Week 3 - Discussion 1No unread replies.No replies.Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.Critical Friends Forum – Action Research Introduction Draft [WLO: 1, 4][CLO: 3, 5]This week we will begin our Critical Friends discussion forums. Each week you will have the opportunity to share ideas, create community, and collaborate with your Critical Friends (classmates) in this course. The term “critical friends” refers to colleagues and peers who challenge their own practices to continuously improve through feedback and collaboration. This work is “critical” because it is important, challenging, worthwhile work, but should be neither threatening nor negative. It involves “friends” who share the same mission, values, and goals and who want to nurture collaboration and community within a group. In our Critical Friend Forums we all have the same mission and goal to successfully design a quality action research proposal and we contribute and collaborate as professionals and friends to support growth and improvement. Therefore, feedback to each other should be specific, meaningful, and supported by best practices in action research. You will all benefit greatly by both giving and receiving this type of meaningful, supportive feedback to each other. As a result, you can continuously improve your action research proposal each week and connect and collaborate with each other as professionals and leaders. Read more about Critical Friends in the Costa and Kallick (1993) article Through the Lens of a Critical Friend (Links to an external site.).In Week One, the focus of your assignment was your Action Research Area of Focus and by now you have received feedback from your instructor that you will use to make revisions and refinements to contribute to your Week Three Action Research Proposal – Introduction and Literature Review assignment. At this point, take a moment to carefully review the Week Three assignment to understand your expectations for this week. To prepare you for this assignment, this discussion forum will provide an outlet for sharing the draft of your Action Research Introduction and obtaining further formative feedback from your classmates and instructor.Once you have reviewed your instructor’s feedback from the Week One assignment and have completed the weekly readings, make suggested revisions to your Action Research Introduction and post in the discussion to share with your peers and instructor. If you have any particular area(s) that you are struggling with or need more feedback, please request for your Critical Friends to focus their feedback, perspectives, insights, and questions in that specified area. The sections of the Action Research Introduction you should include are as follows:Context for the Proposed StudyPurpose and Educational SignificanceExplanation of ProblemPopulation:One Research QuestionLocus of ControlOne of the qualities of great leaders and professionals is to be open to and objective about feedback – this is something you will likely need to do in your own professional role, so getting used to seeking and considering feedback objectively is a critical skill for all professionals in any field. Remember that when giving and receiving feedback, it is important to be objective and not take feedback personally. All feedback should be geared toward helping each other construct a quality action research proposal, support success, and encourage critical thinking about action research. Once you have thought critically about feedback you have received, if you disagree with it, that is okay. You can continue to respectfully engage in discussion and build understanding by asking questions and sharing insights and perspectives.

Select a topic from the Florida Standards (CPALMS), the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards , or any National Standards in a subject area (e.g. National Standards for science education, mathematics education, social studies education, etc.). Use the topic as the basis for your instructional video. Create an original three-minute instructional video that includes the following:Text at the beginning that provides the title of the video, your name, the standards covered and an overview of the video, along with audio.Appropriate titles, and content with audio when necessary.Titles, text and audio before every transitional segment of the video, explaining what viewers are going to be seeing. You can type these titles and videotape them at the appropriate time – you do not have to do any video editing for this project.Two video and audio questions and answers related to the content of the video.Text and audio at the end providing an overview of what viewers saw, and relating it to the content from the standards.An acknowledgements segment.Please follow all copyright laws and get all necessary releases and permissions, including releases from talents.RubricOpening - Title of the video, your name, the topic covered, and short (140 characters or less) summary of the video Introduction- Catchy and clever introduction. Provides relevant information and establishes a clear purpose engaging the listener immediately. Connects prior knowledge Lesson Content- Creativity and original content enhance the purpose of the video in an innovative way. Accurate information and succinct concepts are presented Keeps focus on the topic. Your Knowledge-Two questions and answers are provided- they are related to content and age appropriate Summary- Conclusion clearly summarizes key information Overall Delivery- Well rehearsed, smooth delivery in a conversational style. Highly effective enunciation, expression, and rhythm keep the audience listening. Graphics, artwork, and music enhance the mood, quality, understanding and reinforce content presented in the presentation. Video length keeps the audience interested and engaged

Part 3: Analyze a Budget of an Institution of Higher Education by Reviewing the FY 2009-10 General Funds BudgetFY 2009-10 General Funds BudgetThis week's assignment is the third part of a three-part Assignment that focuses on analyzing the financial system of an institution of higher education. This week you explored how to read budget summaries of a department and school within an institution of higher education. You will apply what you learned to the Assignment this week. After reviewing the General Funds Budget FY10, complete Part 3: "Analyze a Budget of an Institution of Higher Education" on the Word template you downloaded in Week 1.Assignment length: Approximately 2 pages