I told you it would be awhile!

Did you miss me?

After some quite tenseful moments/days, I completed the first (and most difficult) part of my final project for my MSEd.

I have to create a research proposal - we don't actually have to do the research, seeing as there would be no way to create, implement, and analyze the research in 1 semester - but we have to do everything BUT the actual research. This includes the literature review which is used to form the first few pages of any research study (well, at least the research studies in the educational field). This is my proposed question (which I would like to actually do someday):

In a small group of kindergarten ESL students with L1 Spanish, will teaching them how to segment words into their phonemes - in Spanish - allow for the transfer of this skill into English, as measured by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) test?

I admit, I have discovered that I like reading research studies. Okay, so I skip over the part where they discuss all of the different analyses like MANOVA and Cronbach alpha and all of that - I have NO IDEA what they mean, much less how to use them! (I did buy a research and stats book for a previous class before the professor changed the syllabus on me...maybe I will read it someday...) I do like reading the rest, especially since it has helped me learn the "whys" behind the things I am required to do in my job (no, college did not teach me that. seriously. I graduated 4 months after NCLB was signed into law - MU did not prepare me for all of those ramifications! It has been learn as you go!)

Anyway, it was due on Wed. which I take as it is due before 12 midnight (it is submitted on-line). It never ceases to amaze me how long it can take to write up the reference page! (Brittany, I will gladly pass on my Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Ed. !) I submitted my 25-page work at 10:59pm on Wed. after typing for about 2 days (I took personal days).

So, because I have shared with many of you my anxiety over this part of the project, I share with you all the feedback I just read from my professor:

Karla, Overall, an excellent job here: Model organization! And, a list of excellent, relevant and current articles in your list of references. Your intro is strong. It carefully situates your study. Good. Also, your excellent effort to support claims with literature shines through! Hooray! One quick thing: terms - make sure to list those in your final proposal paper. You use a lot of technical language and abbreviations that need to be fully and carefully spelled out in your final paper! Onward! Thanks! Liz

WOO-HOO!!!!! I have to laugh at her comment about my use of technical language and abbreviations - you mean not everyone knows what NRP, DIBELS, PSF, CLT, and PA means? (hint: PA does not mean the state). I DID write those abbreviations out at least 2 times and if I had written out National Reading Panel, Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Cross-Language Transfer, and Phonemic Awareness every time I used them, my paper would've been 5 pages longer! :)

Now, I need to write up the actual proposal which needs to be mailed (read: hard copy in a 3-ring binder) to VA by March 30. Then I have my oral presentation of the proposal in VA on April 13 and any final revisions are due April 17. At this point, I am planning on going to graduation in VA on May 10 (I figure the kindergarteners will have fun dressing up in the gown and hood!).

I don't know if I will be posting between now and 4/13, but I will definitely post any graduation pictures! :)

Oh, one final thing COMPLETELY off-topic: I just watched the 2006 Toronto Film Festival People's Choice winner "Bella." Watch it. With a box of tissues nearby. $1 at Redbox at Giant.

I guess I will go to bed now...(Mike is in Florida this week helping his grandparents with their condo. I have trouble falling asleep when he is away).

Until next time...