This week was incredibly challenging for John and I as we attempted to complete our coursework while simultaneously packing the last of our belongings, moving out of our home, repairing our roof in the middle of the process, and driving from outside of Houston, Texas to outside of Los Angeles, California. It has been utterly exhausting. And yet, amongst the hurry, the "emergencies" the craziness and overall feeling of off-kilter"ness" I have still enjoyed reading about the many different ways that action research can be incorporated into bettering the educational environment for many schools across the globe. I particular enjoyed the video interview with Dr. Brisneros and enjoyed analyzing his comments in the assignment. I also have to admit that in the readings, I was struck again and again by how Principal Donnan Stoicovy used not only action research, but a flexible and open mentality as she worked to use all at her advantage to make a better learning environment for her students and working environment for her staff. She is an administrator I would truly like to know and work with in an effort to better understand how creativity and thinking outside the box can help students.

Overall, though this week has been a struggle personally, it has been very enlightening in terms of the course, and I feel that I continue to add to my body of knowledge. Though I have a very strong background in research coming from a BA in History, seeing how research can be best utilized in educational settings has been helpful, and new ideas have sprung to life.