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Dear Jonie Just what do you mean by 'study skills'? If your staff were to identify specifically the concepts and skills they believe the students require, then they could look at what they already do and see what is already happening and what needs to be added or emphasised. Have a staff brainstorm - "what concepts and skills are essential to our students when they move to middle school?" Initially, do it electronically with folk emailing their responses to a central person, if that works in your context, or stick a large piece of paper in the staffroom for ideas to be recorded as people think of them. Set a time limit of just one week then have someone collate and classify the responses and then take it back to a staff meeting to see if they have anything further to add, having seen others responses. This, hopefully, will generate heated debate as people really think about why they or someone else has identified something. After 20 mins maximum (depending on the size of your staff) of open discussion, each staff member has to write the 6 or 8 items that are most important to them, Then they pair with someone and construct a core list from the ones that both identified, and then that pair meet another pair and compare lists and construct an agreed list of six from the commonalities. The staff then become one group again and the core lists are posted. Commonalities from the group lists are identified and hey presto - there are your agreed outcomes! From that they could create their own program, rather than importing one that consists of what other people think important. They would have ownership of it because they have had the input and would therefore be much more likely to incorporate it into their programs. This approach would also help address the 'crowded curriculum' where new ideas are just added as another layer instead of being examined to see which parts you already do and how the new bits can be integrated. So the concept of 'study skills' would become an across curriculum perspective, infiltrated into everything rather than some stand-alone set of skills seen as just something more to teach. Good luck Barbara Barbara Braxton Teacher-Librarian Palmerston District Primary School PALMERSTON ACT 2913 AUSTRALIA T. 61 2 6205 6162 F. 61 2 6205 7242 E. barbara@austarmetro.com.au W. http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-