Karen Spector’s Session Notes
LSRI (Local Sites Research Initiative)
The local sites research initiative is intended to build a portfolio of rigorous, context-specific evaluation studies of local writing project work. A central feature of the NWP model is that the specific design of professional development programs varies according to local needs, reform priorities, school conditions, and research contexts. Each writing project site emphasizes common core principles of effective instruction, while the design and delivery of services is negotiated locally. NWP’s goal for the LSRI is to develop a growing body of research that examines local professional development programs based on these core principles and that illuminates teacher practices and student achievement in writing across a range of grade levels, schools, and local contexts.
RFP Deadline: January 20, 2010
Amount: $20,000 for each of three years (or a total of $60,000)
Must be evaluation of an existing program in a new site
My idea: Begin a new continuity/inservice program with Rhonda at TCHS (Karen PI) Allison at Maxwell Elementary (Diane PI) for an initial programming year.
Apply for LSRI for 2011 and expand program to Stacey at Northington Elementary (Carol) and Cita at Tuscaloosa Academy (Diane). Karen will collect data for these sites (since programming folks can’t collect data for LSRI).
Professional Writing Retreats
This session was designed to teach participants how to replicate the NWP professional writing retreat model in local settings. We each received a handbook for planning and delivering a retreat and took part in a fun and useful “Project Runway” challenge.
I would like one of our Co-directors to take responsibility for planning our first open writing retreat. I would be willing to partner with a co-director on this.
Reading, Writing, and Teaching the Holocaust
There is a scholarship available to spend time in NYC studying the Holocaust. This summer fellowship is designed to help teachers plan tolerance programming at their schools. I found this session to be a big, hot mess. I will be writing the director of the program to give her my feedback.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Notes from National Writing Conference - Dr. Sekeres
Books and articles to read and other resources or examples:
Cochran-Smith & Lytle: Beyond Certainty
Eight Beliefs about Culturally Diverse Learners: Conference on English Education
Nieto: What Keeps Teachers Going
Weinbaum, et al: Teaching as Inquiry
Ladson-Billings: Dreamkeepers
http://charlestownhighschools.wikispaces.com
www.nwp.org: click on research for information that demonstrates the effect of having a TC for a teacher on student ahievement
Saginaw Teacher Study Group monograph
Ask Vermont (or possibly San Diego) for bibliography of articles on facilitating study groups that they used in their meetings.
Pauline Gibbons: Text that holds us all together
The “muddle” article (contact speaker)
Susan Scott: Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time
· five disfunctions of the team
People to contact:
Fellow in central Utah who has 25 administrators coming to a one-day (on Wed.) presentation on NWP and their site in particular. He said he would send me their promotion information and agenda. I have his card at home and will follow through with that request.
Ideas:
Make a classroom poster to keep up in the classroom from the realizations you come to in your teacher study groups
Writing out of communities
Advanced Institutes in which TCs research questions of their choice
Show teachers up front what the plans you have look like…expected products
Do inquiry with out of school partners—could be businesses, community workers, parents, etc.
Spend more time in ISI applying what we do to the classroom…don’t assume everyone is an expert teacher already
Do a piece on group inquiry…as opposed to individual…in ISI to foster PD teams
Silent conversation: everyone has his or her own color marker
Musings:
One of the presenters said, bring your thoughts to a close…meaning, what you wre writing. I thought that was odd terminology, and would not want to suggest to my students that they close their thoughts.
If a school is defined as 95% minority, how is that possible? If 95% of the kids are African American, they are hardly the minority! What a peculiar use of language…even when you (the children) are the majority, you are still considered the minority.
Quotes that made me think about being careful not to assume that my ideology is a) the only one worth considering, b) the only right approach, or c) shared by everyone else in the room.
“They became teachers adjusting their practice as they went through the process, which is exactly what you want.”
“Some principals don’t care. They don’t get the idea of student-driven inquiry in the classroom.”
“There was a lot of resistance in the history department. It took ‘em a while, but they got it [student-driven inquiry].
