The Web as a Tool for Continuity

By Evan Nichols, Carol Tateishi, Sonnet Farrell, Tom McKenna, and Sondra Porter

Summary:
How can we keep teachers connected to each other across time and space? This monograph illustrates how the web can be used effectively to facilitate continuity and follow-up opportunities at sites. Showcased are the Bay Area Writing Project's ezine, Digital Paper, and the Alaska State Writing Consortium's Virtual Open Institute. This in-depth piece could be helpful for sites whose teachers are geographically distant from each other as they explore shifting to virtual spaces for institutes.

Download “The Web as a Tool for Continuity” (PDF)

So, what does a successful virtual institute include? The success of a virtual institute is determined in part by what the institute does not include. The online format lends itself to packing in more and more activities and technology. Couldn’t we just explore digital storytelling? How about if teachers create class blogs? What readings are required or optional? Online institutes that are not focused on technology have the same challenges around what to include and what can be omitted. We have striven to keep the institute uncomplicated and engaging by carefully picking and choosing materials and activities. A successful online institute, like any successful institute, should leave the slightly exhausted participants wishing for ways to continue writing, stay connected with the community, and transform their own classrooms by incorporating skills learned at the institute. Fortunately, because the institute takes place during the school year, much of the integration happens naturally, but we must avoid anything that could be viewed as merely time-consuming busywork by already busy teachers.

Topics/tags:

This post is part of the collection.

The Story of SCORE: The Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute Takes on a Statewide Reading Initiative

By Lynette Herring-Harris and Cassandria Hansbrough

The SCORE monograph (Secondary Content Opening to Reading Excellence) from the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute offers an overview of programming for content area teachers as part of a statewide reading initiative. A useful resource for teacher leaders, the monograph includes a rich description of five days of workshops (p. 14-19) along with timelines (p. 24-25), and agendas (p.26-31) that structured and organized this work.

On-Site Consulting: New York City Writing Project

By Nancy Mintz, Alan L. Stein, and Marcie Wolfe

This NWP monograph provides an in-depth look at the longstanding New York City WP program of school-based professional development partnerships with the New York City public schools. Former NYCWP Director Marcie Wolfe provides background information on the development and evolution of the program which places TCs on-site at partner schools for multi-year cycles. Two TCs with extensive experience in the on-site consultant role, Nancy Mintz and Alan Stein, then share their experiences. Mintz explores a fundamental consulting/coaching dilemma: how do you hold onto your core beliefs and values, while not trying to enact those beliefs and visions in someone else's classroom. Stein's story describes a crucial shift in school culture and the importance of the collaboration between himself, the principal, and several key teachers at the school. This thoughtful, extensive exploration of work in and with schools serves as a valuable resource for any leadership team considering extended professional development partnerships.

The Johnston Area Writing Partnership

By Ruie Pritchard, Sandra O'Berry, Patsy Butler

Authors Butler, O'Berry, and Pritchard recount how they have established and maintained a district-based satellite Writing Project an hour's distance from the NWP site.

The UCLA Writing Project's Continuity Programs at a Glance (From Creating Spaces for Study and Action Under the Social Justice Umbrella)

By Marlene Carter, Norma Mota-Altman, and Faye Peitzman

Continuity Linked to Site Mission & Local Context: The Philadelphia Writing Project's Leadership Inquiry Seminar

By Teri Hines, Bruce Bowers, and Vanessa Brown

A vital resource for anyone planning an inquiry-based leadership program, this NWP monograph details the strategies and practices that define the Philadelphia Writing Project's Leadership Inquiry Seminar, a yearlong institute designed to support the professional growth and reflective practice of urban educators as they examine their own pathways to leadership.

Writing Project Teachers as Writers and Bloggers

By Grant Faulkner

This article highlights NWP teacher-consultants who use blogs as a tool for inquiry and reflection and as a way to converse with a community of educators about their classrooms, their pedagogy, and educational reform. Teachers reading this piece can see the myriad purposes of creating a blog, and also receive tips on how to begin. This article could be used during a summer institute or school-year professional development series to support and inspire teacher and student blogging.