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toc =Welcome to Independent Study!=

Overview
An independent study's purpose is to allow students the opportunity to engage in self-selected areas of study outside of the traditional classroom setting that will enhance and increase student knowledge of required Language Arts skills. An independent study has three phases.

The Proposal Phase:
This is the time for students to formally think about and plan what they are interested in learning, how they plan on learning, how they plan on demonstrating that learning, and constructing a time-line/outline for when learning tasks will be completed.

The Immersion Phase:
This is the time for students to implement their study and to begin demonstrating their learning through achieving learning tasks set forward in the proposal. During immersion, students need to check in with their teacher on a regular basis in a formal manner in order to get feedback and guidance as necessary. During immersion, deviation from the original proposal will only be accepted if the teacher approves changes by way of conference with the student.

The Assessment Phase:
This is the time when all of the student's knowledge and understanding is formally assessed by the teacher. Additionally, the student will self-assess their own learning as well as their perceived overall success of the study. The independent study does count towards the final letter/passing grade for the corresponding quarter.

Purpose

 * Demonstrate that you have engaged seriously with a topic/area of interest
 * Consolidate your own current knowledge on a particular topic
 * Describe/propose plans for how you will expand your knowledge of interest/knowledge
 * Create a time-line/outline for when specific tasks will be completed

Structure
Outline the main aim(s) of your study. What is your study about, or what you planning to produce? Outline the way(s) in which your proposed project is relevant to Language Arts There are a wide range of reasons for conducting a independent study. List at least one reason for doing the study you are proposing. Consider: Are you trying to raise awareness? Are you interested in how certain people/groups feel about your topic? What resources will you need? If working in a group, who will be responsible for which tasks, and how can the study insure that all group members are held accountable for learning? How much time will be needed? How will you monitor progress? What standards and corresponding benchmarks will you focus on to align your learning with the state requirement for this year's expected growth?
 * What are you going to do?
 * Why do you want to do this study?
 * In what ways is this topic of interest?
 * Why is it of interest?
 * How have your interests in this area started and developed?
 * What do you hope to achieve in conducting your research study?
 * How will you carry out the study?
 * How will you demonstrate your learning according to Colorado's state standards for Language Arts?

Immersion
After approval, the student will begin his or her study by their proposed start date. Once immersion begins, the student is responsible for monitoring his/her progress towards completion of tasks agreed to in the proposal. The teacher's role is to guide, redirect, monitor, and facilitate learning as well as assist with technological needs during the immersion phase. Regular check-ins, updates, and subsequent feedback are routine during this phase of the study. Tasks completed during this phase should be aligned with the end-phase of Assessment.

Assessment
The student must demonstrate that their learning is aligned with the Language Arts standards for the state of Colorado. Students must align their self-created assessments (products) to specific Colorado state standards. The proposal phase will ensure that the products presented for assessment are aligned with the state standards. Additionally, rubrics--provided & created by the student--should accompany products presented for assessment and clearly indicate which standards are being demonstrated for the product.

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