My first workshop in Thursday was Developing Ourselves: Teacher Inquiry as Professional Development
We were asked to write on three questions: why did we come? What did we expect? How will we apply what we learn?
The workshop was divided into four round tables. The different sites approached inquiry as PD in different ways. I listened to a pair form Missouri: a teacher and guidance counselor in an elementary school. The teacher was the only African American teacher at her school initially. She was a “seasoned” action researcher, and wanted to bring together other seasoned researchers and novices, across a range of jobs in the school, to create a teacher study group on social justice.
To begin our session, they gave each person a different prompt to write from, which were the 8 beliefs about linguistically and culturally diverse learners from the Conference of English Education.
Their process: they obtained a mini-grant from the rural sites network to bring together the group of teachers. The mini-grant paid for books and a very modest stipend…wouldn’t say how much…maybe didn’t understand the question. They were all volunteer: a variety of gender, positions, and had approval for their meeting through the principal and central office. They met once a month. 9 people began, 6 stayed.
They read Nieto: What Keeps Teachers Going
Weinbaum, et al: Teaching as Inquiry
Ladson-Billings: Dreamkeepers
They call teacher inquiry a peaceful, quiet reform movement
They discussed first, self-reflection, the ethics of research, the process of questioning in community
Began with a self-awareness piece on diversity and equity. Each person had her/his own question dealing with writing and social justice and the ethics of research???
Took a year to study the process. The second year they will do the studies. They were also building leadership
Probing and clarifying questions
Activities were often what they did in classrooms…another layer of research from the site on the progress of the group
The other three round tables were variations on: a yearlong whole school study group, mandatory, run by NWP site or a teacher inquiry group with mentor teacher and pre-service teacher partners
My second workshop on Thursday was called Advanced Institutes to Support Inservice
The Vermont site was inspired by the Saginaw Teacher Study Group monograph. They got $5,000 for a rural sites grant and used it for stipends for teachers and principals. They set up a three-year project to 1)expand the work of the site…to five new schools, and 2) to build new leaders…TCs facilitate groups.
They meet twice together for dinners…their advanced institutes pay for meals…the advanced institute is for teachers who want to facilitate study groups in their schools
They also sent the principal letters asking for support from them.
They meet 5 times a year, from 3-6 pm.
I actually heard the San Diego site talk last year, but I didn’t clue in right away. They make the assumption in ISI that the fellows will continue through the year…they present it as part of the opportunity, and have good attendance. Their program is to meet 5 times a year on a Saturday, Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan., and Feb. They call it an Adv. Inst., and meet from 8:30 to 9:00 to eat and visit, 9-11 with Independent Study Groups with a team of facilitators, then 11-12 all three goups together. They collaborate with protocols (google protocol) and crate continuity across the 3 gorups.
Pauline Gibbons: Text that holds us all together is their mentor text
They have three groups, and each group has a study question, which change each year based on input from everyone, but the leaders decide and advertise the groups. Then, they have three themes that all the groups consider and which are the subject of the last hour of the day: ELL; multiculturalism; and 21st century literacies. Then, they have a separate Advanced Institute in the afternoon from 103. These are not such that you have to come to all five, although the mornings are a commitment to all five.
Saturday morning breakfast with AWP:
General notes:
Legislators go to schools day; match them with TC for a day. They are doing it in Dec., asking them to read something they’ve written or a book to children…which didn’t sound like a “day”. Prelude to asking for money!!
PLU: professional learning unit. Something administrators have to get, or teachers who want to be administrators. Can offer these with our “administrators’ institute” may get more. You can charge fees. We should ask Instruction Leadership people for interns’ names. They especially are wanting PLUs that deal with diversity.
A direct donation to LWP through our COE donation mechanisms…one site was founded in 1981, so was asking for $19.81. Didn’t we do something like that???
Appreciative inquiry: phone survey asking for donations after asking for quotes on LWP. Serves two purposes…Open enrollment; partner with inservice who pay, but shows at match. Ask Robin at Wiregrass about it. What they do…I missed it.
Very successful cookbook…recipes with family stories. Think this was SunBelt.
Meeting in late Feb/early March of AWP to do this on more organized basis. Overnight at Jack State.
