This summer, I was privilaged to become part of an amazing community of people. The experience was absolutely transformative, giving me access to a network of dedicated teaching professionals spanning from early childhood to university level. While there, we followed a model consistent with National Writing Project's (http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/nwpsites/what_sites_do.csp) goals and guidelines. National Writing Project is a a network of sites anchored at universities to support pre-service teachers and current educators to improve the level of writing instruction across the United States. Participating teachers attend a month long summer training session, immersing themselves in professional reading and writing of all genres. After attending the summer institute, graduating teachers are given the title of teaching consultants, and are invited to join any number of special interest groups for continuity of the group. It is not over when the summer session is over. Instead, participants are invited to come back and speak to new groups, present at conferences, and conduct professional development to home schools. Funding has been traditionally been from the federal government, but has recently been cut from the budget. This is a concern for all sites involved, and we need teachers, administrators, and parents to petition for the reinstatement of budget for this cause.
Personally, I will be using lessons and activities that we did in the institute, starting with the ice breaker activities. I will have students decorate composition books and present them to the class as a way to have students take ownership of their writing vessal from day one. Then, we will use a collection of childrens books, novel selections, videos, music, and more to show students that writing inspiration can come from anywhere. We will take a few minutes each day to write, and share what we've wrote with others. This is essential to creating a literacy-rich environment. As much as I cringe to admit where I've left gaps in the past, I did not model as much as I should have before. The institute reinforced the reason why modeling is so important. I also did not put as much emphasis on sharing writing. Students would share a sentence, then I'd move on. That simply isn't enough. As the school year revs up to begin, I am excited to see how the changes in my instruction will transform my student's writing, and more importantly, their attitude toward literacy.
More than that, North Star of Texas Writing Project (http://www.northstaroftexaswritingproject.org/?page_id=33) has also convinced me that I must do a doctorate. I was not certain if that was the path for me, if I had it in me to do another four to five years of higher education. After feeling the love of learning re-blossom inside me, and watching it happen for other practicing and pre-service teachers, I knew that there was no other option for me. I must do it, because I want to help inspire others as my Writing Project mentors have done for me. If I could teach educators the principles of NSTWP, then I'd feel like I did my job advancing reading and writing in an obtainable, enjoyable, and critical way. Furthermore, as I shared my research interest with my peers, I found that what I have to say bears interest, but needs more investigation. I didn't know if I was going to hit a brick wall with sharing my out-of-the-box idea that video games can be used to help reading and writing. Instead, I felt supported and encouraged. At the same time, I felt personally challenged to do more and talk less. Thus, I've set up this blog, begun another blog that catalogs virtual book talks (http://virtualbooktalk.blogspot.com/), curated a pearltree (a shareable matrix where I've set up a listing of favored tech tools-http://www.pearltrees.com/t/techtools-teaching/id3072350), and created groups on facebook for my NSTWP peers and Human Systems Dynamics (http://www.hsdinstitute.org/) fellow participants. I've transitioned from being a consumer of research to an active participant.
What has National Writing Project done for me? In short, it changed my life.
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