Make Inquiry Practical

     As I dig into learning about action research or inquiry, I believe that one of the most important aspects of this journey is to make the research practical.  I have struggled with a topic for action research because I forgot this simple rule.  To help in this decision I came up with three simple questions that made this decision easier for me.  First, I asked, what am I interested in researching?  This question helped some, but because of my wide variety of interest I was still stumped.  Second, I asked, how will this research help me become a better leader?  This helped narrow the topic, because before asking this, I found myself looking for topics that others might praise or find worthy of research.  Finally, I asked, what research topic might truly help my school district?  After asking this question, I found a topic that I wanted to pursue.  What a relief.  Now I don't feel as though I am going to be doing school work.  I feel excited that I will be performing a task that will make me a better leader, provide myself and others with useful knowledge, and hopefully I will come up with some suggestions to help my school district.  My inquiry will deal with parent involvement.