Recommended only two people to go to Washington, D.C. in April. Need to know who is going ASAP as Lisa Williams sets up all the legislative appointments before we get there.
Cochran-Smith & Lytle: Beyond Certainty
Eight Beliefs about Culturally Diverse Learners: Conference on English Education
Nieto: What Keeps Teachers Going
Weinbaum, et al: Teaching as Inquiry
Ladson-Billings: Dreamkeepers
http://charlestownhighschools.wikispaces.com
www.nwp.org: click on research for information that demonstrates the effect of having a TC for a teacher on student ahievement
Saginaw Teacher Study Group monograph
Ask Vermont (or possibly San Diego) for bibliography of articles on facilitating study groups that they used in their meetings.
Pauline Gibbons: Text that holds us all together
The “muddle” article (contact speaker)
Susan Scott: Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time
· five disfunctions of the team
People to contact:
Fellow in central Utah who has 25 administrators coming to a one-day (on Wed.) presentation on NWP and their site in particular. He said he would send me their promotion information and agenda. I have his card at home and will follow through with that request.
Ideas:
Make a classroom poster to keep up in the classroom from the realizations you come to in your teacher study groups
Writing out of communities
Advanced Institutes in which TCs research questions of their choice
Show teachers up front what the plans you have look like…expected products
Do inquiry with out of school partners—could be businesses, community workers, parents, etc.
Spend more time in ISI applying what we do to the classroom…don’t assume everyone is an expert teacher already
Do a piece on group inquiry…as opposed to individual…in ISI to foster PD teams
Silent conversation: everyone has his or her own color marker
Musings:
One of the presenters said, bring your thoughts to a close…meaning, what you wre writing. I thought that was odd terminology, and would not want to suggest to my students that they close their thoughts.
If a school is defined as 95% minority, how is that possible? If 95% of the kids are African American, they are hardly the minority! What a peculiar use of language…even when you (the children) are the majority, you are still considered the minority.
Quotes that made me think about being careful not to assume that my ideology is a) the only one worth considering, b) the only right approach, or c) shared by everyone else in the room.
“They became teachers adjusting their practice as they went through the process, which is exactly what you want.”
“Some principals don’t care. They don’t get the idea of student-driven inquiry in the classroom.”
“There was a lot of resistance in the history department. It took ‘em a while, but they got it [student-driven inquiry].
My first workshop in Thursday was Developing Ourselves: Teacher Inquiry as Professional Development
We were asked to write on three questions: why did we come? What did we expect? How will we apply what we learn?
The workshop was divided into four round tables. The different sites approached inquiry as PD in different ways. I listened to a pair form Missouri: a teacher and guidance counselor in an elementary school. The teacher was the only African American teacher at her school initially. She was a “seasoned” action researcher, and wanted to bring together other seasoned researchers and novices, across a range of jobs in the school, to create a teacher study group on social justice.
To begin our session, they gave each person a different prompt to write from, which were the 8 beliefs about linguistically and culturally diverse learners from the Conference of English Education.
Their process: they obtained a mini-grant from the rural sites network to bring together the group of teachers. The mini-grant paid for books and a very modest stipend…wouldn’t say how much…maybe didn’t understand the question. They were all volunteer: a variety of gender, positions, and had approval for their meeting through the principal and central office. They met once a month. 9 people began, 6 stayed.
They read Nieto: What Keeps Teachers Going
Weinbaum, et al: Teaching as Inquiry
Ladson-Billings: Dreamkeepers
They call teacher inquiry a peaceful, quiet reform movement
They discussed first, self-reflection, the ethics of research, the process of questioning in community
Began with a self-awareness piece on diversity and equity. Each person had her/his own question dealing with writing and social justice and the ethics of research???
