Leaders Lounge   /   Category

Study Groups

Teacher study groups are as diverse as the teachers who participate in them. They can be an informal, low-key coffee klatch designed to relieve the daily stress of teaching or a highly structured inquiry group with definite participant protocols. Most study groups are somewhere in-between, with colleagues getting together regularly to discuss books, view videos, and support each other as they test out new literacy instruction strategies in their classrooms. Here you’ll find inspiration and ideas from study group leaders who coordinate book groups, design workshops, and develop structures for helping colleagues transfer professional learning to the reality of the classroom and sustain it.

Latest Content
Coming Apart to Come Back Together

Ruth Shagoury uses a poem from MeKeel McBride with teachers of many different grade levels to help them explore what's falling apart in their teaching, and how to bring it all back together again.

How to Start a Writing Group

Do you have a goal of starting a writing group in your school or district? Ruth Ayres provides a step-by-step guide.

The Quiet Power of Language and Learning with Art

Andie Cunningham finds watercolors are the perfect tool for learning in a study group on a dreary winter day.

Strength in Assessment: A Professional Development Protocol

How can you lead a discussion about assessment without getting bogged down in minutia? Andie Cunningham shares a protocol that sparks participation with the drawback of one or two people (or assessment tools) dominating the conversation.

Writing Conferences: The Power of Listening

Ruth Shagoury asks teachers from K-12 to bring back what they learn from one-on-one conferences with students to a study group and finds the students have become the teachers.

Going Public with Study Groups

A cancelled meeting is the mother of invention for Jennifer Allen, leading to a new way for teachers to share and display their learning from study groups.

Collecting PLC Data with Google Forms

Bill Bass uses Google Forms as a tool for assessing the learning in professional learning communities and refining his role in supporting teachers. Included is a template for you to create your own Google Form.

Exploring Themes in the Intermediate Grades

Jennifer Allen describes a simple highlighting strategy adopted by grades 3-5 teachers to help students explore themes in literature and meet standards from the Common Core.

The Dangers of Overplanning

Jennifer Allen discovers there are limits to planning, and too much of it can hinder growth in professional development settings.

Alignment and Community: Planning a Year of Professional Development Opportunities

Jennifer Allen plans a year of study group offerings designed to help everyone align their classrooms to the Common Core, and build community at the same time. The article includes a sample calendar for the month of October.

Coaching Minute: Writing Objectives

Heather Rader explains why it is important to write an objective before any professional development meeting, and shares a succinct example.

Introducing the Writing Common Core Standards: Planning for Professional Development

Heather Rader sorts through goals, audience, and interest in planning a day of professional development linked to the writing standards in the Common Core.

Building Community Protocols

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share two of their favorite protocols for building community among educators.

Opinion Exchange: A Workshop Activity for Study Groups

New teachers need so much their first year and having the ability to be heard and have their opinions valued is right up there. Ruth Shagoury offers a respectful exchange to meet that need.

Triangulating: The Importance of Multiple Data Points When Assessing Students

No data point for any child stands alone.  Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan write about the importance of triangulating data when looking at student assessments, and in the process affirm the value of classroom observations.

Professional Development and Then What? How to Keep Learning Alive Long After the Staff Meeting

Melanie Quinn mulls over the challenges and distractions that hamper transfer of learning from professional development sessions to classroom teaching.

Collaborating When the Going Gets Tough

Literacy coach and high school English teacher Ellie Gilbert finds her ninth-grade teaching team is at odds when they work together to plan a new curriculum.

Curriculum Work: Making Meaning Together

Jennifer Allen ponders what professional development structures support authentic changes in curriculum tied to the Common Core.

“Step Over the Line” Professional Development Icebreaker

This video of the “Step Over the Line” icebreaker activity was captured at a meeting of district-level coaches in Washington state early in the fall led by Amanda Adrian and Heather Sisson.

Parallels Between Student Learning and Staff Development

Terry Thompson considers the concept of "scaffolding" for both student learning and professional development.

Reflecting on Student Work in Staff Meetings (Download a Template)

Jennifer Allen describes a protocol for analyzing student work in teacher study groups and staff meetings, and includes a template for discussing classroom artifacts.

Choice Literacy Membership

Become a member for full access to Articles & Videos plus member-only Product Discounts

Membership

Explore More
Getting Organized
Guiding Teachers
Working in Classrooms

Choice Literacy Membership

Articles

Get full access to all Choice Literacy article content

Videos

Get full access to all Choice Literacy video content

Courses

Access Choice Literacy course curriculum and training

Membership Options

About

Choice Literacy is a community of passionate educators who lead. Come join us!

Learn more

Contact
Subscribe

Get free articles and insights delivered to your inbox every week with the Choice Literacy "Big Fresh" Newsletter!

Learn more

© 2024 The Lead Learners. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   |   Terms and Conditions

Website built by MemberDev

Loading...