What action research means to me

Well, now that I have read all about action research, I think it is a really cool aspect of professional development. I am a firm believer of continuing education everyday. I just like to learn. I think action research involves a continuous search to better yourself as an educator through various activities. Let's suppose you have a problem or concern in your classroom. You must identify the problem first and then analyze any data you may have with your concern. From this point, there are many options you can do to start your research process. You could search the internet, talk with other teachers, or locate readings to see what others have done in your situation. The main thing is to find out as much as you can before making a decision. You have to try to think of all aspects before making your decision. As an educator, you need to understand every aspect and break down all parts of the problem or concern. This will enable you to make the best decision for your students.
I plan to use action research in many different ways. First, I am going to commit to writing reflections. I want to be able to leave some of my reflections to the next teacher who takes my place at my campus. I am a drill team director and I have many different things happen each day. I deal with students and parents on a daily basis, as well as teachers and adminstrators on different occasions. I believe that this would be a good way to contribute to the action research process. Second, I want to continue to talk with other directors and schools to find out the different ways their program exists in their school. I want to include as many students as possible. This is a direct effect on my topic of how attendance affects student attendance. And last, I want to stay on my school's leadership team so I can find out what our school needs to do to become an exemplary campus.