Took a year to study the process. The second year they will do the studies. They were also building leadership
Probing and clarifying questions
Activities were often what they did in classrooms…another layer of research from the site on the progress of the group
The other three round tables were variations on: a yearlong whole school study group, mandatory, run by NWP site or a teacher inquiry group with mentor teacher and pre-service teacher partners
My second workshop on Thursday was called Advanced Institutes to Support Inservice
The Vermont site was inspired by the Saginaw Teacher Study Group monograph. They got $5,000 for a rural sites grant and used it for stipends for teachers and principals. They set up a three-year project to 1)expand the work of the site…to five new schools, and 2) to build new leaders…TCs facilitate groups.
They meet twice together for dinners…their advanced institutes pay for meals…the advanced institute is for teachers who want to facilitate study groups in their schools
They also sent the principal letters asking for support from them.
They meet 5 times a year, from 3-6 pm.
I actually heard the San Diego site talk last year, but I didn’t clue in right away. They make the assumption in ISI that the fellows will continue through the year…they present it as part of the opportunity, and have good attendance. Their program is to meet 5 times a year on a Saturday, Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan., and Feb. They call it an Adv. Inst., and meet from 8:30 to 9:00 to eat and visit, 9-11 with Independent Study Groups with a team of facilitators, then 11-12 all three goups together. They collaborate with protocols (google protocol) and crate continuity across the 3 gorups.
Pauline Gibbons: Text that holds us all together is their mentor text
They have three groups, and each group has a study question, which change each year based on input from everyone, but the leaders decide and advertise the groups. Then, they have three themes that all the groups consider and which are the subject of the last hour of the day: ELL; multiculturalism; and 21st century literacies. Then, they have a separate Advanced Institute in the afternoon from 103. These are not such that you have to come to all five, although the mornings are a commitment to all five.
Saturday morning breakfast with AWP:
General notes:
Legislators go to schools day; match them with TC for a day. They are doing it in Dec., asking them to read something they’ve written or a book to children…which didn’t sound like a “day”. Prelude to asking for money!!
PLU: professional learning unit. Something administrators have to get, or teachers who want to be administrators. Can offer these with our “administrators’ institute” may get more. You can charge fees. We should ask Instruction Leadership people for interns’ names. They especially are wanting PLUs that deal with diversity.
A direct donation to LWP through our COE donation mechanisms…one site was founded in 1981, so was asking for $19.81. Didn’t we do something like that???
Appreciative inquiry: phone survey asking for donations after asking for quotes on LWP. Serves two purposes…Open enrollment; partner with inservice who pay, but shows at match. Ask Robin at Wiregrass about it. What they do…I missed it.
Very successful cookbook…recipes with family stories. Think this was SunBelt.
Meeting in late Feb/early March of AWP to do this on more organized basis. Overnight at Jack State.
Recommended only two people to go to Washington, D.C. in April. Need to know who is going ASAP as Lisa Williams sets up all the legislative appointments before we get there.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
National Writing Project Workshop Three
NWP: Hearing LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer)
voices in the classroom
Description of the session: The shift from being passively sympathetic to issues of diversity to become actively engaged in promoting understanding goes beyond courage and determination. It takes familiarity with possible teaching resources. The facilitators of this session will not only share the critical stance in addressing issued with diversity but also their approach to LGBTQ issues though young adult literature, empathetic writing and other strategies to awaken and develop critical literacy in students.
How do we start the discussion with kids?
Include GBLTQ issues in the curriculum
What does it mean to be a male? A female? And trying to talk about what the marriage institution is, interrogating traditional gay stereotypes of the typical “male” and “female” identity;
Schools need to be ready to how to explain a GBLTQ curriculum
It’s the most readily discriminated against issue
Discuss the violence of the issue and the implications of what gay bashing entails and talk about media literacy and the absence of GBLTQ abuse and violence
Discuss the word “faggot”. “gay” and the implications of using this word so much..
Teach against the typical gay, male and middle class stereotype where gay is equated with effeminate etc.
What is the one thing you can do in your classes?
Teach pre-service teachers – good curricula for that
Look at our own biases toward curricula,
Watched video of Ian Steele – gay youth that was tormented and eventually killed himself;
What can we do??
Questions that can be used to question LGBTQ texts and students:
1. What happens to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender character? For example does the character die at the end (stereotypical from the 70’s and 80’s) or find a “living solution” to problems that he/she faces?
