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[[image:72050399.jpg width="64" height="64" align="right"]]What is a study group?
A study group is a group of usually four to eight colleagues who are working collaboratively on a common idea, goal, theme, or process. In schools, teachers often form study groups to share classroom practices, address an issue of common concern (e.g., how to integrate reading and writing into the math classroom), or study a new concept (e.g., how to integrate technology into student activities).

What you get
First, new ideas you can use in the classroom. Second, you can earn points toward recertification. The benefit is that some of this is done on your own time. After the initial meeting, you'll complete four sessions online using [|Dell Connect]. The first session you'll do alone, the second is with a partner, and the third and fourth is with a small group. I've also attached the packet you'll use here. This is explained in more detail on the Online Workshop Page.

What does a study group need to be effective?
First and foremost, a study group needs willing participants who are excited to work collaboratively with colleagues. Because study groups usually involve discussions of personal ideas and teaching practices, participants need to be open to feedback and differences of opinion from colleagues and recognize that true professional growth is almost always a result of reflection, introspection, and peer feedback. Some logistical items that help make study groups effective are:
 * **Regular meetings:** If participants wait too long between meetings, the benefit of the study group is lost. Study groups should meet at least monthly, and probably more frequently, if possible.
 * **A team leader or facilitator:** One person should be responsible for keeping the group on track, scheduling meetings, and facilitating group discussions. For more specific information on effective facilitation techniques, look through the Additional Resources at the bottom of the page.
 * **Clear agendas:** Time is always a precious commodity in education, and study groups should make good use of it. Meetings should be well-planned and kept reasonably short (anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour and a half), and the entire group should be clear on the goals of each individual meeting and the overall goals of the group.
 * **Clear outcomes:** What does the study group wish to accomplish? How will the group know when it has been successful? Identifying clear outcomes (e.g., "Each participant will implement a lesson that has students using PowerPoint") and checkpoints or milestones along the way (e.g., "By the third meeting, each participant will prepare a lesson plan to receive feedback from the group") help to ensure success.
 * **Administrative communication:** Having the support and blessing of your administrator helps in multiple ways. First, it gives participants the recognition that they deserve for their hard work as part of the study group. Second, knowing that an administrator is interested in the group's outcomes adds accountability to the group's actions. It is not recommended that administrators regularly attend study group sessions, but an occasional e-mail to keep your administrator apprised of the group's process and actions can be helpful in the long run.

How do Co-nect's resources support study groups?
Some of Co-nect's online resources were created specifically to be used by study groups. Other resources, while not specifically created to be used by study groups, could be easily integrated into study group activities.

Additional Study Group Resources
The Exchange has a wealth of resources that could be incorporated into study group work. Some examples are:
 * **Teacher Tools:** These tools outline best practices in the classroom and can be used as a topic for discussion, analysis, and implementation for a study group. Each tool comes with descriptions of a specific classroom strategy, the research underlying the strategy, and examples of classroom implementation.
 * **Exemplars:** Exemplars are performance-based student assessments. For a study group interested in exploring student assessment and performance tasks, Exemplars offer hundreds of examples, complete with detailed descriptions of tasks, scoring rubrics, and examples of student work.
 * **Project Builder:** For teachers interested in project-based learning, the Exchange's library of teacher-created projects and Project Builder, an online project-building tool, offer wonderful resources. Whether study group members are interested in creating and implementing their own classroom projects or simply borrowing pieces from tried-and-tested projects in the project database, there is enough information to keep any study group busy for many meetings.