1. 1. Teacher Study Groups Candice Ervin
2. 2. What is Collaborative Teacher Development? A process that involves all teachers in a school system or setting It is an engagement that is beneficial to all individuals Inclusive to teacher study groups, whole faculty study groups, or book studies Levine and Marcus (2010) asserted that engaging in collaborative activites may improve teachers and positively impact collaboration, teaching, and schooling overall.
3. 3. Objectives for Teacher Study Groups To support and nurture teaching learning To put teachers in charge of their own learning To support and create discussions about the improvements of a school To learn from peers about new strategies or best practices To work together to achieve a common goal!
4. 4. Benefits of Teacher Study Groups There are many benefits of becoming apart of a teacher study group which include the following 1. Create lifelong learners 2. Form action researchers 3. Establish relevance for the individual 4. Promote peer interaction 5. Collaborate to increase needs of students
5. 5. Organization is Key!!!!! Regular meetings: least twice a month for 90 minutes each Objective/Vision: what do we hope to accomplish and why? Teacher leadership: which teachers are proficient in their area and how can they showcase their best practices to the group Visitation: collaboration with other teachers from another school site to help support our goals.
6. 6. Examples of Teacher Study Groups Practice Study Groups: focus on a strategy; metacognitive learning Topic-Centered Groups: educators from different schools are focused on the same topic Issues Discussion Groups: formed around questions and concerns on a shared issue Teachers select a group based on the individual needs of their school and students!
7. 7. We Do Discussion!!!!! Everyone participates and contribute (open ended questions, written responses, verbal responses) Reflect, analyze, and critique! Saaeverda (1996) believes: The most important aspect of the study group is that it provide times for teachers to reflect, analyze, and critique practices together (p. 273) Discussion leads to us learning and growing from each other!
8. 8. Now Time to Apply!!! We will collaborate together for our first teacher study group session two weeks from now. English and social studies will collaborate and math and science will work together. Each teacher will be responsible for bringing back one question and concern that they have regarding their students academic performance (will be based on our issue discussion groups) Teachers will share their sentiments, reflect, analyze, to create a vision statement or objective that they would like to be accomplished based on their common concerns/questions.