2. How do readers feel about gay characters? What leads them to think about these thoughts? Often gay and lesbian characters in literature are drawn in order to evoke sympathy or empathy – how does this happen and why? Is sympathy productive?/critical emotional engagement in this context?
3. How do other characters react to the LBGTQ characters? What do they say/do?
For example, are there only two options? – homophobe and supporter, both stereotypical binary responses – or are reactions more complicated? Sometimes supportive and sometimes not?
4. What roles do adults play in the LGBTQ characters like? Does the parent reject outright? Accept unquestioningly? Does the adult –parent, teacher, “other” connect to the lesbian/gay character in some way? How? Are adults even in the center of the text anywhere?
5. What role do institutions play in the LGBTQ characters life? For example, what does school mean to the character? How does the institution of school support or reject the character? What about the role churches, extra-curricular groups, jobs, etc. play or don’t play?
6. What does the text say about justice, citizenship, and democratic responsibilities? If we want our students to be part of a democratic nation, how do LGBTQ characters negotiate their space in a democracy? How to do non-LGBTQ characters do it? What options does this text present to students, teachers, adults, etc?
Website of materials for discussing LGBTQ curricula- book lists, blogs, articles and discussion:
http://sites.google.com/site/henkinbanks/home
www.safeschoolscoalition.org
videos we watched are on google site as well
Elementary text we read:
In Our Mothers House by Patricia Polocco
Great text that discusses two gay moms, how they handled adversity, not a preachy text but a nice memoir, great for teaching character descriptions, good story to talk about adoption, but beware a little stereotypical gay
voices in the classroom
Description of the session: The shift from being passively sympathetic to issues of diversity to become actively engaged in promoting understanding goes beyond courage and determination. It takes familiarity with possible teaching resources. The facilitators of this session will not only share the critical stance in addressing issued with diversity but also their approach to LGBTQ issues though young adult literature, empathetic writing and other strategies to awaken and develop critical literacy in students.
How do we start the discussion with kids?
Include GBLTQ issues in the curriculum
What does it mean to be a male? A female? And trying to talk about what the marriage institution is, interrogating traditional gay stereotypes of the typical “male” and “female” identity;
Schools need to be ready to how to explain a GBLTQ curriculum
It’s the most readily discriminated against issue
Discuss the violence of the issue and the implications of what gay bashing entails and talk about media literacy and the absence of GBLTQ abuse and violence
Discuss the word “faggot”. “gay” and the implications of using this word so much..
Teach against the typical gay, male and middle class stereotype where gay is equated with effeminate etc.
What is the one thing you can do in your classes?
Teach pre-service teachers – good curricula for that
Look at our own biases toward curricula,
Watched video of Ian Steele – gay youth that was tormented and eventually killed himself;
What can we do??
Questions that can be used to question LGBTQ texts and students:
1. What happens to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender character? For example does the character die at the end (stereotypical from the 70’s and 80’s) or find a “living solution” to problems that he/she faces?
2. How do readers feel about gay characters? What leads them to think about these thoughts? Often gay and lesbian characters in literature are drawn in order to evoke sympathy or empathy – how does this happen and why? Is sympathy productive?/critical emotional engagement in this context?
3. How do other characters react to the LBGTQ characters? What do they say/do?
For example, are there only two options? – homophobe and supporter, both stereotypical binary responses – or are reactions more complicated? Sometimes supportive and sometimes not?
4. What roles do adults play in the LGBTQ characters like? Does the parent reject outright? Accept unquestioningly? Does the adult –parent, teacher, “other” connect to the lesbian/gay character in some way? How? Are adults even in the center of the text anywhere?
5. What role do institutions play in the LGBTQ characters life? For example, what does school mean to the character? How does the institution of school support or reject the character? What about the role churches, extra-curricular groups, jobs, etc. play or don’t play?
6. What does the text say about justice, citizenship, and democratic responsibilities? If we want our students to be part of a democratic nation, how do LGBTQ characters negotiate their space in a democracy? How to do non-LGBTQ characters do it? What options does this text present to students, teachers, adults, etc?
