Putting my fears to rest

When I first heard about action research I was like a lot of other people and imagined the worst.  All I could think about was RESEARCH.  It brought back some bad memories and I was dreading what might come next. However, as I began reading the Dana text my fears were put to rest.  Being able to substitute the word inquiry in place of research was something that peaked my interest.  I am a true believer in asking questions and asking for other peoples thoughts on given issues.  I believe more can be accomplished with collaborative inquiries or research than can be accomplished through traditional development.  As I was reading the text for this week my mind was racing with  trying to find an issue on campus that I can begin applying action research  in order to arrive at solutions such as the  tardy issue, absentee problems, better reaching the ESL student, over use of benchmarks just to name a few.  Trying to think of my fellow educators, students, parents, and others that could help in this process really has me excited about this assignment.  I really can see myself doing this action research from the very beginning of school this year not only to improve my classroom, but hopefully the campus and district as well.