago so we have to be careful when he gets sick with high fevers) and now I think I may have caught his strep, my throat is killing me. I will have to get in an early bedtime tonight and try to feel better, I just don't have time to be sick right now.
My research project is coming along well, I am drafting the surveys that I will send out to staff to get their feedback on the McKinney-Vento Act and on child homelessness. I've also set up a time to talk to the school social worker to get more information from her. All my free time is taken up with looking for resources to read to help out my project, there is a plethora of information out there and the hardest part is finding the stuff that is worthwhile.
Okay, time to make dinner and then maybe I can go collapse into bed. On a positive note I did receive my email with instructions on how to get my cap and gown for graduation, and I've been debating ordering a class ring as we don't do that kind of thing in Europe so I don't have anything with my undergraduate colleges on them.
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