Archive: Inquiry and Research
Professional Writing Retreat #
Save the Date!
Friday-Sunday, August 3-5. SeaScape, Madison, Connecticut.
WMWP’s three-day Professional Writing Retreat will give participants the opportunity to explore questions that arise in their teaching, in their work as in-service program leaders or participants, and/or in their lives as professionals. Writing coaches will offer guidance and support as participants consider potential audiences and purposes for their writing. Response groups will provide opportunities for peer feedback. The retreat also has great possibilities for collaborative writing. For example, a small group might work together to share their approaches to assessment or to comment on the effects of high-stakes testing in their schools. After the retreat, participants will share their work on-line and continue to encourage each other. The coaches are former WMWP site director Charlie Moran, author of numerous articles and books; and current site director Bruce Penniman, a former journal editor. Limit 12. Fee: $150. By application. Download brochure for full details.
Call for Proposals: Technology and Writing #
Kevin Hodgson, Anne Herrington and Charlie Moran are beginning a book project that examines the intersection of technology and writing in the classroom and they are putting out a national Call for Proposals for classroom teachers.
They are looking for classroom teachers in grades 4-13 who can write about their experiences and reflections on how technology may be changing our views of writing and composition.
Go here to view the Call for Proposals.
We have started to create an archive of PowerPoint shows that participants of the Summer Institutes create to showcase their Inquiry Research Projects.
This year’s topics included such areas as:
- Do Boys Fall Behind?
- How to Reach African-American Students in Writing Class
- Community-based Writing Projects
- Peer Revision
If you want to view a list of PowerPoint presentations from this year and a sampling of some from the past few years, you can head to that page from here.
The idea is to share the research from our network, so feel free to tap into the collective knowledge of our network.
Are you struggling to discover the best ways to incorporate emerging technology into your classroom?
Blogs, Powerpoint, Online Publishing, Concept Mapping, Digital Movies
It’s a brave new world and we can be your guide.
The Western Mass Writing Project is offering a graduate level course at UMass Amherst called Teaching With Technology this Spring semester and it will cover a lot of ground with very practical applications for the classroom.
(What is this? It is a visual representation of the Internet)
A dedicated group of educators in Springfield and Holyoke began a Reading Initiative this year to research ways in which writing and reading instructions are connections. As they move to share their work with a wider audience, they are conducting workshops and launching a website for teachers.
This summer, 11 teachers from western Massachusetts participated in the first ELL Leadership Institute created by Wilma Ortiz and Karen Sumaryono. In nine very full days in July, Karen and Wilma brought together ELL teachers with expertise in language acquisition and cultural issues but limited experience as professional development providers and WMWP teacher-consultants with strong presenting skills but limited expertise in the field of ELL.
To read more about this story, click here.
Many of us know what it is like to return to our schools after attending the Summer Institute only to find ourselves alone. Imagine returning to a school where there are seven other writing project teachers!
