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