WMWP Leadership Team Meetings
Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 p.m., September 14 (Monday), October 15, December 10, January 21, March 11, May 13, June 17. Alternating between Five Colleges Building, Amherst, and Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke.
Leadership Team meetings are open to all Western Massachusetts Writing Project teacher-consultants, who are eligible for 10 PDPs if they attend five or more meetings per year. Coinciding with meetings of the Executive Board, Leadership Team meetings may include any of the following activities: time for writing and sharing; brief reports on recent, current, and future programs; and discussion of both planned agenda items and new business. Some meetings also include scheduled presentations by teacher-consultants on Western Massachusetts Writing Project or National Writing Project initiatives or on special topics of interest to the site. One meeting a year includes reflections for the NWP Annual Report, and some include meeting time for the Continuity, In-Service, and Outreach Task Forces. Chaired by Anne Herrington.

NWP Annual Meeting
Thursday-Saturday, November 19-21, 2009. Philadelphia, PA.
Join your colleagues at the 2009 NWP Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. The NWP Annual Meeting provides a venue for teacher-leaders from writing project sites throughout the country to learn from each other and become familiar with national trends and issues that affect the teaching of writing.Visit the NWP website for more information.

NEATE 2009 Fall Conference
"For the Love of Literacy: Bridging the Gap Between Imagination and Legislation"
October 23-24, 2009
Crowne Plaza at the Crossings, Warwick, Rhode Island.
"NEATE invites teachers and graduate students at all levels of education to submit proposals for interactive workshops for its fall conference at the Crowne Plaza at the Crossings in Warwick, Rhode Island, on Friday and Saturday, October 23-24. The theme of this year’s conference is making sure that every child learns important skills is a laudable goal, but so too is infusing children with passion for reading, appreciation for the beauty of the written and spoken word, and the pleasure of learning along with others. Addressing essential standards need not be standard fare. This year's conference takes on the challenge of leaving no child's imagination behind." Visit http://www.neate.org/ for more information and registration details.

Massachusetts Writing Project Meetings
Dates TBA. Sullivan Hall, Worcester State College.
Planning sessions for representatives of the four Massachusetts National Writing Project sites. Coordinator: Bruce Penniman. Visit www.masswritingproject.org for more information.

New England Writing Project Retreat
TBA.
For Teacher Consultants and site leaders. Meet Writing Project people from other sites, and share ideas and strategies.

Teachers as Writers Programs

2009 Summer Institute Winter Reunion
Saturday, January 30, 2010.
Reunion for participants of the 2009 Summer Institute. More details to follow.

Writing Mini-Marathon
*Stay tuned for the next date and location!*
Open to all K-16 teachers, the mini-writing marathon provides time for writing and response in a relaxed setting.

Courses, Conferences and Workshops

Spring 2010 Courses

Eng712: Writing and the Teaching of Writing
TuWTh, July 6-29, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., UMass Amherst.
This course is designed for K-16 writing teachers and all teachers who use writing as a teaching tool. It will focus on theoretical and practical questions related to the nature of the writing process and the challenges of teaching writing. Its aim will be to provide participants the opportunity to reflect on their own literacy learning and teaching experiences, to explore composition theory and research, and to examine current issues in the teaching of writing. Readings and research projects will focus on the writing process and its linguistic, psychological, and socio-cultural underpinnings. Concepts such as audience, voice, identity, and dialect – as well as practical matters such as incorporating grammar instruction, working with English Language Learners, preparing students for state testing, and teaching with technology – will all be considered. A key assumption of this course is that the best way to learn about writing is to write – in a variety of modes and for a variety of purposes – and to reflect on the complex processes involved in that act. Participants can expect to write regularly: low-stakes experiments in different genres, informal reading responses, portfolio reflections, a literacy self-study, and a well-documented research essay will all be part of the mix. Class meetings will include discussions, workshops, response groups, and presentations. This course fulfills a core requirement for the Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing but is open to all. Instructor: Bruce Penniman. 3 credits. Limit 16.

Spring 2009 Courses
The following courses qualify as electives for the Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing:

Educ681: Teaching Reading and Writing at the Graduate Level

Eng891TT: Introduction to Rhetorical Theory
(Permission of instructor required. Contact David Fleming at dfleming@english.umass.edu)
For a course description, please see the English Department's course list.

Eng892G: Gender in Writing
For a course description, please see the English Department's course list.

Eng591Q: Teacher Inquiry Seminar
April 6 to June 26, 24 hours distributed across 5 to 6 shorter meetings and one full day meeting.
This seminar is designed for participating teachers to pursue an inquiry project with three objectives: 1) to explore to the definition and role of literacy in a range of content areas, 2) to identify the needs of content area teachers in relation to literacy, and 3) to advise WMWP on making existing programs more relevant and developing new programs.  The group will complete a set of readings in common and conduct specific needs assessment projects. Through the course of the inquiry, they will complete a literature review, needs assessment report, and collaboratively written proposal to WMWP for professional development programs related to developing literacy teaching expertise in content areas. Enrollment by permission of instructor. 2 credits. Limit 15.

Continuing & Professional Education
Eng591BB: Technology and Writing (Digital Storytelling)

Student Writing Programs

 

Ongoing Initiatives

Making Connections Writing and Technology Initiative
Dates TBA. UMass Amherst, Bartlett Hall.
This initiative, supported by a grant from the National Writing Project and led by WMWP Technology Liaison Kevin Hodgson, links middle school teachers and students from urban and rural public schools in on-line writing projects.

Summer Institute Inquiry Group
Saturday, October 3, 1:30-3 p.m., and other dates TBA.
Invitational Summer Institute participants will meet regularly to extend their inquiry projects to the classroom. Led by WMWP teacher-consultant Joanne Wisniewski, the group will share teaching ideas and examine student work.

Springfield Republican Publication Project
Dates TBA.
Coordinated by WMWP Technology Liaison Kevin Hodgson, this ongoing project will feature teaching strategies and student work from eight WMWP teacher-consultants on special pages of the Springfield Republican.

Summer Institutes