Website of materials for discussing LGBTQ curricula- book lists, blogs, articles and discussion:
http://sites.google.com/site/henkinbanks/home
www.safeschoolscoalition.org
videos we watched are on google site as well
Elementary text we read:
In Our Mothers House by Patricia Polocco
Great text that discusses two gay moms, how they handled adversity, not a preachy text but a nice memoir, great for teaching character descriptions, good story to talk about adoption, but beware a little stereotypical gay
National Writing Project Workshop Two
Workshop Two: Resiliency and Reform: Strange bedfellows in the era of high stakes
For this workshop we began by interrogating our assumptions of what resiliency meant – we brainstormed, shared and then discussed the term in its usage as it concerned schools. We thought resiliency id bouncing back – I heard this the most.
We read a poem and discusses issues of barrier to resilience and how high stakes testing has stifled it.
We shared stories of students who were more resilient than others and what characteristics made them resilient. We discussed how they had hope, were positive, and had supportive parents, but more than this they exhibited perseverance more so than other children that made them exceptional.
I will attach the sheet for the main ideas of resiliency, creating a context for resilience, and the essay we examined.
Overall, I think this workshop was significant because it led to meaningful discussions about social justice, the perseverance of kids, high stakes testing, and ways in which teachers cope with all the issues they face on a regular basis. I think we discussed them to come to the conclusion that the problems with education rest in the social and cultural context it is situated in and teachers and parents who persistently expect more, will see more even of the most disadvantaged students.
For this workshop we began by interrogating our assumptions of what resiliency meant – we brainstormed, shared and then discussed the term in its usage as it concerned schools. We thought resiliency id bouncing back – I heard this the most.
We read a poem and discusses issues of barrier to resilience and how high stakes testing has stifled it.
We shared stories of students who were more resilient than others and what characteristics made them resilient. We discussed how they had hope, were positive, and had supportive parents, but more than this they exhibited perseverance more so than other children that made them exceptional.
I will attach the sheet for the main ideas of resiliency, creating a context for resilience, and the essay we examined.
Overall, I think this workshop was significant because it led to meaningful discussions about social justice, the perseverance of kids, high stakes testing, and ways in which teachers cope with all the issues they face on a regular basis. I think we discussed them to come to the conclusion that the problems with education rest in the social and cultural context it is situated in and teachers and parents who persistently expect more, will see more even of the most disadvantaged students.
National Writing Project Workshop One
Workshop One: Creating and Implementing Young Writers Workshops
1. Ideas – workshops for students:
Digital storytelling is a great way to get students interested in writing- using cameras and their own photos as well as audio-anthologies creates spaces for students to express themselves
After school issues of major concern – forms should go home with parents at the start; have a orientation session and make sure parents know its not a babysitting session – make sure they know what is expected of them.
Forms – have students sign a FERPA release, release for photos and material to be used in NWP ideas, workshops etc., be aware of students with allergies and know all information about kids before you begin. You might want to consider making a brochure and advertising to parents and students many months before the program begins.
Some workshops give students a jump drive, bag and tshirt for a summer workshop. The programs they discussed were University based. The Delaware writing project used the campus because they had access to printers, computers, they hear from librarians, professors, authors, they learn how to write an application for an essay to apply, they talk to the admissions office etc. Their writing workshop ran 225 dollars for two weeks or Delawares program was 375 for 3 weeks
Ideas about writing prompts – incorporate music! Use freeplaymusic.com, - this is free and download audacity – this is a free podcasting program, used wordle, and a wordwall, make the area inviting and use sounds, objects and unique ways to get students to think about their writing use cliffhangers, an authors chair (tracy’s idea), get authors to come in and read to them, incorporate different literature,
Have students design a final book and put their pictures and poems etc.in the correct manner, maybe even have students sign each others books.
Funding – look at minigrants – specifically go on the NWP website and search for the Marshall Plan as well as the Rural sites network and the Holocaust grant. One writing program uses universities to get computer lab and some green space – they are saying its better to get away from the school so they don’t feel like they are there all day long.. Some workshops have mentor teachers that work over the summer. They start the day much like the summer institute with writing prompts and take breaks to eat snacks. They incorporate trips as well – one was mentioned to a cemetery, and other closer by places..
I brought up how they incorporated social justice issues – they have scholarships for disadvantaged kids but doesn’t cover transportation, they also said the digital stories themselves bring about great issues they grapple with.
Overall, creating your own workshop can be done, there are people from other workshops to support you, there is much work at the beginning, but it will be stronger and stronger each year.
1. Ideas – workshops for students:
Digital storytelling is a great way to get students interested in writing- using cameras and their own photos as well as audio-anthologies creates spaces for students to express themselves
After school issues of major concern – forms should go home with parents at the start; have a orientation session and make sure parents know its not a babysitting session – make sure they know what is expected of them.
Forms – have students sign a FERPA release, release for photos and material to be used in NWP ideas, workshops etc., be aware of students with allergies and know all information about kids before you begin. You might want to consider making a brochure and advertising to parents and students many months before the program begins.
Some workshops give students a jump drive, bag and tshirt for a summer workshop. The programs they discussed were University based. The Delaware writing project used the campus because they had access to printers, computers, they hear from librarians, professors, authors, they learn how to write an application for an essay to apply, they talk to the admissions office etc. Their writing workshop ran 225 dollars for two weeks or Delawares program was 375 for 3 weeks
Ideas about writing prompts – incorporate music! Use freeplaymusic.com, - this is free and download audacity – this is a free podcasting program, used wordle, and a wordwall, make the area inviting and use sounds, objects and unique ways to get students to think about their writing use cliffhangers, an authors chair (tracy’s idea), get authors to come in and read to them, incorporate different literature,
Have students design a final book and put their pictures and poems etc.in the correct manner, maybe even have students sign each others books.
Funding – look at minigrants – specifically go on the NWP website and search for the Marshall Plan as well as the Rural sites network and the Holocaust grant. One writing program uses universities to get computer lab and some green space – they are saying its better to get away from the school so they don’t feel like they are there all day long.. Some workshops have mentor teachers that work over the summer. They start the day much like the summer institute with writing prompts and take breaks to eat snacks. They incorporate trips as well – one was mentioned to a cemetery, and other closer by places..
I brought up how they incorporated social justice issues – they have scholarships for disadvantaged kids but doesn’t cover transportation, they also said the digital stories themselves bring about great issues they grapple with.
Overall, creating your own workshop can be done, there are people from other workshops to support you, there is much work at the beginning, but it will be stronger and stronger each year.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Where Im From
Im from names put on me -
American born confused desi as a friend once said
Im from distortions, uncertainty, I think
3 people and mostly friends
Humid weather and tense feelings
Trailer parks, farming villages and beautiful houses
Parents that never knew me
Pictures and stories of grandparents and relatives I never knew
morality and tradition
Always feeling old and half-full
Humanity and the need to know
Turbans, fear, struggle
My parents predestination
Chocolate, laughter, coffee and sleep
Diaspora of cultures and resentment
29 years on relying on myself
Hope for my children, nieces and nephews
Im from names put on me -
American born confused desi as a friend once said
Im from distortions, uncertainty, I think
3 people and mostly friends
Humid weather and tense feelings
Trailer parks, farming villages and beautiful houses
Parents that never knew me
Pictures and stories of grandparents and relatives I never knew
morality and tradition
Always feeling old and half-full
Humanity and the need to know
Turbans, fear, struggle
My parents predestination
Chocolate, laughter, coffee and sleep
Diaspora of cultures and resentment
29 years on relying on myself
Hope for my children, nieces and nephews
Welcome!!
Hey guys,
After a failed attempt at wordpress I am hoping this blog will work out okay.
Please let me know if you have any problems and please post some things you have been writing about (and how your summer was etc.), cant wait to hear from you guys!
love,
Puneet
After a failed attempt at wordpress I am hoping this blog will work out okay.
Please let me know if you have any problems and please post some things you have been writing about (and how your summer was etc.), cant wait to hear from you guys!
love,
Puneet
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